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Architectural Conservancy of Ontario – Port Hope Branch Newsletter – February 2013

President's Report

Respectfully submitted,

Trish Doney

You will be interested to know that 2013 and 2014 are two important celebratory years for architec-tural conservancy in Ontario. This year, ACO

Central celebrates its 80th Anniversary, and next year, the Port Hope branch of the ACO will be celebrating its 60th birthday! The Port Hope branch was formed in 1964. The founding members were Elise Adamson, Marion Garland, a Mrs. Dunn, Roger Kirkpatrick, Ross Richardson and Peter Schultz, who was the first president. This early Board saved the St. Lawrence Hall from demolition and restored its façade after a devastating fire in 1965. Indeed, they can be credited with developing a feeling of responsibility for the importance of heritage buildings in our town which ultimately led to the naming of Walton Street as the “best preserved street in Ontario”. Subsequently, the Port Hope branch of the ACO worked diligently to help maintain many buildings in our town including St. Mark’s Church, the VIA Railway station, the Capitol Theatre, the “Little” Railway station, Ganaraska Archives and the Union Cemetery Caretaker’s Cottage. Most recently, with the full support of the membership at the 2012 AGM, the Board has again decided to focus on the restoration of the main street. Last year, as most of you know, the ACO, in partnership with the owners and the town, restored the brickwork of the commercial block at Walton & Ontario Streets to its former glory. The original Port Hope Board also had the object of educating the local community and informing them of the history and value of our local architecture. You will see in this Newsletter that education is still a priority for the current Board which is planning a series of 'Evenings' with talks and outings in the near future. Since the last Newsletter, our new website has been launched. It has a fresh new look with lots of photos and is easy to navigate around. Check it out at http://www.acoporthope.ca/ . If you haven’t as yet renewed your membership for 2013 you may do so at the AGM which is fast approach-ing on February 28th! Make sure you have that date marked in your calendar. Plan to be there to hear more about the Board’s work over the past year, to listen to our speaker and enjoy refreshments while mingling with other members. See you there!

Come to the Annual General Meeting

Thursday, February 28th, at 7pmUpstairs at the Capitol Theatre

Plan to attend the Annual General Meeting and meet your fellow members over a glass of wine and nibbles. Then at 7.30 find out what we've been

doing over this last exciting year; discover who's to receive the Garland Award for the best local examples of architectural conservancy or restoration design over the past year; and after the business end of things, listen to our always topical speaker. Below is the proposed slate of officers for 2013 which will be adopted if there are no nominations from the floor.ExecutivePresident Trish Doney

(elected in 2012 for a 2-year term)Vice President Charles Wickett

(elected in 2012 for a 2-year term)Secretary Susan Carmichael

(standing for re-election)Treasurer Dennis Hogarth

(elected in 2012 for a 2-year term)DirectorsPatsy Beeson (elected in 2012 for a 2-year term)Peggy Bennett (elected in 2012 for a 2-year term)Judith Copeland (elected in 2012 for a 2-year term)Tom Cruickshank (elected in 2012 for a 2-year term)Phil Goldsmith (elected in 2012 for a 2-year term)Sebastian Hanna (standing for re-election)Peter Kedwell (standing for re-election)Jo Anne Mathew (new to Board)

Contents:President's Report .................................................. 1Come to the Annual General Meeting ................... 19th Annual Antiques & Artifacts, Apr. 7, 2013 ..... 28th Annual Port Hope & Cobourg ACO Bus Tour, to Napanee & Newburgh, Apr. 24, 2013 ...... 3Memories of a Port Hope Centenarian ................. 4“Evenings with the ACO & Friends” .................... 6Garden Tour, July 6, 2013 ..................................... 6Our Own Phil Carter is Honoured ....................... 6The House Tour: a Year-Round Job...................... 6Report on the Christmas Party .............................. 6Eric Arthur Lifetime Achievement Award ............. 7The Ontario Heritage Conference in Historic Huronia, June 7-9, 2013 ......................... 7ACO and Wesleyville Events .................................. 8

