Buried creeks, hidden waterways

As Guelph has developed over the years many natural heritage features have been lost, buried or altered.  But traces of many of them still remain to be discovered by the urban explorer.

Outlet of Silver Creek, south of the train tracks.

On Tuesday, December 4 at the Guelph Historical Society’s next “Evening with History”, Jeremy Shute will be speaking on “Guelph’s Hidden Waterways”.  Jeremy, a locally based environmental consultant and cartographer, will reveal the fascinating story of Guelph’s buried network of creeks.  The talk will be held at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 161 Norfolk Street, at 7:30 p.m.

Silver Creek flowing south to the river.

Jeremy will identify locations and share photographs of these ghosts creeks that have been buried by urban development over time.  If you take a look at the map of Guelph’s Natural Heritage that Jeremy has created, you can see the paths of both the visible and buried portions of Pond Creek, Silver Creek, Stevenson Creek and others.

Silver Creek in Goldie Park.

That grate at the back of Goldie Park near the train tracks?  That’s a buried portion of Silver Creek, which resurfaces on the south side of the tracks.  Yes, there really is a Silver Creek.  Street names are often all that remains of landscape features of the past.

Silver Creek tunnel.

Intrepid urban explorers have entered and explored the culverts and tunnels of Guelph’s buried creeks.  I will leave that to the more adventurous for now, and limit myself to searching out the above ground traces of these ghosts creeks.  I look forward to Jeremy’s talk and the stories he will share.

Things you Find: the History of the Guelph Red Cross

My job often involves finding things.  Usually little gems and the item below is no exception.  Created on the 150th anniversary of the founding of Guelph, this work provides a historical overview of the establishment of the Guelph branch of the Red Cross.  The book also lists the Guelph Red Cross executive from 1914-1977 and includes photographs of members and related activities.

The History of the Guelph Red Cross

At 51 pages long, this booklet includes sections covering their activities during the First and Second World War, programs related to their homemaker service, swimming and water safety activities, blood donor and first aid programs.

The Red Cross in Guelph can trace its origins to January 1900 when the first branch was formed in response to the Boer War. However, what I find most interesting is that the Guelph Red Cross operated a canning centre.  The canning was done in the Royal Dairy building on Paisley Street now home to the Royal Plaza.  Today several businesses operate from this location such as Simply Wonderful Toys and Market Fresh.

The photograph below illustrates three women working at the canning centre .  According to the book above, the canning centre turned out thirteen tons of apply jelly, canned chicken,  and pickles which were shipped overseas to hospitals.  Although Remembrance Day has just passed, I thought this was an interesting fact to share.  To view this work and any of our photographs, please visit the library or check out the local history section of our website.

Three women working at the Red Cross canning centre.

Janefield, McCrae Family home

As Remembrance Day approaches, my thoughts turn to John McCrae, doctor, soldier and author of the World War I poem, In Flanders Fields.  Most Guelphites are familiar with the McCrae House on Water Street, birthplace and family home of John McCrae, although he only lived there for his first year.  This property is now a National Historic Site and administered by the Guelph Museum.

Janefield, home of Thomas and Jean McCrae.

However, there is another home in Guelph with ties to the McCrae family.  The two storey stone house, “Janefield”, at 366 College Avenue West, was once the home of John McCrae’s paternal grandparents, Thomas and Jean McCrae.  John McCrae’s parents also lived in this house after Thomas’ death.  This stately home is a designated historic property.  Thomas McCrae named the house Janefield in honour of his wife Jean, who preferred to be called Jane.  John McCrae is rumoured to have scratched his name in the glass of an upstairs window at Janefield…a bit of graffiti he left behind after a visit.

McCrae Farm – 1906 Historical Atlas.

Janefield is also the name of a adjacent street, on which I lived when I first moved to Guelph.  The McCrae property was once a large farm, and the townhouse I lived in was very likely situated on what used to be the farm property.  There are other nearby streets with names relating to John McCrae and his famous poem:  the former Poppy Lane, a short mini-street between Janefield Avenue and the Hanlon Expressway,  is now the driveway of Wellington Park Terrace.  Further south on Janefield one finds Torch Lane:  a look at a pre-1970s map reveals that this street used to be the extension of Flanders Road.  Nowadays, Torch and Flanders are separated by the Hanlon Expressway.

Janefield chimneys.

I have noticed that Janefield has been for sale a couple of times in recent years.  Perhaps its proximity to the Hanlon is less than optimal, but it surely is a lovely and stately home with historic connections to Guelph’s most famous son.

Your Library Remembers: Veterans of the First World War

Canadian Veterans from the First World War are no longer with us, but they have not been forgotten.  A look back at history through photographs and unique textual records gives us pause to remember.

Veterans of the First World War

This picture, taken by the Guelph Mercury in 1975, shows a group of First World War Veterans at a legion banquet. Standing in the second row from left: Wilfred Campbell, Fred Pearse, Jack Milligan Sr., Campbell Richardson, Simmeon Holman, Ted Harrington, and Ernest Larter. Seated in the front row from right: Harry Hamilton, Jimmy James, Alec Lawrence, Alec Peattie and John Small.

