This sign named after Black settlers keeps getting stolen. The solution may be a 'monster-size stone' monument

There is no official tally on how often the signon Negro Creek Road hasbeenstolen, but in the last two years, Nancy Lee figuresvandals have snatched the markerand its various replacements30 times.

"People are literally taking out a saw and cutting down the pole at this point. It's ridiculous," Lee said, noting the vandals' motives, for better or worse, remain a mystery.

The roadis in the Township of Chatsworth, a community about a 20-minute drive south of Owen Sound, Ont.The name Negro Creek Road harkens back to the rural community'searliest time, when 50 Black familiesmany of them escaped slavessettled the areaafter the War of 1812.

In the 1990s,township officials tried to change the road's nameto the name of a white settler, an idea opposed by Black descendants and residents. Itresulted in a case beforethe Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, whichruled against the name change.

Today, it's easy to see why a racially charged name like Negro Creek might be controversial, but it's a name locals, including the direct descendants of the area's original Black settlers, have fought for decades to keep.Now, community members believe they've come up with a way to keep the historic name prominently displayed for decades to come.

'Monster-size stone' would keep name prominent

"One of the farmers on Negro Creek Road has donated this monster-size stone that no human being is going to be able to pick up, and we're working on being able to find a spot for it. We're hoping it's going to be on the west side of Highway 6 at Moto Park Road."

Lee said that ideally, the memorial will hold a plaque that will display 11 names from 10 original Black settler families, along with a recognition that the land was once under the stewardship of the Saugeen First Nation.

"We want to have their names inscribed forever to come and we'd love to have signs going up Highway 6, reminding people you're coming up to Negro Creek, and you can pull off and have that moment where you can reflect and remember the people who came before them."

Lee discovered the stories of the original 10 Black families through her work trying to uncover her own familytree. She is a direct descendant of Henry Miller, a man she fondly refers to as "Old Henry" and one of the first non-Indigenous people to settle in the Chatsworth area.

To get the memorial stone sanctioned by the municipality, the community is circulating an online petition to illustrate the groundswell of support.

Petition seeks popular support

The hope isit will pushthe local council into backing the project, because despite ample evidence that the area's first settlers were Black, not everyone wants to recognize it, according to Benjamin MacLeod.

Theco-ordinatorfor the community friends of Negro Creek, a local volunteer group that has been lobbying to give the area's Black history more pride of place in local history books, said the ties between the community's Black and white settlers have been severed by a divideas old as it is ugly.

"They've been severed by land dispossession and frankly, generations of racial hostilities and racial violence, and when the people move away and their stories are buriedit takes a lot of work to bring that back up to the surface, and some of the work is rebuilding some of those relationships in the community, which is what we do," MacLeod said.

MacLeod said it's why the community friends of Negro Creek regularly holdsocial events, so that farmers who live along the historic street can learn the history of the land, meet the descendants of the original Black families who cleared the land and hopefully create enduring friendships that will help create new kinships.

"We all chat about this and we try to figure out what the path ahead is."