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ACO Matters February 2013

ACO Board of Directors 2012Executive Committee Phil Carter ............................ Past PresidentTrish Doney .......................... PresidentCharles Wickett .................... Vice PresidentSusan Carmichael ................. SecretaryDennis Hogarth .................... Treasurer

Directors Patsy Beeson Phil GoldsmithPeggy Bennett Sebastian HannaLee Caswell Peter KedwellJudith Copeland Charles WickettTom Cruickshank Ed Pamenter ......................... Advisor

Committee Chairs Joan Tooke ........................... AuctionPatsy Beeson ........................ Bus Tour & Newsletter Tom Cruickshank ................. Downtown Task ForceMary Shaw-Rimmington ..... Garden TourCharles Wickett .................... GovernanceLee Caswell .......................... House TourPeggy Bennett ...................... MembershipTom Cruickshank ................. Projects & Auction Ed Pamenter ......................... Property & HPH Rep.Mary Trevor ......................... ScholarshipJudith Copeland ................... Social

The ACO was incorporated in 1933 for the preservation of the best examples of architecture in the province and for the preservation of its places of natural beauty.

Now is the time to engage in the post-Holiday sort and clear out. No-one said you had to move to engage in a little down-sizing! Antiques & Artifacts needs

interesting and saleable items, both large and small. To date we have amazing treasures from 39 households. We are still looking for a few exceptional pieces – every auction needs a few stars. This year’s event will again feature a Silent Auction as well as the ‘R Us sales – Chairs ‘R Us, Doors & Windows ‘R Us, Great Linens and Better Books. The Tag Sale and the ‘R Us sales will open for business at 10 am, and the auction preview will begin at the same time. Last year’s very successful collaboration of auctioneers Les Brittan and Rob Rusland will be repeated. The auc-tion starts at 1 pm and runs for approximately three hours. Refreshments are available, and absentee bids may be left.There are some items that we must decline. These include electronic equipment, most upholstered furniture, mattresses, encyclopedia and out-of-date as opposed to classic or vin-tage household or office equipment. If in doubt, please call. We look forward to receiving the results of your 'sort out.' Please contact Ed Pamenter (905-885-2737) or my-self (905-885-1116) to facilitate drop off or pick up. Please provide us with as much information as possible concerning your donations. Many thanks. Joan Tooke, Chair

Antiques & Artifacts Committee

Heron by Lisa Chiu

ACO PORT HOPE PRESENTS

ANTIQUES &ARTIFACTS

9th ANNUALAUCTION & TAG SALE

Preview and Tag Sale at 10:00 a.m.Auction at 1:00 p.m.

Sunday, April 7th, 2013Town Park Recreation Centre62 McCaul Street, Port Hope

Auctioneers: Rob Rusland & Les Brittanwww.acoporthope.ca

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8th Annual Port Hope & Cobourg ACO Bus Tour, to Napanee & NewburghWednesday, April 24th, 2013

This time we’re visiting Napanee and Newburgh. We’ll pick up Dennis Mills, our guide for the day en route, then spend the morning in the charming village of

Newburgh, once called Rogue’s Hollow and the subject of a book of that name by Tom Cruickshank and Peter Stokes who were captivated by its stone buildings and history. Once a wealthy mill-town with 15 mills along the Napanee river, it lost its market and ended up as a tranquil backwater when the Grand Trunk Railway by-passed it for Napanee.

The little United Church is welcoming us with coffee and a slide show on the history of Newburgh. Then, while half of us tours the village and a romantic garden contain-ing the ruins of one old mill, the other half will visit another most attractive mill converted to a home with flair by the artists David Hunt and Wendy Cain. Then the two halves will switch. We head south to Napanee for lunch at the fine St. Mary Magdalene Church, after which Dennis will take us on a tour of town. For many generations Gibbards Furniture Factory was the main source of Napa-nee’s employment.

