Lemieux, Ontario - The Bradley Family Farm

The Bradley Family Farm

At the epicenter of the landslide a family farm once stood, which had been owned by John Bradley and his wife Eleanor. Although this event is referred to as the Lemieux Landslide, it is somewhat of a misnomer in that it actually occurred just beyond the edge of where the town once was, on Prescott County farmland and roadway. Bradley had owned farm land on either side of the landslide and to the Nation River's edge with the exception of the very tip of the landslide, which had dislodged a relatively short section of Prescott and Russell County Road 16.

Locals had noted over the years, in the Ottawa Valley vernacular, how queer it was that parts of Bradley's fields often remained wet during the summer months. John Bradley, who had served on the Prescott County Township Council for 22 years, lived through many months of wrangling regarding the government's proposed purchase of the land including the farm, which had been with his family for 100 years. In particular, the prospect of closing and dismantling the St. Joseph Church was a real heart break for Bradley and the community. He died at age 92 just before the final phase had taken place and was spared of the transaction as well as seeing the middle-half of his farm slide into the Nation River.