As I saw it

In addition to photographs, the library holds original textual records written by those who served in the First World War.  As I saw it : incidents of World War One on the Western Front as seen by Leonard Little, is one such unique item.  Leonard Little enlisted in January 1916 in Guelph’s 29th Battery.  He was a signaller with the 29th and 35th batteries of the Canadian Field Artillery. This anthology includes pictures of the author and his cousin, Raymond Ure.

If you would like to learn more about our First World War veterans, you are invited to come view the display at the Main Library for the month of November,  As We Remember.

Street names of old Guelph

Pavement stone memorial to Manchester Street.

Fleet, Manchester, Devonshire…what do these names have in common?  They’re the former names of Yorkshire, Glasgow and Dublin Streets, south of Waterloo Avenue.  But Waterloo wasn’t Waterloo, it was called Market Street back in the days when an electric street railway ran down its centre.  Waterloo was in use elsewhere as the former name of what is now Fountain Street.

1929 spring flood, corner of Manchester and Bedford.

The south of Waterloo neighbourhood has undergone many name changes…the current Bristol Street formerly had three titles, going by either Bedford, Bristol and Webster, in its various segments along the river’s flood plain. Looking at old maps and atlases of Guelph can be disorienting, as these old street names have changed over time, some streets have disappeared, even the Speed River appears to have altered course (with a little help).

Ross Irwin’s book, Guelph, Origin of Street Names, 1827-2008, meticulously documents the history of Guelph’s streets.  It’s fascinating to learn that Guelph once had two Bridge Streets and three John Streets.  It must have been challenging to give directions back in those days.

Old Guelph street map 1915.

Some street name changes make sense to me, as duplication of names could only lead to confusion.  And changing Fleet, Manchester and Devonshire to Yorkshire, Glasgow and Dublin Streets South maintained consistency and flow with their counterparts north of Waterloo Avenue.  According to Mr. Irwin’s book, many street name changes occurred in 1956, when duplicated names were eliminated, and name consistency was applied to many streets’ entire length.  Some names abandoned at this time resurfaced later…such as Argyle which re-appeared as the name for a street in a new subdivision west of the Hanlon Expressway in the late 1960s.

Some street names live on only in old maps…or in a sidewalk stone…embedded in concrete at the corner of Dublin St. S. and Essex St., as a memento of days gone by.

The Library System

The current library system has established historical roots in Guelph.  In fact, a book lending service began as early as 1832 at the rear of a general store.  By the 1850s Guelph saw the formation of the Farmers’ and Mechanics Institute, which later transferred its holdings and jurisdiction to a newly formed library board in 1883.  Documentation related to the institute has survived.  Shown on the right is a document that outlines the institute’s constitution and by-laws.
The Carnegie Library, as seen on the left, was built in 1905.  Unfortunately it proved too small and a decision was made to demolish the building.  The present main branch sits at the same location as the Carnegie Library which opened in 1965.  An addition was added to the main branch in 1975.

The first branch in the city, Bullfrog Mall, opened in September 1984 followed by
Scottsdale in November 1986.  Scottsdale recently expanded its space in September of this year.  The picture on the right shows Scottsdale at its official opening back in 1986.  Mr. Mcleod who served as the Chief Librarian (1977-2009) can also be seen in this photograph.

The West End Branch was completed in 2001 and is located within the West End Community Centre.  Growth in the City’s south end resulted in a fourth branch, Westminster Square, seen under construction in the photograph on the left.  This branch opened in November 2006.  A fifth branch, the East Side Branch, opened in May 2010.

Also one cannot forget the bookmobile which had its beginnings in 1976 and is still one of the library’s most valuable tools.   As the library system continues to grow so does your library’s history.

 

 

Researching your home in Guelph

Are you interested in learning some history about your home?  Researching a home’s history is of particular interest to many of our customers. The Guelph Public Library has some resources to help you.  I will mention four of these resources in this blog post.

One useful resource are the city directories for Guelph.  The directories can help you trace the approximate date of construction of a home by tracing the address back through time to when it first appeared.  You may even discover that a business once operated out of your home. City directories are typically arranged into two parts: an alphabetic listing of people’s names, and an alphabetic listing by street name.

A second useful resource are the City of Guelph assessment rolls.  Created to record property values, changes in value over time may indicate that construction took place in the home.  Early assessment rolls included information about the property owner often useful to genealogists.  The assessment rolls are arranged by year and then ward.  It’s helpful to know the ward the property is located on before you start your search.

A third resource is the Couling Inventory.  This inventory was created by Gordon Couling who inventoried a number of homes in Guelph built before 1927.  He provided brief details about the original owner, use, construction date, and building materials used. A picture was often provided with his descriptions.

Lastly, the library holds a large collection of photographs from the Guelph Tribune and Guelph Mercury.  Although these photographs were used to support newspaper stories, they can have other uses.  For example, a photograph can be useful if you are looking to restore certain aspects of your home that have since changed when it was first constructed.