We'll be visiting what was once the house of a Gibbard fam-ily member, which its present owners have painstakingly furnished to its Victorian origins. Gibbard craftsmen created its handsome staircase and woodwork. Then after a tour of the town's commercial and residential districts with its diver-sity of architectural styles, we’ll visit Doug and Pam Dodd's

The Dodd House, Napanee

A few of many impressive Napanee homes

Mill, Newburgh

splendid early classic stone house south of the river. We’ll end at the Allan Macpherson House of 1827, a handsome house of Georgian design, now a museum, which is opening specially for us, where we'll enjoy a cream tea after a tour of the house. Then we'll return to Cobourg and Port Hope with our traditional Happy Hour en route, arriving approximately between 6.30 and 7pm N. B. We would warn there are several quite challenging stairs among the buildings visited. Please bear this in mind before you book.Departure: From Port Hope: 8.30am.sharp, MacDonald’s parking lot, off Roseglen Rd, south of the 401. From Cobourg, 8:45am sharp, commuter parking lot west off 45, north of 401. Address inquiries to 905-885-7929 or pbeeson@eagle.caBooking: Include name, phone no., e-mail, home address, ACO Member of which branch/ Non-member, an Emergency Contact person for you (spouse, son, daughter, friend) with their daytime phone no., and the fee. Price: ACO members $70; Non-members $85. Make out cheque to ACO Port Hope Branch, and send with application to: Bus Trip, 8 King Street, Port Hope, ON., L1A 2R4. Bookings are only final after receipt of payment. Your cancelled cheque is your receipt. Sales are to be deemed final, although substitutions can be made, either by the original ap-plicant or from a waiting list should one exist. Refunds will be made only in very rare instances and at the discretion of the organizing committee.

Patsy Beeson, Gail Rayment & Honor Shepley, ChairsBus Tour Committee.

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ACO Matters February 2013

KIRKPATICK’S SINCE 1881

Leather Shop

Specialists in Restoration, Repair and Reproduction of Heritage Leather Goods

and Manufacture of Quality Leather Products

FACTORY AND SHOWROOM 15 Cavan Street, Port Hope, ON L1A 3B5

905-885-1883 www.kpatricks.com

Fonts: Kirkpatrick’s Since 1881 Engravers Bold Leather Shop Lucida Calligraphy Bold Balance of Text Arial Bold

KIRKPATRICK'S

Memories of a Port Hope CentenarianBy Jackie Tinson and Patsy Beeson

It isn’t every day that we get brought up to snuff by some-one in their 100th year, particularly as full of vim, pep and vinegar as the one we recently met! At any rate, a

day or so after the fall ACO Matters went out we received a call from Don Douglas who wished to discuss some points in ACO Matters with us. We were astonished by the clarity of his memory and at the end of the conversation thanked him warmly and rang off. But afterwards curiosity got the better of us and we called up again and asked if we might come round and visit him to discuss Port Hope history further. So round we went, Jackie Tinson and Patsy Beeson, armed with notebooks, pencils and lots of questions, and passed an astonishing morning. Don, one of five children, was born on May 7th, 1913, to a Charles Street family, and recalled hearing, as a child of five – his mother’s arms around him and his older brother – the sound of church bells ringing throughout town to an-nounce the end of the Great War. Across from their home was the Cassie Cottage on Julia Street, occupied before Don’s day by the Rev. John Cassie who had organized the building of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church on Walton. The original Presbyterian Church had been what is now a privately owned cream-painted house, the original corner buttresses still extant, on the north side of Baldwin Street with the cemetery still there down behind it. The large mansard-roofed house (Cassie House) on Baldwin east of the minister’s cottage was owned for many years in Don’s time by Reg. Watson, owner of Watson’s Drug Store. Watson’s Drugs was then about five or six stores east of its present site, and the Tempest Block on the corner – recently so beautifully restored – housed D.A.Shay’s women’s wear store, patronized by Don’s mother, and George Wong’s Chi-nese cafe. But the first subject Don wished to discuss was the Wal-ton Hotel – or the Queen’s as he called it - whose bar he had visited "many a time". It was an upmarket hotel then, he said, very much the place to go. “I went with Mum and Dad

