CANTON — There are 28 locations in the US referred to as Canton. Most are named after Guangzhou, China, which was beforehand recognized within the west as Canton.
In keeping with Canton historian Linda A. Casserly, that’s the case for Canton in St. Lawrence County.
“There was a number of commerce with China on the time,” she mentioned.
However because the easterners moved west throughout North America, some Cantons within the east could have influenced Cantons within the west.
That seems to be the case with Canton, New York. and Canton, Montana.
Of all of the Cantons in the US, Montana’s may be probably the most uncommon.
Canton, Montana, is on the backside of a lake.
Canyon Ferry Lake was created in 1954 with the damming of the Missouri River in western Montana.
Earlier than the valley was flooded, a number of properties and a historic church had been moved out of the flood zone, in response to Vic Pattern, a board member of the Canton Church Restoration Basis.
That church was inbuilt 1875, and in response to lore, was influenced by an inflow of settlers from Canton, New York.
“The supply on a number of the Canton stuff is individuals’s reminiscences being handed on over time,” Mr. Pattern mentioned.
The church was solely the seventh church inbuilt Montana and was not constructed by a selected denomination. It was as an alternative constructed as a neighborhood heart that will home touring ministers after they got here to city.
Canton was a secondary product of the Montana gold growth of 1862, Mr. Pattern mentioned.
“Most people that finally settled within the city of Canton got here from both Virginia Metropolis, Helena, Montana or Diamond Metropolis,” Mr. Pattern mentioned.
Diamond Metropolis, through the gold growth, grew to 10,000 individuals in 1867, he mentioned. By 1870, there have been solely 30 individuals residing there.
Most went on to chase the following gold growth, however a good quantity stayed and people who stayed moved down into the Missouri Valley, Mr. Pattern mentioned.
Sufficient of them had been from Canton, New York, that they influenced not simply the title of the city but in addition the fashion of the church they finally constructed.
A passage on the Canton Church Restoration Basis’s web site explains:
“The fashion, hardly ever present in Montana, displays the roots of many native settlers who hailed from Canton, New York, and elsewhere again east. Arched home windows with ornamental moldings and a fan mild over the unique four-panel entry doorways (now enclosed within the vestibule) are parts of this fashion.”
The church in Canton, Montana, seems remarkably just like the Bucks Bridge Group Church on County Route 14 in St. Lawrence County.
In keeping with a doc equipped by Sarah Darling Sheridan and written by Dwight Church, the church that stands now at Bucks Bridge was constructed round 1837.
The church was completely repaired in 1877.
“It was made increased and extra imposing by inserting a brand new roof over the previous one. A belfry was constructed and an addition placed on,” Mr. Church’s doc reads.
The Montana church was additionally up to date after its unique construct, Mr. Pattern mentioned, which included the addition of a belfry.
The church in Montana. finally develop into a Catholic church and is now owned by the Diocese of Helena, Mr. Pattern mentioned.
The Canton Church Restoration Basis holds a 99-year lease and makes use of the constructing for musical performances and historical past shows through the summer time. The church is because it was when it was moved and has no plumbing or electrical energy, Mr. Pattern mentioned.