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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1957-11-22, Page 51 ,4. MRS. AMY HORNE, office assistant to town clerk D. H. Wilson, was busy preparing 'tax notices when the interior of the new office was pictured. The walls of the new accommodation are richly panelled in wood. A separate office to the left provides accommodation for the. clerk, mule a vault is located at the right of the picture. The large window looks out on Main Street and westerly along Market Street. Established in 1912 (Continued from Page 1) lire was discovered in the boiler- houseapparently having originat- ed as a result of an overheated pipe. Extend System Scott Bros. extended the sys- tem serving the town, and provid- ed power which was found to be quite satisfactory by the large number of persons who were using it. In addition to 'services for private homes and industry, the firm had a contract with the town to provide for street lighting. The cost of the lights was on the basis of so much a pole, and service was to be continued each night until , We are Proud to Have Had a Part in the RENOVATION OF THE - SEAFORTH TOWN HALL And congratulate the Citizens and Members of Council on their initiative and progress. 105. T. HUGILL - GENERAL CONTRACTING Phone 388-J Seaforth midnight. There was general agreement that Scott Bros. were doing a really good job, until about 1907, when hydro power became increasingly available and its in- troduction was being pressed in an ever -widening area. The fact that Scott Bros.. at that time hesi- tated to enlarge their system and were of the opinion. that their ar- rangements with the town were i not satisfactory in a financial sense, led to a demand for the introduction of hydro. Distribution of electrical energy in Seaforth has come a long way . since that time, some seventy years ago, "when power was sup- plied by a municipally -owned plant near Silver Creek, Today there are in. Seaforth 15 miles of over- head lines and one mile of under- ground cable, serving 800 consum- ers, The power load is increasing each year, The modern flourescent street lighting units in use in several areas in town area far cry from the small capacity bulbs which twinkled at remote distances each evening until midnight when street lighting was first introduced. In keeping with the increasing de- mand for the benefits of cheap power, the Commission has adopt- ed a long-range policy which has had the effect of providing mod- ern distribution facilities through- out the town. In addition to responsibility for hydro, the Commission is in charge of producing and distribut- ing water. A modern pumping station, storage facilities and dis- tribution system were erected in 1923, and has been added to on several occasions since as de- mands increased. The Commission as constituted today, includes: chairman, Frank Kling: -Mayor E. A. McMaster and commissioner D'Orlean Sills. Hall Built In (Continued from Page 1) the town building: ' That the hose tower be placed on the south side of the main tower; that the main hall be made easier of access; that the main hall be arranged so that it will have the use of some of the windows on the west side for light and ventilation, and that fluxes be made from each room to chimney. An amendment call- ing for new plans for a two-storey building was lost. A communication was read from Mr. John Beattie, informing the council that in the event of that body engaging to incur a larger expenditure on the town building than there is money on hand for that purpose, he would apply for a mandamus (a legal writ) for- bidding the council to proceed with the erection of the said byilding. It was our privilege To Construct the Large Additio To the Town Hall . to provide accommodation For the P.U.C. and Fire Department SEAFORTH CONCRETE GENERAL CONTRACTING Concrete Products — General Contractors PHONE 740 SEAFORTH On the occaaton of tog- •Old Boys' Reunion and.Centepnial, which was; held in Seaforth in:195,5, lames. A. Scott repi9wed the history -of Sea - forth, with particular referenge to the period 1855-1875. 14 (Ry JAMES R. scorn - The twenty years covered be- tween the first movement of real estate in the Seaforth area in the :riddle 1850's and the. incorpora- tion of the town in 1875 is the greatest miracle of town building in the ,annals of Huron County. In 1855 only a handful of for- ward-looking ren had any confi- dence in the fhture for Seaforth: the rest, especially the complacent citizens of Harpurhey and Eg- mondville; wouldn't have given a Halifax shilling for the whole townsite. And, in sober truth, the townsite didn't look worth much more. It was almost all set on soggy or swamp ground; there were practically no buildings; its most imposing piece of architec- ture was the big signboard which pointed the way to other places at the