and it was a beautiful Dining Room”. Commercial travelers arrived by train in Port Hope and would stay at the Queen’s while there. It was soothing at the end of a day’s business to sit in the rocking chairs on the hotel’s ground-level verandah under its gallery and watch the world go by. A Mr. Bennet, said Don, sold the hotel to a couple called Keeler in the ‘20s, who raised their three children there. Well-respected locally, they kept the hotel for twenty years. Mr. Keeler grew the vegetables for the hotel at the “Sandy Dump”, where the Lions’ Centre now is. It was tended by an odd-job man named John who lived in the hotel’s basement. A "roustabout man" Don called him, a word hardly used today except on oil rigs. Later the hotel was sold to the brothers Mike and Bill Wladyka, the former of whom became a distinguished Port Hope mayor. Don allowed that after they had sold it "it went downhill", and in this run-down state it was, in 1978, the site of the murder of Bill Matiyek, from Sylvan Glen, described as a "bad character who got what was coming to him”. Immediately across John Street, Don recollected, was the Music Hall [the Opera House] reached by stairs from John Street, which showed black and white silent pictures. On Saturday matinees there were cowboy movies. “Many and many a time I watched. When the movies got exciting a Mr. Windfield went forward and played the piano.” The Opera House, called the Royal when in its ‘movie theatre’ period, closed down when the Capitol supplanted it in 1930. A significant part of Port Hope’s daily life was the trains. The Downtown Station (successor to the Midland Station which had gone by Don’s time) was at Walton and Lent’s Lane according to Don, and the Ontario and Walton intersection where the railroad crossed was a very noisy, dirty place. “Sometimes there was so much smoke you could hardly see!” The trains had right of way of course so all traffic stopped when they came through. It was danger-ous too, with children, bicycles, and horse-drawn vehicles, and sometimes horses bolted as the trains crossed. In the twenties Mitt Fleming was responsible for stopping the traf-fic with his flag. He had a lean-to on the corner where the

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Bank of Nova Scotia is now, and would sit there and wait for the trains. Then as the train came through he would run out and stop the traffic. In the early twenties six trains a day came and went across Walton, with freight trains in between. Don remem-bers their exact times. One transported the Pine Street High School students. At 8.00 a.m. it arrived, having picked them up along its route, and at 4pm, it took them home. The main Grand Trunk Railway station was down by the lake (the current Via station). Some passengers would get off at Walton while others would stay on and go down to the main station to connect with trains to Toronto or Mon-treal. Tom Bell, Station Master at the Downtown Station and possibly of the main one too, would often board the train when it stopped there and ride it down to the main Station. As a boy Don and his friends would sometimes hop on the train and ride down to the lake to get to the west beach (a beautiful beach, he said, ruined by Eldorado. There used to be pavilions there which held summer dances). If Bell saw them he'd put them off. When the railway line was discontinued the Downtown station building was bought by a Mr. Lent as an office for his coal business, and the former tracks named after him. It is now Lents Travel.

Don used to deliver meat for a local butcher by horse and cart. Once when he was out of the cart delivering on Augusta around midday the horse decided it was hungry and took off for its stable. It headed down the hill, swung left onto John and over went the cart cascading its contents onto the Baptist Church’s steps. The horse was later found peace-fully waiting in its stable. In those days there were stables at the back of many buildings, and behind Dreamers was stabling for fifty horses owned by grocery or butcher stores. Don was fired as a result of this escapade, but was re-instat-ed when a client announced she would remove her custom if he wasn’t delivering!

Flood at Walton Street bridge

Typical Port Hope delivery van

Regarding floods, according to Don the 1937/38 flood was the worst because of the ice. “I’ve seen blocks of ice as big as this room sitting on Walton Street”, he said. It was caused by logs clogging the four dams along the river. This flood took out the buildings which had occupied the south side of the Walton bridge - a fish store, a Chinese laundry, and a shoe repair shop – filling them with ice and water which took them down. Walton was under water as far up as Cavan Street. These are just a few of the fascinating reminiscences we heard from Don and no-one will be surprised to learn we greatly hope to return and hear more.

