Martin's Camp and Churchville Park

July 27th, 2026
D. Rollings

Long before it was called Churchville Park, much of the beautiful land that sits to the east of the village was known as Martin’s Camp. “The Camp” has a complicated history in the village, remembered with nostalgic love by some and still derided by others. While it brought money into the community, it also reintroduced many social challenges that the village had not experienced since the boom years of the 19th century. 

      Edith and George Martin purchased the property on February 9th, 1934. The lot had been carved out of the Burns farm, which straddled the north and south banks of the Credit River. The Burns family lived and farmed where the Ito, Stanley and now Williams family are. They seem to have left the north side of their property across the river untouched as a woodlot. Edith and George purchased a sideways “L” shaped portion, 3 acres of which served as the Camp. The property reached down to the river on its west side, where a 225’ right-of-way served to extend Victoria Street closer to the Credit. This portion is now home to the parking lot and skating rink in Churchville Park. The small shoreline beyond there served as the community beach and swimming hole for decades to follow. 

       Martin’s Park was opened in the summer of 1937. It initially boasted 30 picnic tables, 3 swings, horseshoe pits and the aforementioned beach. The Martins lived in a cottage near the entrance, backing onto the Simmons’ lot, and they built a small General Store where visitors could purchase food and refreshments.  Next to the store they built a small icehouse and filled it with two feet of sawdust. In the winter they would harvest slabs of ice from the nearby river and bury them in the sawdust. Throughout the year they would scrape off the sawdust and break off pieces to keep their iceboxes cold. 

     They erected a gate, which stood just past the Simmons family’s driveway at the end of Victoria Street. They charged 25 cents per car to enter. In the first years Martin’s Camp received about 1000 cars per season. The Martins built a concrete pad next to the store for hosting square dances on Saturday nights. Locals Bill McBratney and Jack Harpley were often called upon to provide fiddle and piano music for the events. 

The Martins had an impressive vision for this property. On January 5th, 1939 their proposed new plan to subdivide the area between the right-of-way at Victoria Street and the CPR Railway tracks to the east was registered. Plan 314 included 45 small 25’ lots on the lower ground, where the park is now, as well as two larger blocks at the west end; the northern of which would serve as their home. A large, subdivided cul-de-sac was surveyed on the higher ground to the east, with a green space in the middle. This higher-ground section would not be realized until decades later. The subdivision would be accessed by an east-west private road, connecting to Victoria Street. They gave the new road the grand name of Martin’s Boulevard.

 The remaining 22 acres of what is now considered to be Churchville Park, much of which stood to the south between the Camp and the Credit River, was purchased in 1939 by Dr. Louis Kazdan. Kazdan was a successful ophthalmologist from Toronto. He built two small cottages further east on his property, high on the bluffs. These buildings were later known as the Doctor’s Cottages and their abandoned remains provided endless hours of fascination for anyone who discovered them in the woods throughout the 1980s and 1990s. 

The Martins went about developing the lower portion of their property. On these lots they built 28 small cottages which were to be offered as short and long-term rentals: 14 on the north and 14 on the south. 

The cottages were very simple wood-frame buildings, many consisting of only two rooms. The Martins were aware that the Camp flooded frequently and they were all raised up about a foot off of the ground. Some bore names painted on the front, like Fairview or Valley View. Despite the fact that some were clad in insulbrick and all had fireplaces, it is difficult to imagine families enduring the winter months in them. Many did, however. Records indicate that at times up to 15 families were renting long-term and wintering in the Camp. 

One family, the Laroques, experienced a terrible tragedy in autumn, 1942. 

On the evening of November 3rd, of that year, Mrs. Laroque had been struggling to light the stove in her cottage and walked down to the Martin home to ask Edith for some paper to burn. The Laroque cottage was situated near the eastern end of the Camp. The three Laroque children, Lloyd (3) Marie (2) and Valerie (9 mos), were in the cottage asleep. While Mrs. Laroque was at the Martin home, Mrs. Simmons looked out of her back window and saw that the Laroque cottage had caught fire. She sprung into action. Son Eric Simmons went to Brampton to get Mr. Laroque, who worked at a cannery in the town. 24 year-old Leslie Poole, who was then the principal teacher at Churchville Public School, was boarding with the Simmons family at the time. Leslie ran out to alert the community, but, seeing that the cottage was completely engulfed in flames and knowing that the situation was hopeless, restrained a desperate Mrs. Laroque from running into the fire after the poor children. Other members of the community joined the fray and the heroic Mr. Poole was also noted for trying to save the nearby cottages by pouring water on the shingles of the roofs to prevent spreading. Ultimately, four cottages were burned down and were not replaced, leaving 10 cottages on the north side and 14 on the south.

Fire-related deaths in the village were actually quite rare. Before this tragedy, the most recent had occurred in 1921 when Mrs. Hunter Arnott had knocked over a lamp and was burned to death in her home. Before that the last reported had occurred way back in 1871. The trauma suffered by those involved in the Laroque fire must have been unimaginable.