crossroads — to Ainleyville (Brussels), to Goderich and to Eg- mondville. Up to this time only one man, Andrew Steene, had had the cour- age to settle in the swamp. His dwelling, the first house in what became Seaforth, stood on the northwest corner of what still is today the main crossroads• of the town—viz., the junction of No. 8 Highway and the Main Street. The historic landmark was destroyed in the great fire of 1877. But it was to the south that the really important activity occurred. In 1841, a large parcel- of the land holdings of the late Col. Anthony Van Egmond were offered up at a sheriff's sale as a result of the 2olonel's unfortunate espousal of William- Lyon Mackenzie's rebel- lion. Part of the land thus sold were the lots through which the railway now runs. G. J. Goodihue purchased the land at the sheriff's sale but quickly sold it to one Laurason who in turn sold it to Christopher Sparling. It was Spar - March 24, 1893 The Mayor was authorized to get legal advice on the subject of the town's right to sell or lease the old market site. April 21, 1893 Contract was awarded to Messrs. Young and Causey, of Stratford, whose tender was $8,250, and the Mayor was instructed to have "contract signed, etc" Mayor, Reeve and Councillors Ly- on and Beattie were appointed building committee. May 12, 1893 r Tenders: Enclose Town Hall on south, west and north with It To. 2 pressed brick; 'on east with No. 3, for $140. Heating tenders adver- tised. May 26, 1893 Mr. William Copp appointed building supervisor under the building committee. June 2, 1893 The stonework on the foundation of the new town building is now completed and Mr. Causey has re- moved. It will be about a month before the brick work will com- mence. June 16, 1893 Johnson Bros. get heating con- tract, all inclusive, for $233. June 23, 1893 Brick being laid. It is a fine sample. July 28, 1893 The carpenters are now at work laying the joists on the new town building. Mr. Causey is expected here next week, when the brick work will be rushed up in short order. August 25, 1893 The brick work on the new town building is now nearing comple- tion, and as the walls advance they attract genuine commendations of praise from the citizens generally. It is going to make not only a use- ful but an ornamental structure in the town. The contractor, Mr. Causey, seems to be doing his work well, and is rushing it along. October 27, 1893 The brickwork on the new town building is now approaching com- pletion. Its stately proportions rather throw the surrounding buildings, which we used to think quite nice, in the shade. November 10, 1893 We understand that one of our most wealthy and respected' re- tired farmer citizens has in con- templation the purchase of a mem- orial clock to be placed in the tower of the new town bui'.ding. We hope the geptleman alluded to will carry out his intention, as he has ample means and the clock would not only enhance the appearance of this new building, but would be a great advantage to the towns- people generally, and would per- petuate the name of the generous donor through future generations. December 1, 1893 The contractors for the new town building are making very slow progress with the work, and if they do not brush up, their pro- fits will be eaten up by the pen- alty of $3.00 for each day the building is unfinished after the first of December. February 9, 1894 The town building is nearing completion. The plastering is fin- ished, and the carpenter work in- side is well on towards comple- tion, and the furnace is being put in. In two or three weeks the building will be ready for occu- pancy. The rooms are all large, airy and light. and the inside leaves even a better impression than the outside. March 2, 1894 There is a magnificent view to be had in return for the trouble of climbing into the tower of the town building. On a bright, clear day, Clinton' can be seen with the naked eye, and the whole surround- ing country is spread out below one like a map. The experience is Wellrerorth the :effort 141, ling who convinced} the officials of the Buffalo and Lake Huron It ail- w�}y to bu)r their gof» through bis liQldings and rithhtey. purway- chased the land from him in 185$. -parting had good reason to want the railway to go where it did He and his brother George had by this time bought other holdings in the area. They owned the lot di- rectly across from Andrew Steen's horse where an Irishman by the name of McKearnan had built the first log tavern in the would-be town. They also had bought up the northeast corner and in 1856 had–surveyed it into town lots. It was definitely- to their advantage that the railway run close to what they hoped would be a town. Arid they were right. Their ac- tivities caught the attention of a gr,pup of lawyers who were inter- ested in land speculation—Messrs. Patton, Bernard and LeFroy. These were