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ACO Matters February 2013

Our Christmas party launched the season in a novel and wonderful locale: Alice Teichert's Studio

in a renewed historical space downtown—a real case in point illustrating our preoccupation with revitalizing downtown. An enthusiastic crowd of over 100 members attended and much enjoyed meeting each other.

Meet fellow members in a fun series of "Evenings"! Some will be informative lectures and others will be 'adventures' – outings to all kinds of places of

interest. The first one, an outing, will be Overhead and Over-night, on Wednesday, May 8th. We'll convene at 7pm at The Capitol where Rod Stewart will take us high above the auditorium's ceiling to show us what makes these 'stars' twinkle, and we'll be taken backstage too. Then we'll walk across the parking lot behind to the Walton Hotel, where its new owner, Will Ryan, will take us on a tour, and tell us of its history and his wonderful plans for the space, followed by wine and refreshments. Numbers to this 'outing' have to be limited due to the restraints at the Capitol. Bear in mind there are challenging stairs. Participants are accepted on a first paid, first served basis. Cost: $15 pp; $18 for non-members. Make out cheque to "Evenings", ACO P.H. Branch, and send with application to: Evenings, 8 King Street, Port Hope, ON L1A 2R4. Include name, phone no., e-mail, address, and whether ACO Mem-ber or not.

Patsy Beeson, Peggy Bennett & Jackie Tinson, ChairsReport on the Christmas Party

“Evenings with the ACO & Friends”

Garden Tour

The 2013 ACO Port Hope Garden tour will take place on Saturday July 6 from 10am to 4pm. Mark this date!

Eight magnificent country gardens have been chosen, in the area immediately north of Port Hope with lunch to be of-fered in the area. The gardens themselves are very diverse from the inti-mate to an Edwardian estate, the very modern to a garden focused on ecology Our hope is that ticket holders will be delighted by great beauty and fascinated by a wide spectrum of individual approaches to gardening. The tour also includes one of the area's earliest graveyards which is a lovely walk through our local history. Mary Shaw-Rimmington, Chair

Our Own Phil Carter is Honoured

A project of Phil Carter's company, 15 Mill Street in Thornhill, has been awarded a 2013 Heritage Preser-vation Award by the City of Vaughan. This project

was awarded "for the restoration and sympathetic addition to the existing 1825 Cottage at 15 Mill Street in Thornhill in a way that ensures its continued use while enhancing the Thornhill Heritage District character."Owner: Monika and Roy MuradArchitect: Phillip H. Carter Architect

The House Tour: a Year-Round Job

Winter 2013. The holiday dust has been swept up and our local committees are once again hitting the books. So, too, our diligent House Tour commit-

tee actively searching for the new round-up of homes for this year's tour; focusing on the West side of our fair town. Remember this year's House Tour date, Saturday October 5th, 2013! Charles Wickett & Blaise Gaetz, Co-chairs, Port Hope House Tour

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Patrick + Dee McGeeSales Representatives

We Specialize in“Unique” Properties

Chestnut Park Real Estate Limited, Brokerage

905-800-0321mail@mcgees.ca www.mcgees.ca

The Ontario Heritage Conference in Historic Huron ia, June 7–9, 2013

The joint conference of the Ontario Architectural Conservancy and Community Heritage Ontario will be co-hosted by Heritage Midland, Heritage Penetan-

guishene and Heritage Tay at Midland on the historic shores of southern Georgian Bay. Our theme Rediscover the Past to Enhance the Future: The Role of Heritage in Economic Development. Keynote speaker Dr. Alan Taylor, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels and Indian Allies. Register by April 6, 2013 and take advantage of the early registration rates! Register at: ontarioheritageconfer-ence.ca (opens February, 2013).

