The Huron Expositor, 1978-06-29, Page 60THE LOOBYS—The Looby family is one of 'Dublin's older families.
Louis Looby, was the youngest son of Edmond Looby, an irish-man
who had settled on a 50 acres farm just west of the village of Dublin.
In.1883, when Edmond died, his widow moved the family into the
village of Dublin itself.
Louis Looby completed his education at the age of 12 and started
working in a McKillop Township sawmill. Some years later, in
partnership with Joseph Nagle of Dublin, he formed a construction
company, and laid the foundation for Looby Construction Ltd. Mr.
Looby married Ann Ryan of Lucan in 1909. Mrs.' Looby had been
teaching in the public school prior to her marriage.
In 1938, Mr. Looby died, and his wife assumed his duties' as
inspecting trustee for the village, of Dublin, a position she held from
1938 to 1951.
Today Looby Construction is under the management of the sons of
Ann and Louis Looby.
CONGRATULATIONS
• to the
Citizens of DUBLIN .
on your
100th Birthday
CEMENT GRAVEL CRUSHED STONE
FILL TOP SOIL
BACK HOE AND EXCAVATION
JOHN H. NicLLWAIN CONSTRUCTION LTD.
Seaforth, 527.1253
0,ntarlo
a
"."
rycni- :in lorK11114 QC"
THE HURON EXPOSITOR, JUNE 29, 1978 — 33
Dublin's phone corn an
(From A Hibbert Rview Part 2. 19591
The first telephone, connected at that
tune with the Bell Telephone Company.
was installedln Matthew Williams' store.
and the central office was still there after
James Canning took over the store and
until the new McKillop.Logan & Hibbert
Telephone office was ready for business.
As early as 1903. Cromarty and Staffa were
connected by Bell Telephone with Dublin.•
with . only a' very' few subscribers. '
'l'ie new Company was organized in 1 908
when the area was-bought Out from the Bell
Telephone Company.. The capital was
provided by local shareholders. Dr. A.
Michell, w'ho was • the promoter- Of the
privately owned • Mile, was the first
president, and Thomas Drown. V.S.. of
.theStaffa: was St- secretary. The
directors were' 'Robert -Barbour, Harry
Templeman, Robert. Norris, David Bruce
and James Norris. The president and
secretary were soon replaced by John
BenneWiesund Albert A.' Colquhoun. ,Miss
Wry Beale was the chief operator from the
start of the cornpany until She retired only a
few months before her death in January,
1954. 11 .11 1908. from• tier miniature
switchboard, she' serviced 34 subscribers
on single lines to • Staffa, Bcechwood.
Bennewies' Mills and McCrae. ,The
number has now increased to more than
650 subscriber's Within a.10-mile radius of
the village. The charge per year was $12,
and continued the same for many years..
The rate was raised in 1957 to $2.40 'per
month. • • . • •
The first •long distance call made-was to
the Empire BreWery at Stratford: There
was nothing methodical about the first
telepho-ne directory published. Miss Beale
merely wrote the names down as they came..
into her mind, without giving even too
much thought to the 'spelling and the
directory came off the press just as the• list
was given to the printer. No one worried.
about it. Why should they, beCause
everyone in the . community knew
everybody else!
On February 22, 1922, the whole
telephone system was destroyed by a .slect
storm, but was completely rebuilt again by.
December.. 1923. The first central
6X-change-building was sold to Joseph Lane
and moved, to his farm in McKillop by Alex
Darli ng mid son, John, a few weeks 'after
the new office was opened in 1953.
George Diegel -came to Carronbrook in.
1871, and opened his harness shop in, 1872
where the telephone office stands today. •
This.building, his house and stable were
burned in the fire of 1879, but the shop was
rebuilt again on the same'spot in the fall'of
that same, year. Edward Diego!' followed
'his •father and. sold the shop in 1950 to the•
McKillop, Logan & Hibberr Telephone
Company, when plans were being made to
replace their • old central office. This
building was torn down and the new
building of insulated frame construction
was built on this lot, just•south of the old
exchange building, at a cost of $8,000, in
1952. Henry Leonhardt, Brodhagen, did
'the carpenter work, - and • Earl Dick,
Cromarty, the -cement work. The control
panel was built and wired by Lloyd Elliott,
who has been in the construction . and
maintenance department for 39 years.
January 20, 1953, was moving day from the
old to the new buildinp,.
The president for 1958 was Matthew
Murray, and Mrs. Catherine M. Feeney
was secretary-treasiver. The directors
were Albert Siemon. Clem Krim skopf,
Patrick Jordan. Lyle .Worden and Herbert
Ma ha ay ,lohn .1, Holland retired in 1958
after serving on the board for over forty
years.* Miss Mary O'Connell. n 01 over
thirty years' service, is now chief operator.
Joseph Kidd's while brick store was
built in 1808, and a few months after the
tire another section was added, making in
all three stores on the g mond floor. with a
large opera house above. This I :1st addition
was built by George . Kydd (no relation).
mason and - builder from Osborne
Township. The printed invitations to the
opening ollthe Grant Opera .11011-bear the--
ckne January 30. 1880,
In Kidd's store almost everything one
required. could he prqured -• furniture..
hardware. dry goods. groceries. hoots and
.shoes, crockery, liquor. millinery. tailored
and ready-made clothes. There was also in
the Wilding 3 branch of. the Doniin ion
Telegraph Company. and also the. Post
. Office after 1872. His son..Gcorge
had diarge Of the undertaking business,
and another. Louis, was postmaster for a
time after his , father.' By the late 70's a
siding was built from the railroad track to
the back of this store. making it easier to
unload the large hogsheads of molasses
and other heavy merchandise wind)
arrived: here daily..
