The Huron Expositor, 1955-07-29, Page 3a'
•
(From, the S'' on Atlas of ]$x
The Atlas h scribes the rivalry
-that existed,/ iietween Harpurhey
and Egmoniville. and the infant,
community- pf Seaforth:
The nameef the place (Seaforth)
-was sogalled by Messrs. Patton,
Bernard and LeFroy in their first
-registered village plans, in honor
eof the native place of one of them
in Scotland, which name it has
since retained
Mr. Patton was of Scetch de-
scent, being a son of Andrew Pat-
ton, a native of Fifeshire, Scot-
land, .a 'Major. in H.M. 45th Regi-
-went of the line, from which he
retired after the close of the An-
glo-American war of 1812-15, and
.settled in the County of Lennox,
-dU.C., where his family were rear-
ed. He -was at that time a law
partner of Hon. Mr. Macdonald,
of Kingston. He is now the Hon.
.James Patton; and is still the•part-
ner of Rt. Hon. Sir John A. Mac.
:,donald, and the only surviving one
sof the trio who may 'be said to
have been the founders of Sea -
forth. Messrs. Bernard and Le-
Froy were lawyers of Barrie, Ont.
The former had been a regular
:army nfficer of high rank, an Ir-
ishman, who subsequently return-
ed to, his native country. A sta-
OA and village .on''the. Northern
Railway, near Berne,. was named
after the latter:
A brother of 'Ton. Mr.. Patton
was the first postmaster in the
place. Ile, in company with one
Torr, were among the earliest bus-
iness men, having moved here in
1861 from Wroxeter. Previousto
that the post office had been at
Harpurhey; but through the enter-
prise of a few men who contained
the destinies of Seaforth, Hanpur-
hey (which until about that date
had been.the leading place of the,
two), lost the office, which was
removed here as above - stat d.
About the same time also most of
the business men 'of Harpurhey,
giving up the fight for supremacy
which had been waged between
the two localities for some time
past, moved down to Seaforth,
thereby adding to the prosperity
of the latter place, and effectually
settling the destiny of Harpurhey
as a place of any possible future
importance.
Move From Harpurhey
Among those who moved down
at that time were Dr. Coleman (of
Coleman & Gouinlock, who was
the first practising physician in
the place), Wm. Ballantyne (pres-
ent Inspector of Licenses), James
Hatt (shoe dealer, and subsequent-
"WELCO_ME, OLD BOYS"
' I 1
— These were the
'best in styles when
Seaforth was born
100 years ago—
TO -DAY
we offer you the- Latest and
Best in present-day clothing
fashions 1
While you're in Town, drop in
and see us.
SHINEN'S
MAIN ST. SEAFORTH
t
SEAFORTH TOWN HELI,
Seaforth's Town Building was erected in 1893, following
the destruction of an earlier Town Hall by fire. The first Town
Hall was located at Market Square, at the corner of Market
and Jarvis Streets. The building, as it exists today, has been
little • changed in appearance since its erection, although a
modified tower arrangement was completed a number of years
ago. - Plans are being considered by Council to provide for
alterations to the front elevation • and a rearrangement of the
interior.
lr'
ly largely identified with munici-
pal affairs), William Grassie, also
afterwards closely identified with
public matters; Thomas Knox (who
built the Commercial Hotel as it
now stands, and carried it ,on for
some years), and' Edward Hick-
son, of the present firm of Hick-
son & Bleasdell, Who erected a
store and commenced business at
D. D. Wilson's present stand.;
At this time the Huron Road was
a very primitive and inferior one
from 'the western limits of the
County of Perth, which had macad-
amized it as far as the Hibbert
and Tuckersmith town line; but
its extension westward, together
with the adoption of Seaforth as
thesouthern terminus of the "Grey
Turnpike" instead•of Harpurhey,
as vas- orginally--inteifded; addea
still further to the prosperity of
the place by a fresh stimulation of
its development and progress.
When the Buffalo and Lake Hur-
on Road was first built, 'though
Harpurhey was many times the
extent of Seaforth, neither place
was considered of .sufficient in. {•
portance by the Railway roripony
to require a station. The people'
of the former place, however, built
a "flag" station themselves; and
the people of Egmondville built a
like station on the Egmondville and
Seaforth Road—now Main Street
of Seaforth. They were both used
simply as flag stations for a con-
siderable time — meanwhile both
localities using their utmost en-
deavours with the Company to
establish the real station with
themselve . No action was taken,
however;...till Messrs. Patton, Ber-
nard & LeFroy laid out the village
plot, and made an offer of station
ground to the Company, free of
charge,• on condition of, their lo-
cating their station thereupon. This
offer was accepted, with the addi-
tional' condition on the Company's
part that a station be likewise built
free of expense to ,themselves.
