George’s Brook is believed to be the earliest permanent settlement in Smith Sound, and possibly named after an early settler by the name of George Pelley.

In 1950, a Post Office opened in George’s Brook with Mona Pelley as post mistress. In October 1985, the community got its first waymaster, Charles Pelley.

Milton was originally called King’s Cove after the family that had lumber operations there.  In 1910, however, it was renamed Milton (after, some believe, the English poet, John  Milton).

It seems to have been settled around 1869 by William James Adams and his four sons and three of his four daughters. They came from Old Perlican, on the far side of Trinity Bay, but were of Scottish origins. The Adamses still remain prominent in the area, serving on Council and, amongst other things, operating the Newfoundland Cider Company and The Milton Inn.

Milton was primarily a logging community, and at its height in the 1930s is reported as hosting four water-powered and eight gas-powered saw mills. The name ‘Saw Pit Brook’ on the stream that runs past the current Community Garden hints at this past.

One of Milton’s  greatest claims to fame is that it is the area from which, on September 5 1822,  William Cormack and his Mi’kmaq guide, Sylvester, set off on their historic trek across the interior of the island, reaching St George’s Bay two months later.

A plaque on Bar Road commemorates the expedition. The National Historic Person designation of the monument is, however, presently up for review by Parks Canada.

There are several brick clay deposits along the shores of Smith Sound that triggered a local brick-making industry, and there was a notable brick manufacturing operation in Milton, at the end of what is now Brickyard Road, until the 1970s.

The Bonavista Branch railway line once ran through both communities.  Milton provided a siding at one point, overseen by Mr. Herbert Adams, while George’s Brook had a station.  The Island’s railways were finally abandoned in the 1980s.  The former railbed (which is not owned by the Town) now serves mainly as a snowmobile trail in winter and an ATV/dirt bike route at all other times. Other than the railway spikes found in abundance in the ground, there is little else to show for this part of the Town’s history, though a maintenance crew’s ‘speeder’ has been restored and sits on display in the Steven Chaulk Memorial Park, roughly where the station was.

Submarine cables have long been an essential part of intercontinental communications. The first telegraph cable came ashore at Heart’s Content in 1866.  The ‘Greenland Connect’ fibre optic cable arrived in Milton in 2009 and – something of a hidden gem – connects North America to Greenland and, via Iceland, to northern Europe.

On May 8, 2018, the two communities incorporated as the Town of George’s Brook-Milton.

Our present Recreation Centre is George’s Brook’s former school house.  Council has secured several projects and grants to stabilize its foundations, stem its leaks and install a new septic system.  It is hoped that one day this will become our Town museum.

There were several churches in the area which over time variously got moved, dismantled and/or re-purposed.  When the United Church beside the main cemetery ceased operation, the Milton-George’s Brook Community Legacy Foundation was formed to save the building for the community. The Foundation graciously passed this to the new Town and Council has, through securing a series of grants and projects, refurbished it from stem to stern as the Community Cultural House. The basement now acts as our Municipal Offices while the main floor provides a venue for up to 150, hosting all kinds of community events, from weddings to concerts, community meals, craft fairs and film festivals. Sadly, the original steeple was too water-damaged and rotten to save, but the round window – actually transferred from the previous church – was saved.  It is now clapboarded over from the outside to protect it from the elements, and covered with protective glazing inside … and backlit with LEDs so that it can continue to shine on future generations of townsfolk.

Anyone interested in forming a local GBM Historical Association should contact our Town Clerk-Manager on clerk@townofgbm.com  A digital collection of historical local images is being built by Janet Vardy, and the history of our local  veterans is being researched by the GBM Veterans Commemoration Association.