Spring Valley – A Hamlet in Elizabethtown

Spring Valley (Niblock’s Corners)

Spring Valley is located 7 miles north of Brockville on Highway 29, or what once the Victoria Macadamized Road, the main road, and stage coach route, leading from Brockville to Perth.

Located at Spring Valley is a famous old inn “Toppler’s Tavern” built in 1808. The home was originally built for Col. Samuel Wright and was set on 700 acres of land. Col. Wright was a New Yorker who fought in the British Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was rewarded with a grant of 700 acres of land in Elizabethtown covering Lot no 21 and 22 in the Fourth Concession.

When Col. Wright died the house passed into the hands of the Topper family and the rooms were divided off to cater to guests.

Topper’s Tavern proved highly popular with a hosts of Leeds travellers. The Inn served fine old English ale, beer and a variety of liquors    ^{(Recorder and Times, Darling Collection Book 3)}

Spring Valley did not really coalesce into a village. Partly this was due to geography. It was not at the intersection of any concession, but rather it was between two parallel roads, the old bush trail and the realigned Highway 29. Along the highway Spring Valley stretches from the 4^th Concession road to Murray Road.

Originally known as Niblock’s Corners, after Absalom Niblock, a carriage maker, the community was renamed Spring Valley by the post office which was changing names all over the province. It was named in reference to he artesian spring that bubbles out of the ground and crosses the highway, the headwaters of the Lyn Creek. ^{(Elizabethtown: The Last of the Royal Townships by Alvyn Austin pub 2009)}

“Edna’s Scrapbook”

is a paperback book written by Edna B. Chant and was published in 1998. Edna Chant was a reported with the “Athens Reporter” for 23 years and she is the author of four books.

Her book, which is made up of news clippings from various sources, from which we have taken excerpts, gives us a glimpse into life in our area for over a hundred year period ending with stories from 1975.

While her book covers many areas of Leeds and Grenville we have only focused on the area within Elizabethtown-Kitley Township.

Spring Valley

Carl Ellis 7, and Fred 6, brothers, drowned in a quarry at Spring Valley in 1944.