Walkerton was the largest community to develop within Brant Township. A sawmill and a gristmill were built in 1852-3 by Joseph Walker, for whom the town was eventually named. Walkerton grew so fast that it never incorporated as a village. It was governed by Brant Township until it incorporated as a town in 1871 with a population of 1,900 people. By that time, it was already the County Town, the seat of Bruce County’s Government, (having become so in 1866), with the County offices, court house and a jail built.
The Municipality of Brockton was formed on January 1, 1999, by amalgamating the township of Brant, township of Greenock and the town of Walkerton. Brockton’s name was formed as a portmanteau of the three merged municipalities (Brant, Greenock, Walkerton).
