HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1966-06-02, Page 6orth
'144111ERON EXPOSITOR, SFAFORTI;i, ONT., JUNk,, 2, X966. .4
History by Isabelle Carnpbol :
(Continued from last Week) in 1874, the brick D. ominien Block as it stands today.
tt s. Hatt built the first building on the next When completed late that year, what was then, The
dot On the northeast corner. This was his home and he Royal Canadian Bank,' but later the Canadian Bank of
'_alao made shoes' in it. It • was the Oddfellows who in Commerce, moved in and did business till 1905, Joseph
1874, were the first to build on the front part of the Brownell had a grocery store in the second section, and
14t. ' William Logan and Robert Jamieson's "Golden William Elliott, a bookstore and telegraph office in
Lion," dry goods store was the first place of business the third part. From the late 1870's, this part was used
QT the main floor. Irvin's Hardware now occupies as a grocery store. The Salt Association office and a
.this store, and also the part used by Hatt. Bob Doig's liquor store, till Russell H. Sproat opened his first
;1?luinbing shop was added in the 1950's, The •Oddfel- place of. business here in 1909. He sold flour and feed.
:, low's Hall was upstairs and is still in use. It was first For a number of years, he was in the grocery business
opened for inspection from 2 to 9 p.m., Monday, Feb- with his brother, Ross J. Sproat, and from then till
- ; ruary 5, 1875. The Edelweiss Rebekah Lodge, since 1936, he had a shoe store."This block is now all owned
1912, and the Order of the Eastern Star,' since organ- by John Bach and used by him to house his electric
ized in 192.4, have held their meetings here. goods and International -Harvester implement repairs.
From the 1860's, James Hatt owned the next lot Inthe next building, Dr. S. Lubelski, Surgeon,
and had a one -storey building on it. John Logan by Chiropodist, in 1869, opened his office in the North
1.$69 had his "Manchester House", a dry goods store part where Marvin Pillman had a tailor shop for many
here: After George E. Hendrson had his harness shop years, and where Snowden's in 1932, built a cement
in it, a second storey was added. This is now ,Gordon building for a printing office. They are still doing bus-
mess here.
Tyndall's Barber Shop.
George Grassie's wagon shop, in the late 1860's
came next, also John Mclntrye and Robert Willis' Shoe
Store. These were later Oscar Neil's Restaurant and
The Seaforth Sun printing office. This paper later
renamed .Seaforth News, was printed here from 1897
till 1932. On September 8, 1932, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert
Sutherland, of St. Marys, Ont., opened the Regent
Theatre in these stores and carried on till radio and tel-
evision lowered the attendance so much that they clos-
ed the theatre in 1958. This is now the law office of Mc-
Connell and Stewart.
From October, 1892, Alonzo Strong owned these
stores, and remodelled them. After Cases got the block
in the early 1900's, The Case Hall was used for large
chaperoned and other private dance parties. Club
swinging and drill practice was also held here. These
drills given on many occasions by the children and
young people under the direction of Jim Robb, who
was deaf and dumb, were quite popular.
Lee Learn bought the block in May, 1959, and
that fall commenced' again to remodel the building.
Apartments replaced the haIl,. and in 1960,.he equipped
a dairy room at the back of what was then Sid Pull-
man's Barber Shop, to be used by The Maple Leaf
Dairy.
In the North part of the next store was John
Campbell's "Sign of the Golden Collar" saddler shop.
He was here by December, 1868,,, and at the same time
in the other part, Thomas Bell hada furniture and un-
dertaking business. John M. Best's law office was here
when the property was sold to The Town of Seaforth,
in . January, 1893. After' being a vacant plot for many
`year, the red brick police office, adjoining the town
hall, was built in. 1955.
From the late 60's till 1872, Alonzo Strong had a
livery and sales stable well back on the next lot. Thomas
Bell followed Strong and ,in 1875, David McNaught and
Matthew Morrison took over from Bell.