The award recog-nizes individuals or groups that

have made an outstand-ing contribution to the heritage conservation movement in Ontario. The state of the province's architectural heritage today would not be the same without the significant activities of these recipients. The Rumgays have long been essential to heritage in Port Hope, and the town today bears many unmistakable and indispensable marks of their deep commitment to the commu-nity, their leadership, and their loving attention to heritage and conservation. For many years, Joan was the publisher of Century Home Magazine, a national periodical that inspired its readers to become interested in renovating old houses. Both the Rumgays were long-time members of the ACO, with Don serving as president of the Port Hope chapter. Their numerous successful projects include restoring the provincially recognized – and very elegant – 1834 residence "Bluestone"; Port Hope's Cus-tom's House at 12 Mill Street; and the restoration and running of the Lantern Inn (now the Waddell). The latter was designed by William Thomas, architect of such notable structures throughout Canada as St. Lawrence Hall, St Michael's Cathe-dral, and the Don Jail in Toronto; among others. Equally important was their creative partnership and leadership in the battle to preserve Port Hope's Capitol Theatre, which now has been restored with great care for period detail. Today the theatre is a vital feature of the town and central to its cultural life-an important symbol and example of a commu-nity's ability to work together to preserve the best elements of the past while dynamically meeting the continuously changing needs of the future. Sadly, Joan Rumgay passed away recently. ACO feels the Eric Arthur Lifetime Achievement Award is a fitting acknowl-edgement of her life and work with her loving husband, Don.

Eric Arthur Lifetime Achievement Award

Friends of Wesleyville

Village win A.K.

Sculthorpe Award for Advocacy

— See next issue

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ACO Matters February 2013

Architectural Conservancy of OntarioPort Hope Branch

MeMbership ApplicAtion

Name(s): ___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

Full Address: ________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

Telephone: __________________________________________________________

E-Mail: ____________________________________________________________

Annual memberships in the ACO, Port Hope Branch are due each January 1st. Membership cut-off is July each year. The Port Hope Branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario is financed through membership fees and voluntary contributions which are tax deductible. Additional funds are raised through the annual House Tour, Biennial Garden Tour, Antiques & Artifacts Auction and other fund raising initiatives. Educational programs, including bus/walking tours of Port Hope and other learning forums are part of our yearly program. Each member is invited to participate in branch and provincial activities. Membership also includes a subscription to Acorn, the provincial ACO publication, and ACO Matters, our Port Hope Chapter publication.

Please send your cheque to address below: • Individual Membership: .......................................$35.00• Household Membership: ......................................$40.00• Organization Membership: ...................................$45.00• Donation: ..............................................................$?????

ACO Port Hope, Box 563, Port Hope, ON L1A 3Z4

Tel.: 905.885.7929 • Website: www.ACOPortHope.ca

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Major Upcoming EventsACO CHRiSTMAS PARTY Thursday Nov. 29th(see p.1)

FRiENDS OF WESLEYViLLE ViLLAGE YULETiDE CAROLLiNG

Friday Dec. 7th 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.ANNUAL GENERAL MEETiNG

Thursday, February 28th, 2013At the Capitol Theatre

ANTiqUES & ARTiFACTS Sunday, April 7th, 2013ANNUAL BUS TOUR:

TO NAPANEE & NEWBURGHWednesday, April 24th, 2013

MAJOR UPCOMiNG EVENTSANNUAL GENERAL MEETiNG

February 28th (see page 1)8TH ANNUAL BUS TOUR

TO NAPANEE & NEWBURGH, April 24th (see page 3)

"OVERHEAD AND OVERNiGHT"May 8th (see page 6) GARDEN TOUR

July 6th (see page 6)

WESLEYViLLE EVENTSCOUNTRY FESTiVAL AND COLLECTiONS SALE

Saturday June 1st & Sunday June 2nd, 10am – 4pm(Same day as our participation in Doors Open

Northumberland, too)

THE NiAGARA ONTARiO RAGNAR RELAY ExCHANGE POiNT

Friday June 14th, 7am – 4 :30pmSTEP iNSiDE SUNDAYS:

AN OPPORTUNiTY TO ViSiT & TELL YOUR STORiESDuring July & August, noon – 4pm

More information call Sue Stickley at 905.885.1344