Elora Ontario in Colour Photos: Saving Our History One Photo at a Time

Publisher Marketing: Elora is located in Wellington County on the Grand River and is about twenty kilometres north of Guelph, and twenty kilometres northeast of Kitchener-Waterloo. Elora was founded in 1832 by Captain William Gilkison, a British officer recently returned from India. Originally called Irvine Settlement, the village was renamed Elora when the post office was established in 1839. Gilkison named the community after his brother's ship, which was itself inspired by the Ellora Caves near Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. The Elora Gorge, located at the western edge of the village, is one of the most scenic areas in Southern Ontario with its limestone cliffs descending 80 feet into the Grand and Irvine rivers where small caves, rapids, falls and quiet waters beckon visitors. At the foot of Mill Street stands the Elora Mill, one of the few early Ontario five-storey grist mills still in existence. David Boyle, born in Scotland in 1842, came to Canada in 1856 and settled in this area. As a local school teacher, he began an extensive collection of native artifacts and became an archaeological authority. In 1886, Boyle was appointed the first curator of the Provincial Archaeological Museum in Toronto. He was dedicated to the study and retention of artifacts and he initiated an active programme of excavation and acquisition. Through his work on Ontario prehistory, Boyle gained international recognition as a leading Canadian archaeologist and anthropologist.