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Bicentennial Celebrations for Dereham Forge

Monday, 17 March 2025 at 07:57

By Dave Brown

Dereham Forge is the settlement that later became the Town of Tillsonburg.

TILLSONBURG - The Annandale National Historic Site is celebrating a big anniversary

Kathleen Watkins, the Culture and Heritage Program Coordinator for Tillsonburg, says George Tillson broke ground on the settlement of Dereham Forge on March 17th, 1825.

"George Tillson came to, what we call Tillsonburg today, to establish a foundry to smelt iron. He soon discovered they didn't have very much iron, so he decided to start a milling empire. That's what Tillsonburg became known for. It was in 1872 when the settlers decided to name the town Tillsonburg after George Tillson."

She says an open house today will kick off all of the bicentennial celebrations this year.

"We are asking people from the community to sign lincoln logs. We are then going to use them to build a model of what Tillsonburg would have looked like about twenty years after George Tillson founded it. The model will be built on October 18th, for the Founders Day festival in Memorial Park."

The open house will run from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and it is free to attend. There will also be cake and light refreshments. 

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