Charlie Fairbank has a bit of a history mystery on his hands after a piece of concrete with his family name was discovered by a Petrolia area farmer.
Trevor Brand has been accepting concrete from contractors for years hoping to someday crush it into stone. But recently, Brand dropped a large chunk of concrete and the Fairbank name was revealed.
“It was actually upside down (on the pile) and I dropped it; otherwise it could still be in the pile. And who is to say – there could be more in there.”
Brand called Fairbank who came down to take a look at what may have been an archway supported by posts with a square piece on the top.
The name is unmistakable but there is some question about the date – Fairbank believes it was likely 1888 but pieces of the stone had chipped away over the years; Brand says it seems to be 1893.
Either way, Fairbank isn’t sure where it came from, speculating it may have been at “The Big House” at one time. “I was responsible for my grandmother’s woodbox, so I was all through the house and all through the orchard. I don’t remember that stone…I wish I could tell you where it came from but I don’t recall it.”
Fairbank will bring it to the Oil Springs homestead and place it at the entrance on Drury Road. “For now, I will accept it as it is and then try and puzzle out where it is from,” he says adding “there are other people in town who should remember what this is from.”