The second phase of the SDG Historic Tour includes three new plaques that will be erected in South Dundas. The Dutch Meadows Plaque will recognize the efforts of Canadian troops in the liberation of cities in The Netherlands during the Second World War. Courtesy Photo

MORRISBURG – At their regularly scheduled meeting on Wed., Nov. 6, South Dundas Council received a presentation by Todd Lihou, SDG Counties Corporate Communications Coordinator on the second phase of historic tour plaques that would be erected in the spring of 2025.

The SDG Historic Tour is a series of 27 plaques that tell stories of events, communities and amenities from our past. Eighteen of the 27 plaques have already been installed   throughout SDG Counties.

The tour will feature heavily in SDG Tourism marketing efforts in 2025 as a new interactive website is unveiled that will capitalize on opportunities like cycling tours and geocaching.

The second phase of the SDG Historic Tour will involve the installation of seven (7) additional plaques, including three (3) in the Municipality of South Dundas.

The plaques were made available through funding provided by SDG Counties, Swank Construction, the Thompson family of Iroquois, and the Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry Highlanders foundation.

The three South Dundas plaques will be located in Morrisburg, at the Municipal Hall, at the corner of Elst Avenue and Rotterdam Way in the Dutch Meadows subdivision, and in Iroquois, along the waterfront recreation path.

The Morrisburg Municipal Hall plaque will celebrate the life of Dr. Marian Hilliard, who was one of the first Canadian women licenced to practice medicine in Canada. Dr. Hilliard was born in Morrisburg and served in the field of gynaecology and obstetrics.

The Dutch Meadows will recognize the efforts of Canadian troops in the liberation of cities in The Netherlands during the Second World War. The subdivision bears the name of some of these cities. More than 7,600 Canadians lost their lives in operations to liberate The Netherlands, including almost 100 members of the Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry Highlanders.

The Iroquois waterfront recreation path recognizes the Thompson family’s contribution to the economy of the area and Thomas and Margaret Thompson’s first general store, which was established in the late 1800’s on King St. in Iroquois. It specialized in coffee, teas, and dry goods. More than 100 years later, the family continues to operate a thriving lumber and building supply business.

“We would obviously like to thank our partners for their kind financial contributions as well as a passion for local history,” said Lihou. “I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Susan Robinson from the Dundas County archives who has been a great ally throughout this entire project.

“Our plan is to order these plaques soon; we just got a confirmation today in fact that our manufacturer is ready to go so presumably by the end of this month we’ll be sending those plaques out to be manufactured. “We’ll get them back probably before the end of the year and we’ll store them and then SDG County staff will do the installation in the spring.”

“Thank you for sharing with us tonight,” said Mayor Jason Broad. “I do know in all my travels with Susan Peters over the last two years she mentions Dr. Maran Hillard a lot so that’s great to have that plaque, and with the Dutch Meadows, I do want to say that former Mayor Byvelds and Ron Swank were a key part of making that happen so that was great.

“Then, this summer when MP Duncan, MPP Quinn and I were celebrating with the Thompsons their 160th anniversary kind of came to us for maybe a plaque similar to what we’ve been doing, so Todd went right to work on that one. I thank you for that one Todd, they’re great and looking forward to seeing them up next summer.”