• Others who .have done business. 'of
various kinds in • t he block in later. years
have been John .1. McKenna. Edward
Baker, Ed ward Murphy, Th ()Inas
MOlyneaux, Carmichaol; William
Stapleton, Charles McDaid, Angus
Kennedy, •WilliaM Redmond. 'Dan .
Costae, Jim•my Curtin.. Gerald H011ood.
William Hills and Ducklow • Produce.
Loobys are the' present owners, and in 1955
Completed 'the' renovation 'of •part of the
building into, up-to-date apartments, 'with
two large stores on the ground floor. One is
used as a butcher shop 'by •Charle's Friend
and Andrew Whetham, who do cu -stom,
slaughtering and also cure and smoke the
meat in a separate building: back, of their
store.. George Go:elder is, since December:
1955, .in charge of the otherlarge modern .•.
super-market. • •
Toni King,, who. came from •Athlofte,
Ont.', with the Kidds and who, when he•first
caulk, was their bookkeeper, • became
another 'prominent" busknessman 'in the.
village.lielaterowned .0 home and general
store 'just south of Joseph " Kidd's btIck
'store., and was in business here till
sometime alter his wile died. For five years
after Matthew Williams,. Toni King's
brother-in-law,' came back to Dublin in
1886 from • his store in Croinarty,. he "did
'business here also. In 'later -years James
Jordan had a grocery store in the north part.
of King's home, which is 110W. owned by
WirS.Tliornas 'Molyn,cux.
'Thomas King was deputy-rcpve of' the
township in. 1865; reeve from 1868 until
1873, and Warden of Perth County in 1872.
He owned .part of the -North 50,-or Lot 15,
•from 1872 and had most of it surveyed into
village lots. This .1-s known as -the King
Survey. His wife, 'the -former Mary
Williams, died in 1881; and left him 'with 'a
large Thmily Of small children. Front here
lice and his• family, Oved to California in
• the middle 80's, where he.. spent the
remainder of his life. He died around 1903:
h was around 1892 that Matthew
Williams purchased the property on the
casts side of Main Street owned by John
Kidd on which had been his store and his
home, The shire was burned in the 1879
lire. George Kidd, doe's son, for at time
lived in tlie I1011.11e. 11111 art he time Williams
11011ghl II John J. McKenna had part of it
for his drag store'. Williams very soon had
Tom King's store nOwed across the street
:aid placed at the back of Kidd's house.
;When it was coiitplcted. he had a
sUbstantial brick store with living quarters.
the one which is noW•Ownedity-71-oseph Dill.
-lames-Canntitg bough ore- tams tit
1901. He died while here. but his widow,
with Jim Carmichael as an assistant:
carried on till Peter Dill bought in 1907.
Besides groci".-ries, , Dill • sold boots, shoes.
(fry goods. etc.' 1-lis son. .10e Dill. since
1934. has carried on the same business.
The first telephone central was in this store
in Matthew Williams' time. and the
lkoninion.Bank branch did Business here a
short time while Mrs. Canning was in
(From A ,11ihbert Review l'art 2, 1959)
fhr Loohy Construction Work which was
started on a small scale by Louis Looby
many years ago has grown to be a big
ca ncers; under the management ()I' his four
sons- Joseph IL F. Looby, Clayton . lAiohy,
louts Lo
.
by and Clarence T. Loohy.
These contractors and Ponders, some years
ago, formed three separate companies.
namely Looby & Looby:.C.- Looby Coustrue-
,
charge of the store: •
It was John. McConnell,. Sr.-, who built
the first frame small building beside Dill's
store to provide aeFommodation for tailor
George Howard, whose father lest his shop
in the fire of 1879. Con Friel, a shoemaker,
also did business in part of the building. c'
After Dr. Michell gave up his office in John
J. McKenna's home, which was later •
James Jordan's, another frame building,
similar in size to the other, was built and
Dr- M. ichell then had this for his office as
long as he remained in the village. From
1918 until 1952 these 'two buildings were
used by David McConnell., and later by his
son: Joe,_...fOr a general , store. George
Goettler did business here from 1952 until
to-intwicbd-ill-Deeentber-9--W-U"---er-O-S-S-Iffe —
street to the Looby block. Joe McConnell is
,,the present owner, and the Dublin Electric,'
managed by Don MacRae, is doing
business here' at the present time.
Around 1920 William Hills left the .Kidd .
store and built the cement one south of
McConnells. He carried on a hardware
business here till lie died in 1931. ThOmas
-Butters. the present occupant, followed
Hills.
halt anti Louis .1. Looby Construction. In
May. 1955, these were reorganized and
became kRown as the firm of Looby
Construction Ltd. •
. • Their culvert, bridge and
• road construction work extends to the north
as far as Sudbury. and to Cornwall in the
Lust. Here in the, village they have their
main office, large vehiele storage sheds
and repair shops for heavy machinery. '
Looby C,ortstruction
once three firms