We left Vanastra and drove the 5 km to Clinton, a small community in Central Huron County. Established in 1832, Clinton is not Bill Clinton’s namesake, but rather Sir Henry Clinton’s, a Napoleonic was hero.
There will be a Bill Clinton connection later though.
When you are driving into Clinton from the south, you immediately see the giant antenna that dominates the skyline.
Yes, it’s Vanastra’s antenna!
Walking around town we found this cute Covid-closed tourist information building.
Still, we were able to admire the little train that adorns the gazebo at the park.
Clinton is also home to a unique museum that showcases a little piece of unknown Canadian history. have you ever heard about CNR School on Wheels?
Between 1926 and 1967 CNR (Canadian National Rail) ran 7 school railcars up and down northern railway lines. The back of the car housed the school teacher and his family, while the front of the car was a school room.
The cars were dropped off at a siding (a short stretch of railroad side track) and stayed there for a week allowing children from remote communities to go to school.
One of these teachers was Mr. Sloman, and as a result of their father’s unusual occupation, the Sloman family’s 5 children went to school in a different location every week. After they finally settled in Clinton, the railway car was restored and made into a museum.
The downtown stretch is a fairly typical small-town Ontario scene consisting of 19th century architecture
and small shops
One shop stood out for us. A co-op like artisans, artists, growers and makers got together to create a space to sell their creations. We chatted with the ladies that were passing time sewing masks, and bought some stuff.
Photo credit: madeinhuron.com
Mostly cheese. We like cheese. The lady at the counter told us that the cheesemakers are in the neighbouring town, Blyth, so off we went in a quest for more cheese.
Blyth Farm Cheese is a family operation founded by Dutch immigrants and their cheese is simply delicious!
You can peek through the viewing window, watch the process of cheese-making,
and admire the symmetry of many cheese wheels, while sampling some of their goat, sheep, or cow cheeses.
This is fascinating, but there is a brewery around the corner!
Cowbell brewery and restaurant is one of the more attractive breweries we’ve seen.
We bought beer. You have to support the local economy!
Armed with beer and cheese we were ready to continue our journey. We should mention that Blyth is also home of the Blyth Theatre Festival. one day, Covid-willing, we may be able to attend one of their productions.
Remember we said we will tell you more about Bill Clinton and his connection to these 2 towns? Well here is an interesting coincidence: Bill Clinton was born William Blythe III and took his stepfather’s name, Clinton later on. What are the odds that 2 small ontario towns, Clinton and Blyth will be neighbouring towns? Although Clinton’s birth name has an e on the end and Ontario’s Blyth doesn’t, for a short time Blyth had an e as well due to a postal service error.
With this useless information, we left Blyth and drove home. Another Lake Huron road trip is over.
Next, a trip summary followed by another road trip. This time we’ll take you to Lake Erie so stay with us and stay well!
Looks like a spot worthy of a post-Covid visit. I enjoyed all the information, whether useful or useless along with the President Bill reference.
Thanks, Bitchy! Can I call you bitchy? I wouldn’t want to shorten it any more than that 🙂
Yes you can. It will help keep my reputation intact.
Hmmmm, beer and cheese. Say no more. Small towns can be real gems, if we but take the time to stop. Thanks for sharing. Allan
Indeed! There are so many and each one has something unique. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Blessed are the cheesemakers…
Love the Clinton Coincidence!
And we are blessed for having them! I wonder if Bill knows…
I wonder… I only found out recently about Lambert International Airport!
My favorite part is the story about the train-school. Feels like a very Canadian tale. Lovely post!
Thank you. I loved that story too…can you imagine going to school for a week and then wait for the train to come back for another week of schooling?
I would have loved that! Ha ha.
Lve the post. The school in the railroad car is great. Certainly tops my one-room schoolhouse. nd such a fitting small information building for the towm.
I think that the train school is my favourite school house too! Thanks for coming along!
Of course you had to sample the beer 🍻! Oh yes and the cheese 😉. Where but in Canada would you ever hear of a school on a train? We have quite the history. Thanks again.
Haha, of course we did 🙂 Thanks for visiting with us!
Amusing anecdote about Bill Clinton’s namesake! The cheese-making visit sounds like my kind of jam, as I do enjoy seeing how, essentially, milk becomes fermented…looks like another educational road-trip in Canada for you!
It was very educational and your kind of jam is my kind of cheese 🙂
The cheese factory alone would have been worth a stop, but I loved the story of the traveling train classroom.
I agree! It’s amazing how many gems you can find along the way! Thanks for coming along!
If you want to know more about the strange history of school trains, I recently read a novel on this theme ‘À train perdu’ by Jocelyne Saucier (author of And the Birds Rained Down). Not sure if it has already been released in English, but the rights are already sold.
Thanks, it doesn’t look like it’s out in English yet, but I’ll keep an eye out for it. Such an interesting slice of history!
I love going to factories. So interesting to watch whatever they are making
Me too. There’s always something new to learn!
It’s always good to support local businesses, especially these days!! Clinton looks like another one of these small towns that is full of big surprises and a lot of history.
Very true. It’s disheartening to see how many small businesses closed their doors in the past year. I hope some will make it back!
what an interesting way to go to school! and what a coincidence with Clinton and Blyth(e). And I’m glad you were able to support the local economy 🙂
I love finding out little bits of unusual histories. And, yes, supporting local economies is so important right now!
and when it’s a pub that you are supporting, it’s a win-win!
🙂
Those Clinton facts are crazy! It’s cool to see how history of the railroad affected different areas of the world. The cheese making and brewery areas look really cool too!
A very small town with cool history! There are a few more breweries and artisanal food places in the area that we’ll need to explore 🙂
Looking forward to seeing your stories about it!
🙂
What a lovely road trip to a small town with loads of history! The mobile school story is quite fascinating! Visit to the cheese factory and Brewery is also a joy on its own. A great refreshing road trip. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for coming along and we are so glad you enjoyed this post, there are so many interesting little towns in Ontario, each one of them with a unique story to tell!