Thereupon the inhabitants of Eg-
mondville and Seaforth combined,
and erected the station still used,
and on the spot where we now see
it; and Harpurhey .vitas obliged to
give up the contest for supremacy
as above narrated, though previous
to this time it was quite a flour-
ishing village, containing nearly a
dozen stores, several hotels, and a
corresponding number of mechan-
ics' establishments of all. descrip-
tions.
Seaforth Emerges ,
And now began the same strife
between Egmondville and Seaforth
which had previously existed be -
Omen 'Seaforthw and
e-
tW epi"'Seaforth"and Bar:Kt:k r 'in"
short, the people of the"first nam-
ed place only assisted those of
Seaforth to the ascendancy over
Harpurhey, to be themselves simi-
larly deprived of it by this now
important place, whose embryo
growth, if not exactly inaugurated,
was at. least wonderfully develop-
ed by the decadence of' its two
jealous neighbors.
Even subsequent to the estab-
lishment of the permanent rail-
way station here, Egmondville was
for some time by far the most
-populous and important place, con-
taining nearly a dozen good stores,
with local manufactures of various
kinds to correspond with the ex-
tent of its then population and
mercantile trade. Soon, however,
the .relativeposition of the two
places commenced to be changed,
and, as in the case of Harpurhey,
the merchants and mechanics of
Egmondville began to exchange
locations,' the movement continu-
ing-tiil the chief part of the busi-
ness men of 'the latter place had
withdrawn from it and settled in
f
"Welcome Home Friend"
We consider Seaforth citizens our friends, the same css they con-
ides SEAFORTH SHOES their friends. You see, SEAFORTH SHOES
had its beginning in the'business established in 1908 by W. J. Dun-
cci, and is proud to carry on the traditions • established by him.
Our industry is progressing steadily with the Town of Seaforth.
Have a Good Time While You Are At Home
and drop in and see us!
SEAFORTH SHOES
/k .via: is x a u.,., d
.I'1;! Sunuu `1,n'�
4w
r 4141,wR•P bFr: ;/.1 v{lr�i d It lvs' err Y.urir,�4 GYM' '.�3'dkP,i;
P EARLY DEVELOP
(From the Huron Ati's of 1879'
• ` Manufactures claim a large--•
share of altention, the Atlas
sways,,, The salt interest is of
Course the chief, Probably the
largest of t h e salt concerns
(of which there are t h r e e
very extensive ones here) is that
of Coleman & Gouinlock, who first
developed the, salt interest of the
place by the discovery of the ex-
.,tstence of brine in 1868. Its pres-
ence had been more than suspected
by scientists for some years pre-
viously, but its actual development
gave Seaforth an- impetus which
formed the most importapt epoch
in the ,history of its development.
The firm. of Coleman & Gouinlock
constantly employ between 60 and
75 men about their work,- includ-
ing saw -mill, cooperage, etc.,
abouts' one-half the number being
engaged with salt solely. The ca-
pacity of this •Company's works is
500 barrels per day, but they only
average about half -of that amount
for want of a market—none of
their product (of any extent) be-
ing shipped further east than the
local points for which Toronto is
the distributing centre, - though
they send the finer brands- in lim-
ited quantities to St. John and
Halifax. Their establishment is
known as the Seaforth Salt Works.
the rival village, now fast assum-
ing the proportions and importance
of a busy little, railroad town.
Among the first to remove was
James Dickson, now Registrar of
the County, then the leading mer-
chant of Egmondville, and M.P.
for the County of Huron. He built
the first building in Seaforth—on
the west side of Main Street, one
square distance south of the "four
corners," which. is now occupied
by Mr..Sparling.
Grain Centre
The new town continued to de-
velop with an unchecked 'growth,
and the location here of some en-
terprising produce dealers soon
gave it an enviable reputation as
a grain market, which it continued
to sustain, till 'the amount of wheat
handled at this point was estimat-
ed as greater (from first produc-
ers) than'at any point in Ontario,
not excepting Toronto. There are ,
single firms in the place who have
handled over a million dollars
worth of wheat at, this point in'
one season,' and it was an every-
day occurrence to see the street
filled with teams from all points
to the north for a distance of 50
miles and upwards — Brussels,
Wroxeter, Gorrie, Paisley, Walker-
ton, etc., finding an outlet for the
Chief staple of the country through
the Seaforth merchants`
ty, aro
thext in order of Xer4Pse tit Werrli� • wnedd:'
and: operated by Gray, Irgigng *r.
Spariing, tespploying; constantly 20,
to 25 men, and turning out 250 to 1
300 barrels per. ; d0:y.
