5 Dundas Street East - Munn's United Church

Established in 1823 as the Munn's Methodist Chapel

The land on which Munn's Church stands is part of the original 200-acre Lot 15, Concession 1, North of Dundas Street (NDS) as surveyed by Samuel Wilmot in 1806 following the Mississauga Purchase of 1805. The survey used Dundas Street, laid out in 1793, as the base line and Wilmot laid out four concessions south of Dundas Street and two to the north. The Registry documents are very difficult to read but in 1807 Lot 15 was sold to John Robinson who owned it until 1812. In 1816 Daniel Munn, who had purchased the lot across Dundas in 1808, purchased it. The area became known as Munn's Corners. In 1816 Munn sold the back half of the lot. After he died in 1822 the remaining property became the property of his wife and family. In April 1841, Charles Biggar and others, executors to Daniel Munn, sold the property to Justus and Jordan Munn, sons of Daniel, buying out the rest of the heirs. The same day Justus sold his interest to his brother, Jordan. On 3 March 1842, Jordan Munn sold 60 square rods of the south half of Lot 15 to George Mulholland et al, Trustees "for church". A rod is 16.5 feet, the same as a perch or pole and is one quarter of a chain. 60 square rods is 3/8 of an acre.

The first Christian denomination to arrive in the area was Methodism through circuit riders travelling along Dundas Street in the early 1800s. The first recorded gathering at Munn's Corners was in 1823 in the Munn home.

In 1844 the original Methodist Chapel (known as the Parsonage Church) was constructed. In 1898 the current brick church was built and the name Munn appears again in the historical records. The union of the Methodist, Congregationalist and part of the Presbyterian Churches in 1925 created the United Church of Canada and Munn's officially became known as Munn's United Church.

In the mid 1970s the Province announced that Highway 5 (Dundas Street) would be widened. This required the moving of the church building back 40 feet from the road. The agreement with the province also included a dug church basement, a well and septic system. The Church manse was torn down, and a parking lot made.

The growth of the Munn's congregation and the shortage of space initiated the building of an addition which was dedicated in 1989. The addition included office space, a Church Hall and a daycare.

King Henry Munn, a son of Daniel Munn, provided this view of living at Munn's Corners to the Globe and Mail in a column titled: "Days of the Pioneers." Unfortunately, we do not have a date for the article.

"My parents lived in little Muddy York a long time ago. My mother's brother was Jordan Post, the old watchmaker of 1802. His shop and dwelling were on the southeast corner of Bay and King streets. He at one time owned quite a number of town lots. I suppose none of the property is in the hands of any of the relatives. My father, Daniel Munn, was a U.E. Loyalist, and drew a lot of land in Trafalgar Township, Dundas Street, lot No. 15, south of said street, 200 acres. In 1804 he has finished his settlement duties, and built his cabin, and in 1896 married his wife. He moved in 1807 to the Cabin in the he Wilderness, where there was plenty of work to accomplish, and any quantity of game, such as deer, bears, wolves, and plenty of salmon and small game. They raised a family of seven children, who all lived to be men and women; but they are all dead, and I only am left. I am living on the old farm. Thank God, I am spared to see this day."