Brockville's Victoria Hall

Victoria Hall

By : Dennis Stein

  One of the pinnacle buildings of the Brockville city skyline is Victoria, or City Hall. It was built between 1862 and 1864, on land presented to local government by Honourable Charles Jones, who owned a great deal of property in Brockville. Previous to its construction, there was the East Ward Market Hall, a square shaped frame building constructed in the 1830's to house indoor butcher's stalls. It was in 1859 that debate began with Council on the planing of a new building. The B&O Railway tunnel to what is now Blockhouse Island was nearing completion, and had changed the property quite a bit. After lengthy political bantering, the architect Henry H.Horsey of Kingston was contracted to design the new building, begun in 1862, and finishing in 1864. William Fitzsimmons was a master builder, and Mayor of Brockville at the time, and was appointed as Superintendant of construction. It was estimated at $26,000 to build, but costs most likely went higher by completion. A beautiful example of 19th century design, the front block of the main building is complemented by a large clock and bell tower. The clock itself has four faces, and is cared for by Victor Smetona, and his grandson Jordan, who winds the clock manually every Tuesday. The second floor originally housed a concert hall, and a ballroom. The first official use of the concert hall after the building was finished in the fall of 1864 was by Madam A. Bishop. The rear building housed the market area, and in 1904, two more storeys were added to house more town offices. The rear wing of the building originally housed 16 well appointed butcher stalls, eight on each side, with a passage leading through from the front of the main building.

  The Post Office rented out the offices on the front block main floor until the 1880's, operating out of Victoria Hall for fifteen years, when town offices took over, and the Post Office moved to their own building on Court House Ave. The market in the rear wing is gone, taken over by office space, but the Farmer's Market is still a pleasant attraction during the warmer months on Market St. West these days. A beautiful building, Victoria Hall is an unmistakable landmark to Brockville, and another proud example of 19th century architecture in our city...

The Brocks!

Semper Paratus

By : Dennis Stein

The Brockville Armouries building, constructed in 1900, is one of the few examples in Ontario of a community militia building constructed of stone, instead of brick. The building itself is a beautiful testament to the city's proud heritage, rooted in 19th century architecture.
 The beginning of the Brockville Rifles found it's start even before confederation, founded in 1796 as the 1st Battalion Leeds Militia at Elizabethtown. Later, during the war of 1812, people living here changed the name to Brockville, after Sir Isaac Brock, the British General. It was during the war of 1812, that the regiment, made up of citizen soldiers, fought in the Battle of Chrysler's Farm, and the capture of Ogdensburg. The group was reorganized several times, contributing to forces in many battles such as the Boer War in 1899, and fighting valiantly with other units in World War I. One hundred and five members of the Brockville Rifles were killed or died from wounds in the first World War, 10 officers and 95 men. Following this, the unit was again reorganized into The Brockville Rifles. The unit also joined forces with the Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry Highlanders, landing on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day in World War II. They were the first allied force to enter Caen. After the war, The 'Brocks' were converted several more times to serve different roles, until 1959, when the group returned to it's current designation.
 The Brocks generally train at either CFB Petawawa or CFB Kingston, but can be seen on occasion performing urban training here in Brockville. The rifles train a minimum of one night per week, and one weekend per month, and some of the Brocks are on, or training for, deployment to Afghanistan...
 The Brockville Rifles represent a very proud group of men and women, who serve this country, and share in the pride of a unit which has contributed to many battles, received many awards, and helped in peacekeeping efforts around the globe. This pride is reflected in their motto, "Semper Paratus" or "Always Ready".

Stop the roadkilling!