'The Merebants' Salt - Co., of
which Mr. A. Armitage is the man-
ager, have about the same capac-
ity and do a like amount of busi-
ness,
ss
ness, or very nearly as much..''
The great advantage of Seaforth
over Goderich . as a salt manufac-
turing depot consists in the com-
parative abundance and cheap-
ness of fuel at the former place,
the convenient location for par-
,
poses of shipment of all the 'salt
blocks" to the G.T.R. tracks, and
the shorter - distance to market.
The latter, advantage is almost im-
material, however, though the
first are of such immense impor-
tance to the points interested that
theyy*� have paralyzed theentire
trade and crippled the prosperity
of the county town,to the cor-
responding benefitw of its more
lucky rival.
The capital invested in the above
three "blocks" is oyer $100,000,
and it requires an additional sum
of nearly like amount to run the
business; besides an additional
business; besides which, most of
the salt men have very large pro-
perties in lands throughout the
country from which to raw their
fuel supply. To the county and
the country at large the salt in-
dustry
ndustry is a most important one,
but to Seaforth it is, as it were,
the essence.
The milling interest is undoubt-
edly the one of next greatest im-
portance. Messrs. 'Ogilvie & Co.,
of Montreal, Walter Marshall, of
Stratford, and Currie & Thompson,
of Mitchell, all have extensive
flouring mills here; which, toge-
ther with the mills of the Messrs.
Charlesworth at Egmondville, form
a very important -factor in the
milling interests of Ontario, now
grown to such immense propor-
tions. In addition to the above,
there is a large oatmeal mill,
which adds its quota to the foreign
exports.
There are also two foundries,
two cabinet factories, two stave
factories, a couple of pump fac-
tories, two planing- mills, two
steam sawmills, six carriage fac=
tories, ten blacksmith shops, and
three pork -packing establishments,
and last but not least in the line
of manufactures, the Seaforth Flax
.Mills. This latter industry, which
is comparatively a new one, is
beginning to assume very large
proportions in the country, and we.
here see an establishment which
can compare favorably with any
of the large number which have
sprung up on all sides within the -
past decade. -
1
... Serving Western
Ontario for 29 Years ..
AND SOON
I VISIO
Looking back over its seventy-five years of
history, it is apparent that the Seaforth and Dis-
trict High School has not always been in smooth
waters. It could hardly have been otherwise, for
the school has never been divorced from human
affairs, butclosely allied to the lives of the people
it served. The period of its history has been one
of spectacular change and advance on the one
hand and, on the other, an era of unusual unrest
and dislocation. Unless the • school had become
an ivory tower, cut off from and uninterested in
the state of. the community, it could not help but
have a story which fluctuated from great attain-
ment to alarming lethargy.
The' significant and important thing is that
at no time did the community ever lose faith in
the school or in- the ideal of education which it
represented, Conversely, never did the school
fail to serve the community to. the best of its
capacity.
The final test—the one, for which no diploma__ —
is granted—is in the kind of men and women
which the school has produced. Over the years,
the record is astohishingly good. There is not a
profession in Canada which cannot number
among its leaders a graduate of the Seaforth
School. There is not a section of the country to
which graduates of Seaforth have not gone and
taken their share in the pioneer work of building
a greater • Canada. Me*. and women from the
school have taken their learning all over -the
world, to the United States, South America,
China, Australia, Europe and to the Motherland. .
Wherever they have gone they have brought
honor to their old school.
Perhaps even more important has been the
role of those who stayed at home. In a very .
real sense, this district has been made by the men
and women who got their education up at the
High School. On the farms, in the oflces and the
stores and in the kitchens, the majority of the
men and, women of this district are alumni of
the school. They are by 'far the biggest single
group in the district's life. Theirs is the task of
really proving wat the High School has meant
to Seaforth. Th fact that they still support the
school and lookforward to its 'development and
expansion would seem to indicate that they have
no doubts as to its worth in the coinmunity.
(From a historical brochure published on the opening of an
addition, November 16, 1954).
The Members of the Board of the Seaforth District High School are proud to
welcome back former pupils, teachers and friends of the School, on the occa-
sion' of the Seaforth Old Boys' Reunion and centennial.
A,.Reunion of former Pupils and Teachers is being - Id at the School. en
Monday, Morning, August lst, at - 9:30^ a.m4 -
SEAFORTH DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL BOARD, 1955
GORDON McGAVIN, Chairman -
Oliver AndersQn, C. A. Farber, Clarence Martin,C. M. Smith, /Frank Kirkby, Harold Coleman,
F. C. J. Sills, Russell Bolton, James McIntosh,, M. A. REID, Secretary
, Sn tFu9,q.". rkod i444
ie,