Coulson’s Hill

Highway 11 Ontario Coulson's Hill highway11.caAs you travel on Yonge Street / Highway 11 from Bradford, you’ll pass through two hamlets, both home to two churches, sitting atop a hill.

Churchill is one.  Coulson’s Hill is the other.

On the way up to Coulson’s Hill you’ll pass three farm stands, a garden centre, and a farm with a sign advertizing “Nonna’s Firewood.”

The town site for Coulson’s Hill is actually just off Highway 11, one turn west.  That’s where you’ll find the two churches – one Anglican, one Presbyterian – a cemetery, and a few houses.  I know that these churches draw from the surrounding farm country, but with a swath of churches 10 minutes south, in Bradford, another two churches up in Churchill, maybe ten minutes north on Yonge Street, you can’t help but wonder how big their congregations are.  What keeps these churches going?

There is also a really big Garden Gallery just north of Coulson’s Hill, possibly in Fennell.  Fennell was was a dot on my map but I never saw a town sign for it.

Coulson's Hill, one of two churches in town, Highway 11

Church #1

Church in Coulson's Hill, Ontario off Highway 11

Church #2

Apple farm stand, Highway 11 Ontario near Coulson's Hill

Driving along Highway 11 in northern Ontario, almost each town has some big weird thing on the side of the road – sometimes a snowman, sometimes an animal, sometimes a curling rock. I don’t know if this apple counts.

Kernel Simpson's Farm Stand, Coulson's Hill, Ontario, Ontario Highway 11

For a while I was into wearing baseball caps with minor league baseball because the logos were so often so bad. This corn dude reminds me of the Cedar Rapids Kernels hat I wore proudly for age.

5 thoughts on “Coulson’s Hill

  1. Came across this site when searching for information about Coulson’s Hill. My great grandfather was a Coulson and I’m related to Brownings as well, who resided in the Coulson’s Hill/Churchill area. Just wondering whether anyone knows any history of this place or anyone in either family?

  2. Nothing I love more than rambling along through the highways and biways of rural Ontario – there’s always something fun to discover! Thanks for your thoughts on this area. My husband and I will be driving to Scanlon Conservation Area today so we might take a look at these landmarks. And we’ve been to the greenhouse [Bradford Garden Gallery] and it’s great – especially for holiday decor. It has a sibling in Barrie that is one of our go-to’s when we’re in town.

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