Subscribe..
The following canto..
..goes a lot further back than twenty years; in fact it is a glimpse of the Merrittville of the 1850’s-“on the corner of West Main and North Main streets stood a long Gothic building, the property of Seeley & Betts. The front of this building contained a store while in the rear were apartments for dwellings. On the opposite corner the late Elias Hoover (sire of D.D. Hoover) kept the Welland house. Across from the store Wm. A. Bald had a dry goods store, and west of that stood his residence. There were no railways, and the canal, which was west of the present one, was content to have its boats hauled through by horse power and tow ropes. Steamboats were few and far between. The bridge over the river was an old wooden structure without a railing. Among the business firms were Daniel McCaw, who did shoemaking; (the business is still conducted under the family name), Mr. Shrigley sold drugs; Wellington Hellems kept a furniture store; Betts & Seeley had a sawmill. There was no jail; no church-an old log school house where model school now stands (later the Y.M.C.A.) served both as church and school and was lighted by tallow candles; oftentimes the members of the congregation bringing their own candles with them. The side walks were either Mother Earth or two planks with a space between them.
20 YEARS AGO
“A new industry will be established in Welland shortly with a capital of $150,000. It will be known as the Welland Tin Plate & Sheet company, limited.”-People’s Press. Yeah
The Welland-Port Colborne Evening Tribune
28 February 1929
Add A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.