By : Dennis Stein

  As the weather warms this spring, animals awaken from their winter slumber, and begin to move about in search of their first meals of the spring. Once the ground thaws, and the soil becomes warm in the spring, frogs, toads, and snakes all emerge from their winter hiding places. During the first spring rains, especially a few hours after dark, the roads can be literally covered with animals either looking for food, or on their way to nesting sites. On the water as well, turtles and birds beginning their seasonal breeding are often in the way. It is difficult at best to avoid hitting a frog as it comes into your headlights, or veer your boat around a turtle basking in the sun at the water's surface, but some of the species in our area need our help in this area, or we may not have any of them left.
  In 2008, St.Lawrence Islands National Park conducted surveys whereby staff rode bicycles along the Thousand Islands Parkway, marking and identifying roadkills. The results were staggering. An average of five animals per kilometer per day, with a total of over 35,000 animals for the season of May to October. Five different endangered species were involved, with amphibians such as frogs and toads getting the worst of it.
 Major research on turtle populations is also ongoing in the park, centering on the river from Mallorytown to Rockport. Blandings, Map, and Stinkpot turtles are the focus, and Map turtles seem to be most at risk, with adult females dying of collisions with boat propellers. The studies indicate that if just 10% of adult females hit by props die, the species will definitely become extinct within 500 years. That's a short period of time, ecologically speaking.
 Another animal having a rough time in the area is the Black Rat Snake, Canada's largest snake at a maximum length of 2 meters, and surprisingly, a constrictor like the Boa Constrictor. They are all too often hit on roads.
 Raccoons, White Tailed Deer, porqupines, along with other small mammals all risk danger crossing highways on the hunt for food, or  moving to and from nesting areas.
  The news is not all bad however, and alhough it may seem impossible to avoid hitting these animals at times, there are ideas which may be of help. Parks Canada staff have erected low plastic fencing which funnels animal traffic through culverts under the road instead of over it, in areas which have been seen to be 'hotspots' for roadkill incidents. No-wake zones, and propeller guards help turtles in areas known to contain turtle populations. Land stewardship programs with private landowners help the recovery of Rat Snakes, and other species at risk.
  One thing my driving instructor told me when I was getting my license as a younger man, was NEVER to swerve to avoid hitting an animal, because you could cause a serious accident attempting to save the unfortunate creature. I still have trouble with that...

The 6060 in Brockville

By : Dennis Stein

 She was built in 1944, at Montreal Locomotive Works, from a family of twenty locomotives of the same design, and has hauled steel on steel in this country for over half a century. At 93 feet in length, and 15 feet high, the CN 6060, is the largest operating steam locomotive in Canada. She has been retired and reborn at least twice, her steam power running passengers back and forth on Canadian National lines. The steam locomotive affectionately known as "Bullet-nosed Betty" has had the same man at her controls for 50 years, locomotive engineer Harry Home. He took over the controls of the beloved steam engine in 1960, and still handles the throttle today...
 She rolled off the floor in Montreal in October of 1944, painted CN green during World War II, when locomotives were in demand, but iron was needed elsewhere. The 6060 was one of 20 locomotives of the same design. Weighing in at almost 640,000 pounds, she held coal and water, and was later converted to oil. Every five years, she would be completely stripped down and rebuilt, as part of the expensive maintenance and operation of these steam-powered beasts. 6060 has been run at up to 85 mph, an impressive feat, considering that modern VIA diesel locomotives will run at 100 mph. The group of steam locomotives were broke in on the Montreal to Brockville run, and hauled passengers on the Continental Ltd. from Toronto to Nakina, Ontario - trains 1 & 2 and out of Ottawa to Nakina - trains 3 & 4. 6060 served Canadian National for fifteen years before being retired in Jasper, Alberta, to be put on display there three years later. Two sister locomotives are on dispay: The 6069 in Sarnia, and the 6077 in Capreol, which I have read is also being restored. But the 6060 seems to be the favourite, and it would not be the last time steam boiled inside her...Another decade passed, and Canadian National had 6060 restored to pull her weigt in passengers out of Toronto to Fort Erie in 1972. She made numerous appearances in Brockville during her lifetime, and one can imagine the locomotive's massive weight being turned at the turntable which was at one time to the south of the railway tracks, in the area of Tim Horton's on William St.
 The 6060 still resides in Stettler, Alberta, having been donated for the celebration of the province's centennial. Now also known as 'The Spirit of Alberta', she runs steam excursions, across the Canadian west, and hopefully will remain doing so, saved from the scrap heap by her engineer, Harry, whose team from the Rocky Mountain Railway Society have managed to keep 6060 in good repair. 6060 is a pround example of Canadian National steam power, during the romantic age of railroads...

 For more info on CN 6060, visit www.6060.org. Image with permission from the artist: My mother, Sharon Stein...

Loyalists, Legends, And The Hunt For Hidden Gold...

