Rectory Hill
Rectory Hill got its name because of a presbytery located on rural routes 10 and 11 approximately ten kilometres away from the village of Inverness. It was the first Anglican mission of the Township. The first Church, built in 1852 in the center of the cemetery, burned down in December of 1902. Charles King from Sainte-Anastasie near Lyster, accepted to finance the construction of a church on the condition that it be built on the opposite side of the road, in front of the presbytery. The new church opened its doors in 1904.
During Reverend Dickinson’s ministry from 1895-1915 many people left the region. All that is left of this once prosperous colony of artisans and farmers is the Anglican Church of Saint-Stephen, the priest’s house and the cemetery located in the middle of the hill.
Reverend H.A Dickson (1867-1915)
Reverend Herbert A. Dickson fulfils his duties at Rectory Hill between 1895 and 1915 (year of his death). Aside from editing the newspaper “The Gazette Megantic Edition” from 1899 to 1911, he also founds the Inverness Horticulture Society in 1906. On his estate, he planted an impressive variety of fruit trees such as apple, prune, cherry, shadbush and other varieties (walnut, chestnut, acacia, oak, maple, elm). He organized a consortium of investors in order to found the Megantic Telephone Company that would bring the installation of phone lines to Inverness in 1910.
Saint-Stephen Church on rural route 11 in Inverness, destroyed by fire at the end of May 2010 (Picture by MRC de l’Érable).
