This is a series dedicated to our love of history and the wonderful hobby of geocaching; once we saw that other cachers were enjoying our history-oriented caches, this series was the logical next step! Each cache in this series will tell you about a piece of Lanark Highlands history, including stories of the people and events which shaped this region. Once you have read about the history of the location, you will be able to feel the past around you as you explore the site and search for the cache itself.
The caches range in difficulty and terrain, but they should all be quick finds. They are all in quite rural/treed locations where GPS accuracy is often questionable, but none are difficult hides and we have provided helpful hints it you need them. They are all traditional caches, except where ideal locations are inappropriate for a cache, in which case simple redirects are used. For each cache page, though we have written the story, much of the information and many of the photos are courtesy of the Lanark and District Museum; please do not reproduce the story or photos without consent from the author (Matt Stafford) or the Museum. We hope you have fun learning something new and interesting about each location you visit in the Lanark Highlands; happy caching!
Hopetown
Despite having family connections throughout the Lanark Highlands, we have so far not included any personal history in our Lanark Highlands History stories. Any story about Hopetown, however, must include at least some mention of one of our families, the Duncans, who lived here throughout much of the village’s recent history and about whom there are many family stories. It was here, for example, that my grandfather coached baseball for many decades and where, at one baseball game on the diamond beside this cache’s location, he first met my grandmother. Grandparents, great-grandparents, and earlier generations all lived here in the little village of Hopetown.
While many local villages were founded by single families or individuals, we certainly cannot claim that Hopetown’s history began with the Duncans; in fact, the original community contained no Duncan settlers and wasn’t even called Hopetown. The area’s first settler was Robert Cannon, a cooper who came to Canada in 1820 with other Lanark Society settlers aboard the ship Commerce. The village began to grow, and took the name Currie’s Mill, when Cannon sold a part of his land to Robert Currie, who established flour, feed, and shingle mills. As was the case throughout the Lanark Highlands, such industry attracted additional settlers; by 1857 the village was home to over 100 residents.
As the village grew, Cannon built a hotel and cooperage and became the first postmaster, while other settlers established lumbering, blacksmithing, and wagon making shops, alongside grist and carding mills. As the village was now to receive mail service, an official name had to be chosen; to reflect the dedication of the early settlers who had toiled to build the village in the hope that it would someday be a thriving town, it was given the attractive name of Hopetown.
Many of the village’s early buildings, and the ruins of its original mills along the river, can still be seen today. For example, the church was built in 1899 to replace an original log church which was located across the road in the cemetery. One of the original schoolhouses remains as well; it was originally built atop the hill coming into the village from Lanark, but was moved to its present location in 1999 to protect its heritage. The present location of the school, beside the village’s baseball field, is where this cache is hidden. An original general store, pictured above in 1885, also remains at the posted waypoint. Though family members attended both the church and the schoolhouse, it is at the general store where Hopetown and family history join.
Since its opening, and like those of every village in the region, Hopetown’s general store has always been an important social hub for the village’s residents. Villagers and people from the surrounding area would come to the general store not only to stock up on the goods they required, but also to catch up with their neighbours and discuss local news and gossip over coffee. For many decades, this store was owned by my great-great-grandfather, Jim Duncan. So popular was Jim Duncan’s General Store among locals, a poem was written by a Hopetown resident who remembered visiting the store as a child;
The building which was Jim Duncan’s General Store still stands at the posted waypoint, as does his original gas pump stand across the street. Alongside many more relatives, Jim Duncan (pictured below) is buried in the Hopetown Cemetery. An important location in both local and personal history, please enjoy the village of Hopetown!
PLEASE NOTE- New Lanark Highlands History caches were placed in rural areas using an iPhone; coordinates have been checked many times but if you encounter a problem, please let us know by personal message and we will attend to it right away. Useful hints have been provided if you need help!