A Petrolia summer student has discovered maps which will unlock the door to more information on founding members of the hard oil town.
Alanna Frew, a Petrolia native who's studying Criminology with a minor in Psychology in the French Immersion program at the University of Ottawa, found records for the East End Pioneer Cemetery while doing research for the Petrolia Heritage Advisory Committee.
Committee Chair Liz Welsh said the original maps of the cemetery provide information on community founders that were in Petrolia before it was incorporated as a town in 1874.
"Our student was doing a bit more research on Hillsdale [Cemetery] when she pulled out what she thought were Hillsdale maps and opened them up and realized immediately that they were the East End Cemetery that we had been looking for, for a very long time," said Welsh. "It was just in a plain envelope. She was just opening up envelopes and there it was!"
Welsh said the committee had assumed the long-lost maps were destroyed by the Victoria Hall fire in 1989.
Historic maps found in Petrolia (Submitted photo)
She said along with the maps, most of the original lot purchase deeds were located.
"We had some deeds and small amounts of information that had been gathered by the Lambton Ontario Genealogical Society and that was about it. This has just opened up a whole world of research and information for us now that we can confirm names and plots and all kinds of things."
One deed remains unaccounted for, which would show the original purchase of the land parcel in 1870.
Welsh said they'll be using the new information to create interpretative signage for the site.
"Immediately what we're doing is having it professionally copied and digitized so that we can preserve the originals, because they're on cloth, and then we'll continue on with our research over the winter. We were hoping to have the signage up by the end of the summer, but now with this discovery, we realize there's so much more that we can include."
Welsh said the maps feature many recognizable and significant names of pioneers who established the community, like McGarvey, Lancey and Bishop.
The cemetery is located on North Street in Petrolia's east end.