By : Dennis Stein

  If you haven't heard of William 'Billa' Larue, the witch of Plum Hollow, or the 'Legend of the Black Cattle', you don't know what you're missing in local lore. A great treasure legend, with a ghost story to boot...
  William Larue, or 'Billa' as he came to be known, was a United Empire Loyalist who came to this country near the beginning of the 1800's, and was given a crown land grant of 200 acres on the west side of Larue Mills Creek. He erected a mill on the creek, and amassed quite a fortune. He ran the mill at night to grind flour for bread and during the day to cut wood for British defenses during the war of 1812. As time went on, he bought up land around him, eventually owning about 1000 acres in the area around Larue Mills. Billa and his wife Abigail had nine children, but at least six of them died before he and his wife, the times being hard, and some of the daughters in particular lived little more than a few months or years.
  It was well known that Billa kept his fortune concealed somewhere on his property, and several attempts at locating it by fortune seekers have occured over the years. Supposedly, on his death bed, Billa uttered what may have been the only clue to the gold's location. "My treasure lies there..." He was in one of the upstairs bedrooms, overlooking the small family cemetery to the west of the original house, which still stands today. Did Larue mean his fortune? Or was he refering to his children? Whatever the case, William larue died in November of 1832, taking his secret with him to the grave. He left everything to his daughter Sarah Larue, not to his wife, instead offering her a measly sum of cash if she agreed to live somewhere else. She died two years later...
  One famous attempt at recovering Larue's fortune happened around 1855, when a small group of men, after consulting the witch of Plum Hollow ( a local fortune-teller named Elizabeth Barnes ), set out for the property in hopes of unearthing Billa's prize. They began to dig at a certain spot on the west side of the old house, under cover of darkness. They excavated a considerable hole, and suddenly one of the men hit what he thought was a large round stone, with the sound of coins beneath it. It was then, as legend has it that all at once, a cold wind blew through, and the men were suddenly surrounded by dark silhouettes which they thought must be black cattle. They became so afraid, that the dig was quickly abandoned, and the group ran off toward the house. It was decided that they would return the next morning in daylight. The following morning, the men found their picks and shovels, but no sign of the stone or any gold within the hole... The
concensus was that a spirit of some kind had whisked away the gold, and re-hidden it so as to protect it from being found.
  One of the gentlemen amoung this group later detailed the story exactly, a man by the name of Haskin, who lived in New York state, who claims he was the young man in the hole when the stone was struck. He was nine years old at the time. All of this interesting story can be pieced together, and at least partially proven to be true. T.W.H. Leavitt's History of Leeds and Grenville devotes space to the story, and the local Service Ontario office has copies of his original land grant information, as well as his Last Will and Testament.
  Did some of the men return to the hole in the night and take the fortune? Did Sarah Larue get the location from her dying father? Perhaps. Or just maybe, the gold is still buried out there somewhere, awaiting discovery. Definitely an interesting piece of local history and folklore...

The many firsts of George Taylor Fulford

By : Dennis Stein

  Born in Brockville in what was then Upper Canada in 1852, George Fulford became a successful businessman and a politician, serving in the senate representing Brockville for five years until his death in 1905. He registered a business in Leeds in 1887 in patent medicines, and in 1890, was sold the rights to 'Pink Pills for Pale People' for $53.01. It would go on to make him very rich...He marketed it in over 87 countries worldwide, in ads which resembled news headlines, citing testimonials of miraculous recoveries by customers. It was little more than an iron supplement, but Fulford's mass-advertising techniques turned the patent 'medicine' into a gold mine.
  He had married Mary Wilder White of Wisconsin in 1880 and had three children, Dorothy, Martha, and George Taylor II. Fulford attended business college in Belleville, and took over his brother's apothecary in 1874, which he built on to form the patent medicine company. He became a friend in political circles with Sir Wilfred Laurier, who appointed him to the Canadian Senate representing Brockville, after first serving as an alderman of Brockville's town council. His wife Mary was a believer in the occult, and held seances at their residence in Brockville, attracting the interests of William Lyon Mackenzie, who enlisted Mary's help at one point to attempt to contact his deceased mother. George was also the first Canadian fatal automobile accident victim on record, when a streetcar sideswiped the car he was riding in while on a trip to Massachusetts in October 1905. He died at the age of 53. He had given generously to The Rowing Club, Churches, and the Brockville General Hospital, and at the time of his death, was the largest shareholder in General Electric. He was considering buying a company named General Motors...He also had a 138-foot steam-powered yacht named the magedoma, named after his family (MAry, GEorge, DOrothy, MArtha). It was for entertaining, and did so on several occasions to none other than several Canadian Prime Ministers, the Prine of Wales, the Duke of Kent, and the British Prime Minister. It was loaned to the Canadian Navy during WWII for training purposes, but returned in 1947 heavy damaged. It has changed hands several times, but today has been retored to its former beauty.
  The Fulford Mansion was constructed beginning in 1898, George having selected what was originally a 10 acre spot on the edge of the St.Lawrence, just east of Brockville on the King's Highway. It was completed in 1901, having 35 rooms, and encompassing 20,000 square feet. Highlights of the estate included a Grand Hall, a 50-seat dining room, spacious verandah, as well as a Drawing Room for the ladies, and Smoking Room next to a Billard Room for the men. It is widely rumored that Mary Fulford, who was known to be fearful of thunderstorms, still haunts Fulford Place...

