Nestled at the bottom of a knoll on “Pork Street” north and east of Tavistock is the oldest Roman Catholic Church in Perth County. Located at 1956 Line 33, one concession east of Road 107 between Tavistock and Shakespeare, St. Anthony’s is a gem of early architecture.

The current Covid-19 pandemic was not the first serious outbreak to hit Tavistock and area. The files of the Gazette reveal that there have been many diseases through the years that have been of concern to citizens of the community. One disease that was in many ways similar to our current Covid-19 pandemic was the outbreak of smallpox that occurred in 1873-74.

The ladies arrived in their finest outfits and many wore designer hats, not unlike those worn at the Royal Ascot races in England. The men wore their black ties and jackets. However, this occasion was not for a race to be run, but for one completed; the sometimes lengthy heat to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Adam Mohr (1843 - 1913) was a local farmer just south of the village of Tavistock. In 1876 he sold part of his land for a new housing development in Tavistock. We know this area now as Adam Street and Decew Street.