Saturday, November 18, 2006
St John the Evangelist, Brussels, Ontario
St John the Evangelist parish began in 1860 with the current building officially opened on the 13th of August 1876. Almost from the beginning it has been part of 2 to 4 point rural parishes; it currently has as its sister congregation Trinity Church, Blyth, about 22km away. The original settlers in the 1840's and 50's were mostly of Scottish descent but English as well. The village was originally known as Ainleyville, named after the original landowner. When the Grand Trunk railway came through the town the workers on the line, who were mostly from Belgium, named the station Brussels. Soon after the Post Office also changed its name to Brussels and that became the name of the community.
