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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1975-07-24, Page 63�l 'mi�Mo-n���+,GcN%4it(1•eH t�JY_W.�l. �tlu+w i.lil•� 47 - 33 MOMS sS Street, The Ptet's, Street Rinks t 11 The at the end of Is ea four enclosed des,ed as suck in town. 'the first was on -Princess Street, rite eecend on Mary. Street (see nd the third at Orange Street surd ary. Most Of the parade in townhave at one time Or another boon used as rinks, and there was An open air rink beside the Fairhal ne' Dairy in 1910. In the 1930'S an open air rink with no aadrnisslon a was operated on the .public school grounds. As early as 1869 Gibbing's Paned, later known as Cardwell's, in the gully east' of _the north end of William Street was leased by the Village. Netted and provided with a shelter. The Princess Street' rink was built in the Fall of 1883. The contractor was D.R. Menzies. Details of the rink have not been found but there is no doubt that it Y was a frame building. In nreparatien for construction, a fn ne 4ui1dl4 was demolished which was significant in the very early history of the tokct, This 'building;- oflr M no detai known, wast tie old, • meeting room" 'which until about. 1856 had stood somewhere on .Rattenbury Street where it had served as the District Court Office. As a municipal building pre -dating incorporation as a village the "meeting ream" undoubtedly had an imrtant function in the early days -sof. the settlement. In the first season it was open. the 'Princess Street rink drew down a torrent of condemnation frompane of the pulpits in town. of wlircch the following is a sample. "Allow ' me . then to ask onwhich road does the .. skating rink stand ... Are not the swearer, the man of the world, the devotee of fashion, the .man of the bottle. the man of the bar and the libertine with his foul breath. largely represented there? How does the i n carvee to bo there? Who, to WWI ng into the rink eight after 'night, could discern bet- ween the professionard Saint and the professed Sinner? Is. there any 'difference? Are such not hankeriing atter the -fleshpots of. Egypt? Some professedly engage least these amusements for the good of their health. but is it not an established fact that skaters and dancers and 0044 that engage In violent exercise often shorten their days? Have these classes of Christians any influence of goad in t-coaaeptaatunrlty? Very tittle if any/ Their . ,garments are spotted by the. world ,.. How many go joyously to the rink or carnival and,spend an hour or so amusing their bodies, who ere seldom seen in the House of God on Sabbath, morning? Hut the rink survived 'until nit In the Previous year, part of the roof felt .ink the weight of snow rather then the weight of words. and in January of 1898 a new rink on Mary Street was opened,.In June the building was taken down and re~erected as as a barn on the farm of James Scott of Goderich Township. 64 - The Park C Copyright 1975, by Gerald Fremlin. The -origin of the Park is ob- scure. By 1878 it was known as the "agricultural show grounds" and- was probably owned by' the Agricultural Society which dates from at least 1856. It is thought that the Drill Shed at Orange and Wellingtron' Streets (se 42) was the first agricultural hall and was ap- propriated as a drill hall in 3666. The aquisition of the Park as the agricultural show grounds may date from that year. An- "a•Srioultural hall"' is known tohave been on the present park property by 1883 but it was not new at that time. In that year the Clinton Curling and Skating Company attempted to obtain the agricultural ball as a rink, and failing to do so, built the Princess. Street ring (see 67). In 1885 there was aa•oltng skating rink in the hall, although this seems to have been a one. season feature. In the fall of 1903 the building seems to have fallen on evil days, for it was rented out for the purpose of fowl plucking, and some miscreants were ap- prehended making off with some of the said fowl through a hal �.,(n �,...._ the bending. In ti fabled wi r of 1903414 tireroof caved in from the weight of snow, but in the following summer the Town was storing "articles" in the building. Its final fate is not known. At some time before 1893. the Clinton Gun Club (skeet and live bird shooting) had its grounds and club house on , the Park grounds, ' and moved out in that year. which was possibly an encouragement to the cricket and tennis clubs to lay out a cncket crease and tennis court in the following year. There had been a race track on the grounds prior to 1895 but for how long is not known - probably net before 1877 when Andrews' track was opened.'(se 54). The track in the Park' was stili therein 1904 when a "unique and substantial grandstand" was erected on the inside of the track. This grandstand is understood to have been approximately on the site of the present : swimming pool, and served a baseball diamond. In 1903 a golf club was formed in town and tried the Park as a golf course big found it wanting. presumably, as with the Gun Club. to the great relief of other users. It has not been determined whentTte race track and the 1804 grandstand passed out of . being, but they were gone- by. the 1930's when there was . ar, different grandstand - different from either the present one or the past one, serving a baseball diamond but no rape track. The recent history of the Park has not been traced for this article. 69 --north end of William Street copyright, 1975 By 1869. T.R. Foster, who previously had operated ' his woollen mill at the northeast corner of Princess and Albert Streets (see 52), was in oc- cupance of a . two-storey brick factory at the north end Of William Street, a little south of George Lavis',,present barn but north of the present houses. It is thought to have been built by Mr. Foster. tut the builder may have been Foster. Gtbbings who owned much of the adjacent land to the east. 'Mr. Poster left the business " about 1874. and the weellen mills were temporarily operated by Thomas Gibbings until" he •leased it ' to T. Corbett in 1875. Mr. Corbett left these' premises in 1881 and built a new woollen mill on Mary Street (see 45). The building on William Street then stood vacant for ten years during which time it felI into disrepaaiir. In 1884 a wall blew down in a windstorm, and in 1890 someboys had appropriated it ai a club house. furnishing it with .a stolen stove and some lamps. They were unceremoniously -evicted by Ath- Constable Wheatley. Hugh Moore's tannery on Mary Street (see 41) burned in _1891, and after receiving a sub- scription of $300 from private citizens, Mr. Moore re- established his tannery in the old woollen mill on William" Street, however, he died the following year. In that year, 1892, Henry Stevens bought the property and converted it to a planing mall' which remained in operation for 12 years after which in 1904, it became the Clinton Showcase Company. This organization which grew out of a 'cabinet- making enterprise started by a Mr. Carter In Thortfas Mackenzie'8 planing mill (see 30) produced a finely crafted showcase known as the "Silent Salesman"- In April 1905 the William Street building burned downiand was not replaced. A few stones and timber on the east side of William Street may be the remains of the building. Near the woollen mill, but precisely where is not known. there was a cheese factory in 1875 operated . by Peter Stealth and 3,D. David. It *as probably built after 1871. In 18778 it was taken apart and moves to Blyth.