These are just four resources available at your local library to research your home.  To learn more about these resources feel free to contact me for further information or assistance.  I can be reached at dhiltz@library.guelph.on.ca.

The Guelph Civic Museum…new home, new searchable collection

Entrance to the Civic Museum.

I love looking at old photographs and have happily spent hours (and hours) perusing online digital photo collections.  Many institutions have online searchable collections, such as the Toronto Public Library, the Ontario Archives, the Wellington County Museum and Archives, as well as the Guelph Public Library’s own photo database.  I was recently pleased to discover that the Guelph Civic Museum also has an online searchable database of its collections.

The former Loretto Convent.

The Museum has recently launched a new website, in tandem with the relocation earlier this year to its new home in the renovated Loretto Convent on Cork Street.  The website now features the ability to search the Museum’s collections, with both scanned historical photographs and images of artifacts.   Everything in the collection is here, from vases to scrapbooks.

Guelph’s Carnegie Library in 1964.

 

I was especially interested in discovering what photographs they have of the old Carnegie library.  I found a few I had not seen before, including one of the library from 1964 with a moving truck parked in front.  The building was being emptied in preparation for demolition.  Most of the photos I have seen of the Carnegie Library from this era have been in black and white, but this one is in colour.  I am intrigued by the house to the left of the library.  The structure appears to have a side porch or balcony.  I believe this house may have been demolished at the same time as the Carnegie Library.  But that’s another research project…

Woodlawn Cemetery c. 1941.

One request we often have on the Information Desk is for historical aerial photographs of Guelph.  While there are many aerial photographs in the GPL photo database, I can now also direct people to the Museum’s collection…there are many aerial photos here I have never seen before, including two of the Woodlawn Cemetery, circa 1941.  So much open space…and no Walmart.

Imperial Tobacco Plant

Guelph has been home to many industries over the years including the Imperial Tobacco Plant.  In July of 1957 Imperial Tobacco purchased land on Woodlawn Road and construction followed in May of 1958.  By the following year the plant was in operation.   The photograph on the right taken a few years after the plant opened shows members of City Council touring the plant.   When Imperial Tobacco closed its plant in Guelph the facility was purchased by the Linamar Corporation.  It was later bought by Synnex in 2007.

To learn more about the history of the plant you may be interested in reading History of the Guelph Plant Imperial Tobacco Limited.  In addition, the library owns additional photographs related to the plant. Please speak with the Archivist to arrange an appointment to view this work or to view additional photographs.

The distinctive Petrie Building

The Petrie Building

One of the most distinctive building in downtown Guelph is the four story Petrie Building, with its green painted wooden window panels and stamped galvanized iron facade.  One of the very few remaining buildings in Canada with this type of facade, its exterior was historically designated in 1990.  But the upper floors of the Petrie Building are vacant, and the green paint is there to cover long boarded up windows.

Designed by architect John Day for Guelph pharmacist A. B. Petrie in 1882, a galvanized iron mortar and pestle sits on the top of the structure in recognition of the building’s original use as a pharmacy.  I have to admit I never could figure out what the strange bowl structure was, but it certainly added to the building’s singular attraction.

Mortar and Pestle

Owned by the same family since 1976, the Petrie Building has become the focus of a local advocacy group and subject of a short documentary, A Building Worth Saving.  There is concern that the building is in serious need of restoration, and worry that it may fall victim to demolition by neglect at some point.  A Facebook group “Save the Petrie Building” was created earlier this year by archaeologist David J. Knight, and the group was profiled in a recent Facebook Story, Guelph, Ontario:  Saving a slice of downtown.

For those interested in the history and preservation of this local landmark, the Guelph and Wellington Branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario will be hosting a lecture by Mr. Knight, The Petrie Building:  an Archaeology of Social Networks, at 7 p.m. on October 17, 2012 at the Bookshelf eBar on Quebec Street.  And on Friday, October 28,  a one-day exhibit of art inspired by the Petrie Building will be presented at 7 p.m. at ED Video on Baker Street.  Photos of the building’s upper floors will be on display.

A faded “A.B. Petrie Chemist”

And speaking of photos, I found a photo on the Guelph Museum’s website of a secret passageway that leads from the neighbouring Cutten Kelly Building to the Petrie Building.  Other photos of the Petrie Building in the Museum’s collection indicate those windows have been boarded up and painted green since 1981.  So what would a restored Petrie Building look like?  It’s a question to which I’d love to know the answer.  A restored heritage building with a similar sheet metal facade is Victoria Hall in Hamilton…this National Historic Site of Canada is a stunning white!

Postscript:  I attended the Petrie Building presentation by David Knight on October 17 at the eBar, and it was quite fascinating.  His slideshow included a few photos of the upper floors of the building and he shared tales of graffiti on interior walls, mysterious inner courtyards, and 1890s-era flocked wallpaper still hanging on the walls of the second floor.  Intriguingly, the building’s third floor was only accessible from the adjacent Cutten Kelly building, and the fourth floor has no access at all.  This building certainly holds many mysteries!  Lots more photos of the interior are promised at the exhibit celebrating the 130th anniversary of the Petrie Building to be held on October 26th at ED Video.