Compton

Birthplace of Louis Stephen Saint-Laurent, Canada’s Prime Minister from 1948 to 1957, the municipality of Compton is an essential stop on any tour of the region. After the merger of Compton Township and Compton Village (1994) and the further amalgamation with Compton Station (1999), this is the second largest municipality in the area. In 1893, British officers, convinced of the agricultural possibilities offered by this land, named it for a town in the county of Surrey, England. The village became more of an economic centre with the expansion of the railway around 1850, and French Canadians began to arrive around 1871. The residents of Compton built a number of prestigious institutions around 1874, including the Ladies’ College and the St-Laurent’s quaint general store and residence, now classified as national historic sites. The area around the town also abounds with historical wealth: the Drouinread more > (1897) covered bridge built using the King Post method, and the Haseltine family sawmill, rebuilt in 1961 on the road to the picturesque village of Moe’s River (1832). Roadside crosses, cemeteries, and the Baptist (1867) and Anglican (1887) churches also speak of Anglophone and Francophone cohabitation and the rich variety of architecture that resulted. Today, Compton is regarded as the apple capital, where you will delight in the bounty of its soil: strawberries, raspberries, maple products, blueberries, grapes, blackcurrants, homemade butters, cheesemakers, bakeries, vegetables, medicinal plants and organic herbs.