Blyth Main Street circa 1910

Queen Street at King looking to the north

This is one of my favourite pictures of Blyth's main street.

The nearest building on the left is the former George Radford Construction building, but was a livery stable in the olden days. It was also home to Doc Perdue's veterinarian services. The store next to this building was a harness shop operated by a Mr. Carter. His wife had a dressmaker business on the second floor of this building.

Just past this block there is a mysterious, small wooden box-like structure which has a sloped top. It is just to the left of the sidewalk and appears to be raised a few inches from the ground. I have never been able to identify what this item is.

On the right-hand side of the picture in the foreground is the Queen's Hotel, operated at this time by the Mason Brothers.

The brick building next door is a house built by William Johnston, who operated a livery stable next door. We believe the person beside the stage coach is the driver of the Clinton-Wingham stage either hitching up as fresh team or unhitching the team to be replaced.

Note the sidewalks crossing the street to help the ladies keep their long skirts out of the mud. (Also to protect the men's boots?)

WE NEED THE OMBUDSMAN TO CONTROL OUR SCHOOL BOARD

WHEN WILL THE ONTARIO OMBUDSMAN BE ALLOWED TO INVESTIGATE SCHOOL BOARDS?

The people of Blyth did everything within their power to prevent the closure of their school. We lost the battle, but the field on which we fought was not a level one.

Avon Maitland District School Board, despite the fact that they had  major control advantages, violated many of the rules that could have made the contest somewhat more fair. Blyth was not fairly represented, ARC meetings were not properly advertised, the board did not recruit proper representatives. 

Unfortunately, the board's records have whitewashed the entire process. When I lodged a complaint to the Ontario Ombudsman I knew that he would not be allowed to investigate the school board, so my complaint went to the Ministry of Education, which is fair game for the Ombudsman's investigative powers.

The reply that I received from the ministry was based entirely on the Avon Maitland false and misleading reports. While that was quite frustrating, I realize now that even if the OO had found the ministry at fault, that would not change AMDSB's decision since the Education Act gives them the absolute power to close any school they choose regardless of how egregious the decision might be.

A truly representative school board would have asked the question: "Can Blyth afford to lose its only school?" The same would apply to Brussels and Zurich schools.

Apparently the perfidy of this board did not end with unnecessary closure of schools and the wasteful spending of undetermined millions spent on a totally unnecessary new school. There are rumours from reliable sources that $200,000 has been given to a couple (both retired school principals on full pension) to sort out, organize and dispense with all the movable assets from the closed schools.

Further evidence of the inability of this board's administration to plan for the near future has been noted. In the normal K to 8 schools, during the winter months, older children are always on hand to help the little ones to deal with their winter clothing and footwear at the beginning and ending of the school day. With the Turnberry "Campus" being totally dedicated to K-1 children, there will be no one but a handful of teachers to help with these duties.

A large portion of your tax dollars are going to pay the salaries of those who make decisions like that, and who seem to do everything they can think of to disadvantage places like Blyth, Brussels, and Zurich.

The Ontario Ombudsman, André Marin, has been actively pressing the Ontario government to allow his office to investigate the so-called "MUSH" group: municipalities, universities, schools, and hospitals. The pressure is mounting from the thousands of people who, like us, have legitimate complaints about errors, decisions, and bad policies of public service organizations.

It is a matter of justice and fairness for all citizens.

Brock Vodden

Insensitive Wingham Advertising

The people of Blyth who happened to be listening to "The One" radio station on a recent Thursday morning heard the following announcement:

"There are so many reasons to visit Wingham! Come and see all that it has to offer! 
Including the new public school, the terrific sports complex and the fantastic services offered at the High School and hospital!
Wingham is a wonderful place to start a business or locate your family! Take the short trip today and shop around main street.
You can win thousands of dollars in cash and prizes just by shopping!
Fill your "Dig our Town" passport to take part! More details online at www.northhuron.ca"

The fact that the North Huron website is referred to suggests that this ad came from our municipal office, and paid for with North Huron taxes.

It turns out that this message was crafted by someone in CKNX who is in charge of communication from the Wingham Business Alliance. That "someone"obviously has the sensitivity of a rhinoceros.

Here we are in Blyth mourning the loss of our only school and wondering how we are going to attract and retain young families. Then along comes this announcement which uses this utterly unjustifiable monster school to lure young families away from here. That is rubbing salt into a very deep wound.

