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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance Times, 1935-05-16, Page 3Thursday, May 16th, 1935 HJSTORIC11..I'., REVXEW )P' T111. TOWN O11 WINC4-1.AM HISTORY OF THE kI STORY TOWN OF WINGHAM (Continued from Page Two) him off by running across Main Street, 'met • Dr. Gardner who was gal- loping along ou horseback, shouting, "Run, Lauchie, run, ;Jonathan Sadler w THE. LATE JOHN CUNNINGHAM Founder, President and General Manager of the Western Foundry ry Company,' Limited. is going to Hell on a cak© of ice, atiotx of Wingham as Village, the Then there was the: great flood in Au- gust, 1883, which swept away 'every- thing in its path. Again in 1913, when the ice jammed andthe river over- flowed its; banks several were trapped Wellington, Grey and I3ruee Division of the Grand Trunk Railway had been cempleted to Kincardine, In the next year (1875) the London, Huron and f3rttee • Division was also completed, eeeee• View of Minnie Street North, from the United Vhurch, P. in their houses and had to be taken out in boats. There was a great deal of rivalry between Upper and. Lower Wingham for a number of years. Up to the year 1874, the former could not boast of � anything very startling >manufac- taring. At the tirne of the Incorpor- This gave Wingham a high standing as a shipping centre. These two branches formed a Junction, 'about a mile and' a quarter from Town. At one time, it looked as if Wingham Junction might grow to be a place the picture --as' far as growth is cott- eerned, The First Village Council --1874 Reeve.—Mr, Benjamin Wilson, Clerk of Vi11age Alr. W, J. Hay- ward. Councillors—De, J. E. T arnblyn, IVIr. Thomas Gregory, Mr. George l'ettapiece, Mr. ,H. Davis. Mr, Wilsc.n served as Reeve in the years 1874-'i'5, 1877 and 1878. In tjte year 1.876, Mr, :Henry Davis served as Reeve. Incorporated as a Town, October 6th, 1878 Wingham continued to grow, and increased in population frpin seven hundred people as a Village in 1874, to a town of two thousand and twen- ty-two in 1879. Wingham and the present City of Oshawa were incor- porated as Towns on the sante day and year—October 6th, 1878, Hotels were numerous as there was a great deal of teaming done in those days from the North down to Clin ton—and hence the need of accommo- dation. There were three Hotels in' Lower Wingham, one at Zetland and one at the Junction. Upper Wingham could' boast of at least nine at one tune, viz,, The 1✓ change, owned by of importance but eventually, it Griffin, The Queens, by Cornyn, The i Manager of the Western Foundry (along with Zetland) passed out of Royal, by J', L. Brace (where the Company, Limited, Bank of Commerce stands), The Al- bion, kept by George Green '(where Mr. J. f4, C'hristi.e's stare is now sit- uated),, The Central Hotel, kept by McCutcheon (where 11tr. A,, M. Cra•sr- MR. I. C. MacLEAN Present President and General i6 irst d AIS 6164 an es - i1eter Homes FOR oteis esta ra 93 "Reci Hot" and "Huronic" Furnaces The Western Fiundry Co. Limited Wingham mmi Ontario :1.A(.r1i 111,11 ford noxa bus a fine. garage), The Bri- tish Hotel, kept by Simmons axid lien Leary (built where Frank Watson's North End Grocery now does busi- ness) and the Dinsley Hons:e kept by J, Dinsley and "now housing the ivEac- Le„tn Lumber and Coal Company, Then there was the A111cricat7, near where the Canadian Pacific. Railway new crosses the Main '.Stree.t. This was run by John Cargill. A Branch o ftJ'id Canadian Pacific Railway had been built and extended into•\'Vinghatt in 1887. This diel away with stage coaches and Wngham fast became a centre .of business, The First Town Council of Wingham 1878 Mayor (by acclamation)—Mr. Ben- jaMin Wilson. Reeve -Peter MacDonald. Councillors— Ward 1—Mr. John Neelands,; 1llr. John Ritchie, idr, R. M. Robertson. Ward 2—Mr. H. Lemmex, Mr, Thomas L.. Jobb, Mr.' George lfeKay. Ward 3—Mr. Thomas Bell,.Mr. W. Derr, Mr, L. Kieve. Ward 4 -Mr.. W, W. Inglis,, Mr. Wm. McClymont, Mr. George McKib- bon, Returning Officer—Mr. Bart Flynn. Town Clerk -Mr. Walter Hayward. Treasurer—Mr. John Dison. i ..r As.s essor 11Ir, Joseph Young:, Chief Constable—Mrs. James ,Dav- idson. ' Auditors --Mr. John Williams, Mr. Robert Mclndoo. The Standpipe at Wingham. rate I am going to give a partial' write-up of it. Quotations from the Wingham Times of December 21st, 1888: "Messrs, Gilchrist, Green and Com- pany, of the Union Factory, have en- larged their building. This was done A view of Josephine Street Sotuh, from the Queen's Hotel. ?inancial Standing — Year of Incor- poration Receipts—$9,948.00. Expenditures -89,903.00. Liabilities—$21,000.00. For ten years after IncorPoratiou, Wingham went steadily forward. A \vater�vorks system had been installed, ind our present pumps, are the ones used first in 1879. This gave the Town adequate fire protection—along with a volunteer Fire Brigade, cap- tained by the late Mr. Thomas Man- uel. Fires seemed to be More num- through the assistance of' a loan from the Town. It is one of the most thor- oughly equipped factories in the Pro- vince. The three storey establishment is steam heated and has the most. modern and finest of machinery. The business began two years ago with seven employees. Before the business was enlarged there were thirty-five employed. Now with better facilities and more space there are one hundred men turning out two million feet of lumber into manufactured goods year- ly. The lumber is manufactured into A View of Josephine Street North fr om Spotton's Business College, crows iii those days than they the present time. • Right here, I wish to say that I am indebted to Mr. H. B. Elliott for a copy of the Wingham Times, of December 1888, This paper contains a retrospective History of Wingham. It was written and edited by Mr. E1 - notes father, who was at that time Editor of "The 'Tines". Mr, Elliott gives a very minute account of the do at bedroom uites, side -boards, • tables, writing desks and hall racks. The in- dividual members of the firm are: Oliver Gilchrist, Walter Green, R4ib- ert Mainprice and George. McTavish, who are all practical- and competent workmen. Mr. Green is Business Manager." Thomas Heil "The extensive, substantial and well manufacturing enterprises, business conducted furniture industry estab- buildings and the Town commercially. fished some thirteen years ago by It covers a good deal of ground that Messrs. Scott and Bell has been for I have endeavored to go over. At any (Continued on Page Four) A view 0 part Main atreet, the Diagonal Pond; and 'the Pry & 131actc hall Factory in the distance.