  The mansion was bequeathed to the Ontario Heritage Foundation, and has since been restored with its original lavish contents. It was opened to the public in 1993 as a house museum, and remains an important tourist attraction to the area...  

Like oil and water...

By : Dennis Stein

  Only 3% of the water on the planet is freshwater. Most of that is trapped in glaciers, or the polar ice caps. The remainder is in freshwater lakes, rivers, marshland and groundwater. Oil, and all of its associated products, is another important natural resource, trapped in rock, sand, and under the ocean bedrock. It powers our vehicles in the form of fuels, powers our homes by providing electricity, and feeds us through food production, harvesting, processing and transportation. To feed a family of four for a year consumes almost a thousand gallons of oil based products, roughly the same as what that family spends in fuel for their own car.
  With approximately 80 million more people on the planet each year, the demand for these finite resources continues to increase. Oil, coal, and natural gas are energy sources which are non-replenishable, and have reached global peak in production. Water is replenishable through the natural cycle of evaporation to precipitation, but we humans are drawing off of the aquifers of fresh water quicker now than it can be replaced. Which will become more valuable in the future, Oil or Water?
  While we gripe about the cost of gas for our SUV's, and have every convience known to man, almost 900 million people have little or NO access to clean water, and some in drought-stricken areas like Ethiopia and Kenya have to walk long distances to get it. Water is already worth more than cash in alot of under developed areas, and is sold in small quantities, which must sustain families to drink, irrigate small crops, and wash with for long periods. Do we think of these things as we turn on the tap at home, when we go to a water park, or water our grass?
  Oil is something that we cannot survive wihout either, and it will become more scarce in the near future. All of our energy is supplied by fossil fuels. Yes, I said ALL. Solar panels are manufactured using oil derived products such as plastics. Bio-fuels are alternatives that simply use less of the needed pertroleum based fuels. Fuel cells and wind turbines are made using oil-based products. Your computer is made from processes that require large amounts of energy. Even the internet, which is one of the most marvelous connected constructions on a global scale in recent history is sustained by energies all rooted in oil...
  A mere 5% drop in global oil production would quadruple the cost of gas, and if you watch closely, it is happening. Water will be the next big commodity as we use up the supply that mother nature cannot replace fast enough for human demand. These situations must be resolved quickly, and not just by OUR government, but by all peoples on the planet. Our days of waste are over, and new means of energy and conservation must be found. This is not something that will go away by not thinking about it, and unless alternatives can be found soon, we may share the current situation with many third world countries...

Plum Hollow's Witch

By: Dennis Stein

 The Brockville area is home to it's fair share of strange and wonderful stories, told by local authors, reporters, and spoken of around many a campfire. One such tale involves a very special woman, who managed to achieve everything she did, despite the hardships she faced...
 Although exact dates are sketchy, as is sometimes the case with people or events early in Canada's history, Elizabeth Barnes was born in either 1794 or 1800 in county cork Ireland. She was supposedly the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, and even though that was never confirmed, it is used to explain her unnatural abilities. At around the age of twenty, she eloped with a young man by the name of Robert Harrison to Canada, settling here in Ontario around Cobourg. They had a son there, but tragically, Elizabeth was widowed when Harrison died a few short years later. She remarried, to a shoemaker named Barnes, and they came to live in Sheldon's Corners, just outside of Athens. They had nine children, and lived in a small homestead, until Mr. Barnes decided to leave his family behind, with the exception of his two oldest sons, moving to Smiths Falls to make a living at shoemaking. Now alone a caring for seven children, 'Mother Barnes' as she had come to be known, began using her talents reading tea leaves to tell peoples fortunes. She charged 25 cents to earn extra money, and her fame quickly spread. People came from all over to consult her by horse and carriage, for everything from lost livestock, to murders, and even buried treasure. Even Sir John A. McDonald consulted Mother Barnes, and was told, among other things, that he would become the leader of the new country. Entering the small house, people would be led to an upstairs room where Elizabeth would be sitting at a table with a pot of tea. They would be invited to 'turn a cup' and would have their fortune told...
 Author T.W.H. Leavitt speaks of interviewing the 'witch of plum hollow' as he describes her in his book of the same name, and the designation stuck. Today the homestead where Mother Barnes lived is still standing, having been bought recently, and restored. Elizabeth Barnes died in 1886, and is buried in the Sheldon's Corners cemetery. She lived to be over ninety, and is credited with solving a murder, locating buried treasure, personal items, and unravelling 'ghostly occurances'.
 Though she was not really a witch in any real sense of the word, nor did she live in Plum Hollow, Elizabeth 'mother' Barnes is and will remain another of the interesting stories in our area. One can envision the wise old woman, sitting with her pot of tea as she looks into your future...