HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1975-07-24, Page 56• .
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Location saw succession of buildings
52--narthweStcorater of
Albert IMO Princess Streets
Copyright, 105 --
The building recently sold by
J.W.-Ceuitter 10 the Becker Milk.
Company at the northwest corner
of Albert and Princess Streets is
the latest in a succession of at
least four buildings that have
occupied the location,
Before 1857. T.R. -Foster's
Woollen Milt stood on. the corner.
It was a carding 'and fulling mill,
which is to say that it processed
raw wool for spfnning. and
rrecessed .cloth after it had been
woven. Before the Rhttenbury
Street Methodist Church was
built. in 1851 (see 59) the
Methodist congregation used the
mill for church service and
S,'unda'y school. By 1869 Mr. ,(
Foster had moved his operation
to a building on William Street
I see 69) and John Bean was
'perating a. turning shop in the
Princes S and Albert tireet
premises, speCialaing, in bed-
.teads. In all probability he was
-.haring the building with Can-
telon (or Canaan) Brothers —
arriage and wagon. maters, for
tiy 1869 they were in that line of
business.
tiy_1880 Cantelon's carriage
.and wagon making operation was •
being carried on in three ad-
joining buildings - tai workshop. a,
blacksmith • Shop., and - a
shpwroom. all of which were
destroyed by fire in 1880.
Immediately to the north,
Stephenson's brick blacksmith
shop withstood the flames. has
survived to the present day. and
is used as aostorehouse by John
Parker: The date Of construction
of this old shop has not been found
hut it is betieveti to be no earlier
than 1872 and may not. date back
that far.
After the fire of 1880 Mr. H.
. Ca nte!on bought out his brother' s
interest and erected a new shop.
It was of brick construction. 30 by
80 feet and two storeys high. In
1885 this shop was leased orsold.
to P.W. Hayward who was in the
carriage -making business, but in
1886 Mr. Hayward bought the old
'Presbyterian Church on James
Street (see 15) and shifted alt or
part of , his operationto that
building. .In November 1899
Oakes, who had founded the
Oakes ' Organ Company,
selmrated from that company
and fitted up Hayward's Princess
Street premises for the
manufacture of organs. This
made three organ factories in the
town, Doherty's (see- 71). the
Clinton Organ Company (see 45).
and G.F. Oakes at his establish-
ment at Albert and•Princess.
His term there, however. was
short-lived, for in March 1891 Mr.
Hayward sold the old
Presbyterian Church to the
Roman Catholic congregation
and resumed occupance of the
Princess Street property.
necessitating Mr. Oakes'
removal. He set up briefly in an
unidentified building on the site
of J.B. Racey's old store on the
west side of Albert Street (see
51). Mr. Hayward's re-occupance
was also brief, for in August 1892
the two-storey brick building was
completely destroyed by fire.
After Hayward's fire in 1892,
the ,site reverted to H. Cantelon
who in September 18924sold it to
Jacob Milier who.. by June 1894
had started construction of a new
two-storey frame -building "on'the
employing S.J. Andrews to
do the stonework for the foun-
dations. This building was
nearing completion when Mr.
Miller's blacksmith shop on the
south side et Princess (see 51)
was burned in July 1894. The new
building was completed in May
1895 with a bee- to raise the
smokestack. This buitding sur-
vived until torn down by J.W.
Counter in 1968 when the present
building was erectedk,
Mr. Jacob Miller, grandfather
Mrs. Doris Batkins. in addition
to being a blacksmith was in the
water supply business before the
municipal water system was
constructed. Amongst other
water -related undertakings, he
operated the sprinkling cart that
kept the dust down on the main
.areets. In 1899 he erected a
windmill at the Princess Street
site to pump water. In the
following year, having surplus
space in his two-storey frame
building, he rented quarters to
J.E. Creeley of Seaforth who
installed a "skimming plant".
In this operation 'milk was
pasteurized and had the cream
separated or "skimmed". The
cream was sent to,.Seafortb to be
made into butter, and the
skimthed milk war returned to
the. farmers. Milk and cream
could be purchased at the plant
by the public. This operation
continued until Mr. Creeley
opened a creamery in Clinton
south of the railway station (see
19) in 1901.
Aacob Miller's shop, built 1894, demolished 1968.
53 Queen and, John
Sorgharn syrup made here
53—west side
of Queen Street
north of John Street
• c copyright 1975 ,
Lr J1tnury 1881, on the site of
the'present one -storey apartment
building at 202, 204, and 206 Queen
Street. ,S.J. Andrews erected a
mill for producing sorghum
syrup — a product similar to corn
syrup. formerly used for human
consumption and as an additive
464
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wjeieLtt JAW t
A (TV
-11. Carillon's Carriage Works, built in 1880, burned 1892. Stephenson's blacksmith shop, just
showing on the right, still stands in 1915..
ea
to stock feed. Mr. Andrews at the
same time isseed instructions for
the growing of sorghum which at
that time. locally at least, was
also known as sugar cane.
In 1886 a cider mill, apparently
in a separate building, was added
to the establishment, and at the
same -time steam power was.
installed. The enterprise was
enlarged again in 1894 by addition
of a chopping mill. and in 1901
apple butter was added -to the list
of products — presumably
manufactured in the cider mill. It
would.appear that by 1901 there
were three if not four buildings on
the site — the cider mill. the
sorghum mill. the chopping mill
and the engine house. In 1898 a
pond was excavated north the
site to supply water to the boiler
through,a 34 inch pipe.
This groupof buildings was
apparently maintained until 1910
when the present cement block
building was erected as a year-
round factory for the production
of cement blocks, tile and other
concrete products. As early as
1908. Messrs. Andrews and
Routledge had been in this line of
busieess. and there is reference
An 1901 to Mr. Andrews making
cement pipes.
Prior to 1906. the Mayor of the
Town functioned as a magistrate.
trying casesthat did not require a
higher court. To relieve the
Mayor of this duty. an office of
Police Magistrate was created in
1906. and the first incumbent was
S.J. Andrews. It is understood
that his duties as magistrate
were carried on in an office in the
building on Queen Street.
When the concrete products
plant ceased operations has not
been determined, but it was
inoperative in the 1930's. After
the Second World War it was
Stanley's Met Market and an old
slaughter house to the rear was
reactivated. Subsequently the
cement block plait was con-
verted tin the preserirapartmetitS.
Proud to serve
Clinton and area.
;4)
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