Alonzo Strong in 1873, bought all the land adjoin-
ing The Commercial Hotel for $1,200, and by Novem- building from then till John Gallop took it over in
ber, 1874, had a new building completed at the front 1928. That year, he ilt . the present cement building
of- the 'lot. In one part, Strong and Fairley opened a for a car and machine shop. Leslie Habkirk now stores
grocery store, and the other part was leased to a gun- the school buses here.
smith and watchmaker. - On the next corner, a little back from Main Street,
1 On the next lot, The Dominion Telegraph Co. James R. Ross had his new Dominion Hotel in the
built a frame office, next to The Commercial Hotel. 1860's, and opened a livery in connection with it in 1869.
William Elliott was the agent in charge when the This hotel was burned on a very c<ild night in February,
office opened for business in June, 1873. John Ward's 1899, when Jacob Kling was the manager. Frank Al
saddler shop- was in the North part. In 1880, John len, a horsebuyer from Goderich, Ontario, layer owned
Ward was taking hay and oats in exchange for har- the property, and in April, 1912, sold part to the Lib-
ness. All these buildings were sold to The Town of Sea- rary Board, as a site on which to build the new Car -
forth, in 1893, and they, were at that time, occupied negie Library. That year A. P. Joynt bought the barn
by John Ward's harness shop, • W. G. Glenn's grocery and other buildings and had' them removed.
store, W. •.-G. Duff Conveyancer's Office and Donald On the South-West corner of this • hotel property,
Mclntyre's shoe repair shop. That year, the new red Alex M. Campbell had his implement shop and office
brick towp hall was built on these lots, :but it was'not from 1876 till 1899. From then it became hotel prop -
completed till 1894. erty again. Franz A. Meyer owned the blacksmith shop
In 1866, when Thomas Knox was bargaining for South of here and John Murray was the tenant in -it
the next lot, William. Chalk, father of Mrs. T. T. Cole- for a few years in the 1860's. From the 1870's till
man, was guardian for his grandchildren by his 1883, Munro Bros., Malcolm' and Alexander and Dennis
daughter's first marriage to George Gouinlock. Dr. Hogan had the shop and besides the ordinary black -
William Chalk died in 1868, and James Crombie from smith work, they also made ploughs, harrows, etc.
then looked after the °interests of the Gouiplock child- When they left this became part of Dr. John Camp -
ren. Because these children were minors, lot sales were ,bell's property. •
slow on the East side of Main Street. Perhaps there was Dr. J. Campbell, M.D., bought the next lot with a
also another reason why lot sales, South from here hoose on it, from Franz A. Meyer, in 1873, and this.
lagged. As late as the early 1860's, large hemlock trees was his home for many years. It was Dr. Campbell,
were still standing on this lot, and between here and who erected the small frame building near the street,
, Egmondville was an almost impassable black ash which he and several veterinaries who followed him,
swamp. used for an office, till the late 1940's. Frem October,
When Thomas Knox got his Tot in 1866, he built 1949, till September, 1959, it was used by' Terry At -
on it a brick hotel, On the night of April 17, 1895, it kinson, as his Radio and Television repair shop. It was
was burned. Alex Davidson was the owner at this time then torn down by Dr. J. O. Turnbull to provide a park -
,'and immediately made arrangements to build the pre- ing lot for the Seaforth Veterinary Clinic. The clinic
• sent cement block hotel at a cost of $7,450. On October office is in part of the Turnbull home, and the stable
21, 1895, the doors of the new hotel were opened again built by Dr. Harburn in 1912, is used for their veter-
to serve the public. inary work. In June, 1959, a short wave radio system
The rates, announced by Davidson, in the old Com- of communication was installed which relays messages
mercial Hotel, in 1874, were as follows : over night, from their Main Street office, by means of a 60 -foot
' with supper, bed and breakfast and hay for horses, tower to receiver sets in the cars Of the four veterin-
• $1.00; single meals, 25 cents ; farmers with two horses, aries connected with the clinic.
hay and dinner, 35 cents. • In the early 1870's, Calder Bros. Marble Works
When Knox built in 1866, a built-in vault was was housed in the next frame building. In the South
placed in the North part and that fall, • the first Sea- part, monument's are stilt displayed. J. Pryde is the
forth bank, The Royal Canadian, opened for business. proprietor. All work on the stones is done now at the
Over the years, this part was used also as a custom of- Pryde Monument Works in Exeter. The fuel office
fice, telegraph and express office, and a barber shop. of Willis Dundas is in the North part of the building.