       To deal with the expanded scope of the Camp, the Martins hired Thomas and Nellie Cattle to manage the affairs of the business. Tom was a retired firefighter and WWII veteran who proved a good fit for the role.

       On Friday, December 13th, 1946 between 4:00 PM and midnight, four boys from the village broke into and vandalized seven of the cottages in the Camp. They forced doors and windows, then overturned tables, smashed furniture and caused as much destruction as they could in the cottages. The youths left a note saying “The James Gang”, pinned to a table with a butcher knife. The break-ins were discovered when the owners came to spend Sunday at their cottage. Provincial Constables were notified and quickly conducted an investigation. The four boys were identified and charged with Breaking & Entering. A number of stolen articles were recovered from homes and the boys admitted to being inspired by a Western that they had watched about Jesse James and his gang. 

       Floods in the Credit Valley were a regular, virtually annual concern. This was particularly true when warm-spells set in in the late Winter or early Spring. Ice that had built up in millponds upstream would breakaway and obstruct the flow of the river, causing general chaos. The sharp bend in the Credit just east of the Bridge wreaked havoc when ice floes piled up, sending rushing water over the banks and into the community. The Martins had first-hand experience with dangerous flooding in the Camp throughout their earliest years, but there existed no regulatory authority to prevent development on floodplains. A well-documented natural disaster occurred on July 31st, 1947. The Credit overflowed its banks and rose suddenly and unexpectedly. Mid-summer is an extremely unusual time for flooding and it may have been the result of a dam giving out upstream, causing a chain reaction. Regardless, the river rose by almost three feet, stranding people in their cabins and forcing Mr. and Mrs. Cattle to host about 20 campers in their home overnight, their tents being washed away in the onrush. The flooding had subsided almost entirely by the next morning.
      Another flood struck the village on March 25th, 1948, when the Credit River suddenly rose three feet without warning, covering the entire valley and trapping children in school and families in homes. The sudden bend in the river right before the Camp property served to protect buildings from major structural damage, but the entire property was flooded and ice caused some minor damage to the cottages.

    When working with the public, it is almost inevitable that conflict will arise given enough time. On September 4th 1948,  a corn roast was held at Martin’s Camp. Once the kids were sent to bed, a square dance commenced on the concrete dancefloor next to the small store. Four youths appeared at the dance and started to cause trouble. A fight erupted and Tom Cattle was assaulted by the four. A fellow named Harry Ryale from Silverthorn Avenue in Toronto tried to come to Cattle’s assistance, but was also assaulted. In the aftermath David Hilson, 17, was sent to jail for 30 days and fined $10 for assaulting Ryale. James Burton, 22 and brother Gordon 17, and Clarence Barry were fined $10 each for creating a disturbance. 

    On May 12th, 1949, 14 year-old Bill Justrubacki, who lived just up Victoria Street, sustained serious head injuries when he dived into the Credit at Martin’s Camp. He cut his head on a sharp rock, and was treated at Peel Memorial Hospital where he required 6 clamps to close up the terrible wound.

In 1950 Toronto Township recognized that Churchville, Meadowvale and surrounding areas were in desperate need of their own fire station. They approached Meadowvale first, but it proved impossible to recruit enough volunteers to set up the new station. Township Fire Chief Jack Brathwaite approached Lloyd Golden and Tom Cattle to explore the possibility of creating one in the village. Golden owned and operated the only remaining store and gas station in the village and was very involved in Churchville United Church. He was well positioned to recruit and to manage the village fire alarm. Cattle served with Toronto Fire Services for 27 years before retiring to the village to live and work in Martin’s Camp. This effort would result in the Churchville Volunteer Fire Department. 

        On April 5th, 1950, a disastrous  flood completely inundated the village, cutting off homes. The 1956 Credit Valley Conservation Report reflected that the river rose a shocking 12 feet in the village that year. As usual, Martin’s Camp was hit particularly hard and many of the long-term renters required rescuing by locals in boats.

    For 17 years tensions had been growing between the residents of Churchville and Martin’s Camp. Churchville’s last hotel had closed up 30 years before and the drunken disorder, violence and poverty that had been normalized in the lawless early years of the community had all but vanished by the turn of the century. It seems likely that memories of those older days had been passed down through the generations, however. With the growth of dairy farming, commuting and market gardening in the region, Churchville was generally quite sleepy, rural and quiet. Martin’s Camp represented an unwanted incursion by the outside world into the village. Parents were worried about the worldly influence the visitors and renters in the Camp were having on the village youth. The Campers were also sometimes seen by the community sympathetically: At their May 1949 meeting, the Meadowvale Women’s Institute voted to hold weekly bake sales to raise funds for the relief of the residents of the Camp.

      The Simmons family were particularly affected by the goings on at the camp as they lived and farmed right next to it. Their home was located only a stone’s throw from the outdoor dancefloor. 

