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Tarbolton Church – An
Enduring Link to the Past
Tarbolton is another community that is remembered for its church. The
district was well settled and served by Tarbolton School as early as
1883 and Roden Post Office, established in 1887, when they built the
Tarbolton Presbyterian Church in 1888. It stands today on a gentle
knoll, overlooking its attractive well-tended grounds and cemetery.
That property was donated by James Sibbald and a generous donation from
J. W. Wedderburn and some of his friends from Scotland helped finance
the Church. The congregation had been established for some time,
meeting in the school.
The first schoolhouse had sixteen pupils of all ages and grades up to
grade eight in its first years. Like many pioneer schools, it wasn’t
open all year but closed from December 1st to April 1st and the pupils
enjoyed only two weeks of summer vacation.
It was struck twice by lightning and a world globe, hanging from the
ceiling, was split in two. Luckily, the children were on their way home
at the time.
The region’s Post Office was called Roden. It would have been common
for a district to be identified by the name of its post office. That is
the name usually found on the maps. But in this case the name Tarbolton
was already well established so it took precedence, as seen here in
this Brandon Sun notice from 1988
June 18, 1896 - Brandon
Sun
Tarbolton
– not on the map but worthy of a byline in the Brandon Sun
Time passes, buildings crumble, old trails are overgrown; but the
Tarbolton Church and its attractive Cemetery remain a very real
connection to the community formed here long ago.
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