In September, 1965, it became part of the ladies' and For a few years, part was used as a Court of Revision
escorts' beverage room. • and Magistrate's Office by Dalton Reid. This office
In the late 1860's, where. Thomas Sharp had the was closed in 1964.
hotel, he built a frame building at the back. This was George McCullouch owned the next frame building.
Sharp's Hall. Alex Davidson, in 1876, in this building, and two families -lived in it. John Kyle bought it in
"installed showers and baths for guests and boarders, 1875, and used it for a store till he sold in 1888, to
and also addeda billiard room, which was opened early Richard Clark. Clark lived here and also sold groceries.
in 1877. It was empty, but still owned by his daughter, Mrs. Joe
The Commercial Livery and Stage office, East of Pinkney, when it was burned on August 12, 1939. The
the hotel, in the late 60's, was run by Richard Sharp. vacant lot is now part of the Eoshart Bros. property.
This hotel stable remained 'here tilI torn down in the
1920's. (To be continued)
Prom 1921, Charles Dungey and family operated
the hotel, and in 1961, made many alterations through-
out the building. John Chernes, of Preston, bought
' front. the Dungey family in 1964.
By 1864, Christopher and Frank Paltridge had
their photo gallery in the next building and William
Ras had his drugstore and home in the other part.
George and William Mcl?hilips, Provincial land survey -
ora, in 1860„ built their home South of this 'store. When
it was advertised 'for. sale in 1878, .it was described as
a. handsome private residence. William Elliott and Al-
ex, Arrnitagei In April, 181 ,4 bought this lot and the
one back; of it, and on,the Victoria Street lot,a home
*at ' built for ,the Cornniorce Bank i an**ers, It wan'
also. later, Smfortl't il first hospital and liOW John Tree- ,
Meet's apartirtentg:,
On tire. Muir Street'lot, Elliott and Atilitalie Wilt °...
• In the South part, another frame building attach=
ed, was. Lubelski's Beauty Salon, and also in it were
hot, cold and shower baths. By the turn of the century,
this was "Old John's" Chinese Laundry and it was,
clothing taken here, containing small pox gerriist that
caused the small pox scare around 1905. The last qse
made of this building was to house the Senior Men's
Euchre Club. Instigated by J. M. Govenlock in 1935,
the club met here till the early 1950's. In November,
1963, it was bought by the Boy Scouts 'and moved to
the South end of Egmondville, where it was torn down
in 1964. Mention might be made here of "Glen Mac",
the Boy Scout Camp, situated on Harry McLeod's farm
in Tuckersmith. This camp was officially opened on
July 26, 1962.
In 1874, Pillman and Co. built on the South part
of this lot, a good sized two-storey frame building,
with a showroom downstairs, and in the upper storey,
the painting, trimming, etc., was done. At the rear
were the blacksmith and woodworking shops. Here
they made top and open buggies, also phaetons. These
carriages and buggies ranged in price. from $90 to
$200 each. Usually they employed ten men. In the late
1880's, John Smith and . Sons took over, and had a
wagon shop and also did blacksmith work . In later
years, it was used as a warehouse by several imple-
ment dealers. Then it was torn down. .
In December, 1873, Franz Meyer, who owned the
lots to the Dunlop corner on Victoria Street and also
South of here, sold to Thomas Bell, Lot 24, on the cor-
ner of Main and George Street. Irl 1874, _Bell built a
livery back on the lot and a large frame building, near
the street, where he kept his carriages. His home was
North of this building. Arthur Forbes also lived in
the house part time, when he was in charge of the
livery. From then till it was torn down in the early
1900's, this house was used as an implement, harness,
and woodworking shop by various people. The livery,
then owned by Arthur D. D. Strong, of Galt, -was burn-
ed oh May 18, 1915. Little use was made of the frame
(ROMARTY NEWS: OF THS WEED
° Mr. Kea •Skinner, Don: and
Ken of WaterloO, 74 and. Mrs.
Don Armstrong, Toronto, spent
the weekelid with Mr. • and Mrs..
Gerald Carey and Mrs, F. Tay-
lor.