     1954 proved to be the ultimate undoing of Martin’s Camp. The winter had turned unusually warm in February and the residents of Churchville understood that this was an extremely bad omen. Cottagers in the Camp were reported as having packed their bags, expecting to evacuate their homes on short notice. Golden’s Store was prepared to serve as a temporary dormitory if needed. The flood came on February 15th, 16th and 17th when a relentless deluge suddenly forced residents of the village to flee their homes. On the afternoon of the 16th, the river rose three feet in one hour, leaving the 24 cottages in Martin’s Camp stranded in five feet of water. The Red Cross, Salvation Army and even local employer A.V. Roe deployed to the village to provide relief for those affected by the flood. 

     The water gradually receded, but on February 23rd the Camp was described as being a “desolate sight”. The worst wasn’t past yet, though. On March 1st the Credit began to rise yet again. 

According to the Peel Gazette, 

"Ten families, including about thirty children, fled their homes in the low-lying Martin's Camp at Churchville for the second time in two weeks Monday (March 1) as the Credit River, swollen with rain, did a repeat performance through the valley. Many of these cottage residents had moved back into their flood-soaked homes only this week-end after staying with friends in the area since February 15-16. The water, which began to rise sharply about 2:00 p.m. Monday was at full flood by supper time, and .... the river was as high Tuesday morning (March 2) as it had been at the height of the flood two weeks ago."

      Mother Nature, however, was not interested in community quarrels. On October 15th and 16th that same year, Hurricane Hazel swept through Churchville causing widespread destruction. Once again, the residents of Martin’s Camp were severely affected. The flood peaked at 5 feet of water in the Camp, although there was surprisingly little structural damage. 

Ultimately, it took this highly-publicized disaster to force change. The Provincial Government and township finally took action to protect the people living in the valley. After much advocacy from grassroots groups (particularly the local Lions Clubs in Peel Region), the Credit Valley Conservation Authority had been established back in May 1954 to preserve and protect the environment along the watershed. Following Hurricane Hazel, the CVC used its new authority to declare that Churchville was built on a floodplain. All commercial activity along the river  was to cease and new regulations were to be introduced in order to mitigate future disasters.

     Disaster struck again before changes could be implemented. On March 1st 1955 the Credit River flooded the homes of the families still residing in Martin's Camp. By the next morning the waters had receded and the danger of further flooding "would appear to have passed for the present”. 

    Nine days later, however, Martin’s Camp was to suffer even more flooding. The river began rising at 5:00 AM and peaked at about one foot of water at 10:00 AM. This time ice floes had been caught up under the bridge. 12 of the 15 families living in the Camp fled to higher ground. By midday, workers had smashed the ice jam and the waters quickly returned to normal.

 The End of Martin's Camp

       On May 3rd, 1955 the Province approved Toronto Township’s application to expropriate Martin’s Camp. The property was described at that time as consisting of 28 homes, situated on about 3 acres. Provincial appraisers set the value of the property at $57,000, though land-records do not describe how much money the Martin family actually received. A few low-lying houses around the village were also appropriated and removed, though it is difficult to identify where these were. Old pictures show a small white home on the site of the former tannery, near the southeast side of the bridge which may have been one of them.

      Toronto Township held a public auction in the Camp on Saturday, September 24th, 1955. Cottages and other miscellaneous items were put up for sale with the condition that buildings may not be used as residences in Toronto Township. If the buildings were not removed within two weeks, the sale was canceled. This auction led to a strange story that has been passed down via oral history over the years: a handful of the cottages were dragged up to the new cul-de-sac on higher ground where they were, in fact, used as residences, but at least one was also transported (somehow) down the Credit River to Meadowvale.

     The process of cleaning up and grading the road through Martin’s Camp was begun by the Township in July 1956. On December 15th, Edith Martin sold the lower portion of her land (the section which reached down to the swimming hole) to the Township.

      The Martin family’s initial vision for this property included a cul-de-sac situated on the higher ground at the east end of  Martin’s Boulevard, which was to be divided into 46 lots with four large “block properties” and another block in the middle, forming a circle of sorts. The Martin family is said to have donated the centre block to the Township with the strict condition that it be kept perpetually as a park for the newly-settled community. A number of families who had been short and long-term renters in Martin’s Camp opted to buy lots in the newly-opened area. New homes were built amongst the salvaged cottages, which have gradually disappeared from sight. While a few have been absorbed into bigger buildings over the years, many have been demolished. As of summer 2026, there may only be two or three original cottages left standing on Martin’s Boulevard.

Toronto Township renamed the consolidated property Churchville Park. Martin’s Boulevard was raised in the 1990s to prevent residents from being stranded during future floods, and it can be difficult now to see evidence of the former Martin’s Camp. On the north side of the park the trees are the key. While driveways and foundations are long-gone, it is still possible to pick out the lots where the cottages stood by looking at the organization of the older trees from just the right angle.