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Contents: Main
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Lambton's Plank Road Built by private money in 1858-59 by Malcolm Cameron, George Durand and others to get the newly found oil from Oil Springs and beyond to Sarnia where it would be refined. Cost of the road was $40,000, half of which was borne by the city of Sarnia. Thick woods covered most of the 40km but a path was struck, land was purchased and trees were felled. A portable saw mill followed the felling operation and sawed the white oak trees into slabs six inches thick and ten feet long with heavy stringers underneath for a bed. Passages for a second vehicle were made at every half mile. Three toll gates were established in 1862, one at the crossing of what is now Russell and Ontario streets in Sarnia, one at the corner of LaSalle road and Plank Road and one at the corner of Rokeby and Mandaumin roads. The planks in the road were difficult and costly to keep in good repair and the road was graveled in 1875. By 1956 it was paved and continues to be one of the busiest roads in South Lambton County.
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