Heritage Atlas of Hastings County

By Orland French

In the old days they used to publish atlases as wide as a barn door. You could cut out the pages and wallpaper a room. They were atlases to study during the evening in the parlour, in the guttering flicker of candlelight. Or drag out on occasion to win a small wager with a friend.

Times change. The Heritage Atlas of Hastings County is small enough to fit into the side pocket of your car door, to ride with you as a friendly reference while you explore the secrets and delights of Hastings County in eastern Ontario. Whether you’re looking for old gold mines, railway stations, cheese factories, colourful rocks or your great-granddad’s grave, you’ll find plenty of helpful directions in this atlas’s multitude of colourful maps. For the rockhound, there's lots of mining stuff, including a complete map of mines and mineral exploration sites in northern Hastings, the rock capital of Canada.

 

So pack your family, your lunch and your atlas in your car and go exploring. It’s a great way to learn about your own backyard. But give yourself time; Hastings County is bigger than 19 countries of the world combined, and is larger than Toronto, Ottawa or Rhode Island. It runs north from Belleville on the Bay of Quinte to Algonquin Park.

 

I have taken a great deal of pleasure in poking around the back lands and remote roads of Hastings County. I don’t know exactly where the Madoc meteorite landed but I do know that there is much more of Hastings County north of Highway 7 than there is south of it. A lot of it is still a challenging wilderness, harsh enough in the past to break the spirit of more than a few settlers, yet daunting enough today to provide an adventurous outing for casual visitors. Enjoy yourself in Hastings County.

 

ISBN: 0-9781099-0-2

Price: $55 ORDER HERE

With Lennox & Addington: $100 for the pair

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