Early into the 19th century, the settlement began to grow around the Adams’ mill as more settlers, mostly Loyalists and Scottish or Irish immigrants, established homesteads on the surrounding land. At this point, the settlement was home to a gristmill and a sawmill, later accompanied by an oat kiln and stone flour mill. By the 1840s, the sons of Gideon and Joel Adams inherited the land of what was to be the village of Ventnor; the settlement had by this time a blacksmith, a carriage shop, a general store and a hotel. During the 1850s, land was surveyed and divided into lots, and plans and maps were created detailing the further development of the village of Adams. In 1864, the village established its own post office, which ultimately led to its name change; Adams was deemed unacceptable by postal authorities as another village named Adams existed within Ontario. Ventnor was allegedly randomly chosen from a list of suggested untaken names given by Canada Post, and the village was immediately renamed Ventnor.