Sinclair Township, Muskoka District

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Map

Sinclair Township Cemeteries - Map of Muskoka District

The following paragraphs was taken from the book, Muskoka Past and Present, written by Geraldine Coombe. The book was published by McGraw Hill Ryerson Ltd. in 1976 and can be found at your local library.

In 1869 Sinclair Township was opened for settlement, and the land around Hillside was all taken within the next few years. A schoolhouse was built, and the first teacher was a daughter of a pioneer family. Church services and Sunday school were held for almost 20 years in the schoolhouse. Many Sunday mornings the Rev. Hill and one son would paddle a log canoe to Huntsville to hold services in Captain George Hunt's home, returning for Hillside Sunday school in the afternoon and church service in the evening. He married the young people, baptized the children, and conducted the funeral services.

The settlers built the Hillside church (now the United Church) in 1892 three years before the Rev. Hill died. The centre portion of the memorial window names Rev. Robert Norton Hill and the right portion Leonard Hill, whose generous contribution made the church possible. The left portion is a memorial to other pioneer families: Brown, Ember-son, Evans, Fleming, Fraser, Francy, Green, Hill, Hodgeson, Lang, Lassiter, McDonald, Thompson and Walker. Rev. Hill's 1880 house is now in Huntsville's Pioneer Village. Hillside's United Church Women welcome visitors to their Pancake Frolics on some Thursdays in summer.