Mrs. Gordon, Bess, 'Zurich and
Mrs. Horton MCPougall, South
Boundary, visited Sunday with
Mr. and Mrs. George Wallace.
Mr. and Mrs. Donald Scott
and family, Seaforth visited
Mrs. Grace Seatt, Monday.
Mrs. Dan, McKellar of Buf-
falo, accompanied by her sis-
ter, Mrs. Lou Clark of Kippen
visited Cromarty friends on
the weekend.
Mr. and Mrs. T. L. Scott and
Mrs. E. Moore spen$a few days
with Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Moore
and family at Lindsay.
Mrs. Shirley Elliott and fam-
ily of Essex spent the weekend
with her parents, Mr. and Mrs.
John Wallace and Debbie.
Mr. David Chappel, Hamilton
spent the weekend with his
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Filmer
Chappel.
Mr. Hugh Scott, Guelph, ac-
companied by his cousin, Mr.
Neil Moore of Lindsay, spent
the weekend with Mr. and Mrs.
DID YOU KNOW
... that Sun Life of Cansda is moo
of the world's leading life insataw -
companiess, with 150 branch awe
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As ass Saw LiP. repr wren
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may I be of leer"?*
JOHN 'J. WALSH
Phone. 2713000 . 48 Rebecca St,, S1 RATFORD
.Sun if0° 1issi�ranee company 'off. Canada
The odds are
about 10,000. to
1 against your
mastering ven-
triloquism.
The odds are probably about
the sanie against a company
not validating its product
claims. ,
The proof of our circulation
product is in ABC's independ-
ent audit and -fact -filled report._
When advertising, insist on
circulation proof. Be ABC-
sure.
The Huron Expositor
T. L. Scott,
Mr. John Scott of Dorset was
'wale for the hgllday weekend.
Miss Jane Benning, Mitchell
spent the weekend with her
grand parents, Mr. and Mrs.' K.
McKellar..
Miss Agnes Scott, ,London
spent the weekend with her
parents, Mr. and Mrs, Gordon
Scott.
Mrs. Amelia Cole of St. Marys
is visiting with her niece, Mrs.
John Hocking. Mrs.. Lois Mc-
Phail, Mrs. Howard Pinder and
Miss Dorothy Nairn were week-
end visitors with Mr. and Mrs.
Hocking.
Rev. George Harris of Rapid
City, Manitoba, was a guest of
Mr. and Mrs, Calder McKaig
during the weekend.
The Marian Ritchie Evening
Auxiliary net, at the church,
with Mrs. Frank Hamilton pre-
siding. '
Mrs. Mac Lamond and Mrs.
Sam McCurdy presented the
Bible study. The scripture• les-
son was read by Mrs. Gordon
Laing. Mrs. Norman Harburn
gave the treasurer's report.
Mrs. Harold Parsons read an
article "What is a Bay".
Seaforth
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiltlllltll
MAM M. -HART
Phone 527=QS7Q Seaforth
WANT ADS BRING QUICK RESULTS: Dial 527-0240
Read the Advertisements -r- It's ex Profitable Pastime!
SEAFORTH MONUMENT WORKS
OPEN DAILY
T. Pryde & Son
ALL TYPES OF
CEMETERY MEMORIALS
Inquiries are invited.
Telephone Numbers:
EXETER 235-0620 CLINTON 482-941
SEAFORTH: Contact Willis Dundas
Read the Advertisements - It's a Profitable Pastime!
Looking for an investment that offers
Security Plus Extra Interest?
GET 5/2%.$IMPLE IN!EHE$!
WIIH IDIIONIO-0OMINION
0 -YEAR SAVINGS CEHIIIIIIA!ES
Availablein convenient amounts' from $10 to $50,000
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TORONTO -DOMINION
The Bank where people make the difference.
V 2595,
W. D. STEPHENSON, Manager .
Seaforth , Ont.
,41
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GM
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DEALER82 HURON ST.
IN MIfiCHRLLWEST-GVMIT HELL, ONT.
di ;lite to wietcft'"f'eleicope, `"The Fpitiv+e" eitl"The Red Skatto'rt' war neaf=hew a8 ee tatltrisieh. Chid Will Mills iu *MI cpf lr•-.•..•:.. .