the men who fully realized Seaforth's potential and to them goes the credit for laying out the first townsite although the actual surveys are registered at varying intervals between 1856 and 1869. But the railway itself was the crux of the whole matter, not the various and complicated real es- tate deals which went along with its building. Even though the line which the rails would follow was settled, the situation of the station as still left in doubt. The senior artner of the land speculation firm, James Patton, was a man of both foresight and influence. For one thing, he was the law partner of John A. MacDonald, of Kingston. When he got control of the Sea - forth townsite in 1863, he immedi- ately offered a free lot to the Buf- falo and Lake Huron Railway and offered to build a station on it free of charge. Before this, both Eg- mondville and Harpurhey had built their own flag stations, but it was Patton who went the whole way and, by making his offer, insured that Seaforth would get a perman- ent station. From that moment on, it was merely a matter of time until the new town would outstrip its neighbors. One of the first men to see the handwriting on the wall was James Dickson, the Member of Parliament for the district. He bought a lot on the west side of the second block on Main Street and moved his business up from Egmondville. Slowly at first, but more and more every year, he, was followed, first, by the merchants and businessmen of Harpurhey and then by those of Egmondville un- til, by 1875, Seaforth had by far outdistanced' its- competitors. At the same time, however, a group of men who had no connec- tion with either Harpurhey or Eg- mondville, were building up busi- ness in Seaforth on their own. One of the first of these was Thomas Downey who ink x8G.0 acquired the land and bolt the."firet really auhr, stantial hostelry in Seaforth, they, Albert Edward Hotel. Another wase R. Willis, who established himself as a shoemaker and thus fathered the business which is the oldest on Seaforth's Main Street toddy. The Post Office was set up in 1859 with Andrew M. Patton, a I other Of James, as the first post- master. He was succeeded by Archibald Dickson in 1861. By 1862, Seaforth was beginning to look like a boom town. In that year there were fifteen dwellings in the course of erection: a look at the list of merchants in the town shows that almost all of them were engaged in either the build- ing trades or in dealing in grain. There were eleven firms listed as carpenters and builders alone in that year. In 1867 the village was incor- porated and Dr. Timothy T. Cole- man was chosen as first Reeve with Messrs. Beattie, Hatt, Mc- Dougall and Strong as councillors. By this time, what was, for many years, Seaforth's leading industry, salt manufacturing, was establish- ed. By the time the settlement was incorporated as a town, industry was flourishing. In 1875 the first town council was elected with A. Armitage as Mayor and D. D. Wil- son as Reeve. At this time there were three large salt manufactur- ing concerns, three large flour mills anti, a flax mill, two foun- dries, two cabinet factories, two pump factories, two sawmills, two planing mills, six carriage factor- ies, ten blacksmith shops and three pork -packing... plants. The Public School had been up for eight years when Seaforth be- came a town but the High School was not built for another four years. The Second Division Court, of Huron County had been set up in Harpurhey in 1850 but had mov- ed to Seaforth along with most of the rest of the village. The Union Cricket Club was begun in 1860 and so was the Seaforth Volunteer Infantry Company of which Dr. Coleman was captain. The Huron Express was the town's first news- paper, started by C. H. Cull. The Seaforth Presbyterian Church was built in 1867. Thus in a scant twenty years the settlement went with amazing rapidity through all the phases of town building. In -1855 it was lit- tle more than a dream in a few land speculators' minds. In less than ten years it was a boom town in the middle of a building spree and ten years after that again it was a well-established, steadily growing, solid and pro- gressive community. The Huron Tract has older towns in its history, but never did it have one which grew like Seaforth. r CONGRAT to the TOWN OF SEAFORTH . on the Modernization of their TOWN HALL We were happy to be associated in the remodelling of the Seaforth Town Hall by the provision of Lumber and Millwork. SEAFORh MISER LIMITED Phone 47 Railway St. Seaforth - Ontario 4f' Congratulations TO Seaforth PUC ON THE OPENING OF THEIR NEWLY RENOVATED ACCOMMODATION CANADIAN GENERAL ELECTRIC LIMITED Are Manufacturers of The New 400 LUMINAIRE 66 LUMINAIRE For Fluorescent Street and Highway Lighting ELECTRIC METERS CGE is the Rome of the,1-50 Watthour Meter Family Canadian General Electric Company LIMITED Al, t4