The other attraction is the "terrific sports complex". This is an extravagance pretty much forced on the former town of Wingham by an overly optimistic manufacturer, and overly optimistic business people of Wingham. All three wards contribute to the operations of the complex, although only Wingham residents contribute to the debt for it.


Brock Vodden

BLYTH FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

A view of Dinsley Street from the Roof of Industry Hall

On the left side of this early 1900 photo you see part of the cement block structure of the current Blyth Inn. There are two attached frame structures and then a livery stable. This livery stable was later replaced by another structure at the north east corner of the property. At the eastern edge of the property we see an open shed. This is where guests could tie up their horse and store their buggy. This building remained standing. though unused. until about 1950.

In the right foreground we see the McKinnon & Co. sign. This is the same building that is now occupied by the Gift Cupboard. The second storey of McKinnon's store housed their millinery department.

In the distance on the left side of the photo, we can see St. Michael's Catholic Church which still had its spire. We can also see St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church near the centre background. This church in 1925  became a United Church of Canada. At the same time, the Queen Street Methodist Church became a United Church as well and for several years there were two United Churches in the village. Eventually the two congregations joined together in the former Presbyterian Church, and the continuing Presbyterians purchased  the Queen Street Church which is now home to the Blyth Christian Reform Church.

Brock Vodden

A Stunning Picture of Blyth Comes to Light!

Queen Street Blyth  circa 1907

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL DELIVERY

Near midnight on July 17, 2012, I received an email from an unknown person. The message was simply "Please share this image!"  Attached to the email was a thumbnail image. When the full image appeared I could barely believe my eyes. It was the above picture of the business block between the current location of the CIBC and the Blyth Inn. In the faded distance you can see a bit of the Gift Cupboard.

I replied immediately to the sender, asking him how he expected me to get back to sleep after getting this wonderful but mysterious image. The picture was taken no earlier than 1906 when the hotel was built. The awning on the foreground store indicates "Gerry Hardware". We know that Mr. Gerry sold this business in 1908 but the new owner may not have changed the awning right away.  A good guess would be that the picture was taken around 1907 but it could be slightly later.

The first two stores in the foreground no longer exist. They stood in the gap between the CIBC and Sharon's Miniature Museum. They were completely razed in 1936 when they were both occupied as Munro's Hardware.

I am not sure what business was in the second shop, but the number 3 was the private bank of James McMurchie, and in number 4 was Frank Metcalfe's store. Frank was an entrepreneur with many interests. He was a jeweller, watchmaker, CPR ticket salesperson, telegram agent, book seller. He was also managing director of the Ontario Apple Growers Association. For many years he was one of the most active leaders in the Blyth Fall Fair Board. These two stores are in 2012 occupied by Sharon's Miniature Museum.

The fifth store was Bender's clothing store operated by Ezra Bender. We have close-up pictures of Bender's very attractive window displays. That store was completely gutted in 1929. We acquired pictures from the Huron County Museum showing that store before and after the fire.

The next building is known as the Milne Block. This was the office of Dr. W.J. Milne and he also had a drug store located at the from of the building. Dr. Milne's career was all, or nearly all, in Blyth. He also served as councillor and reeve for many terms and was from time to time Huron County coroner.

At the right side of the picture you can see the faint image of what was known at the time as the Commercial Hotel, but now is called the Blyth Inn. It was built in 1906 to replace an older frame hotel which occupied much the same footprint.

We are so pleased that so many people contribute treasured pictures like this one to the Repository of Blyth History as we call our collection.

HOW DID THIS IMAGE AT THE TOP GET SENT TO ME?

The picture came to me from a post card collector and dealer who lives, I believe, in Michigan. I don't know where he acquired the picture, but it is a really special type of post card. It was produced photographically directly from the negative. It had the names of two people on the back but with no addresses showing. (It had never been mailed anywhere.) The dealer recognized that the paper on which the card was printed had been produced for the Canadian Market. He sent an image of the card to a local (Michigan) Historical Society for identification. They sent it to the Ontario Historical Society in Toronto since they thought the location depicted might be in Ontario. The OHS sent the image to the Toronto Postcard Club, and someone in that club matched the image to other images on this Blog, "All About Blyth", and passed my email reference back to the owner of the card. 

I alerted a local post card collector who has since purchased the actual physical card from the dealer.

The Internet has been around for a long time, but it still continues to amaze.

Brock Vodden

SAGE'S HOTEL IN WALTON

Sage's Hotel in Walton circa 1905

Now known as the Walton Inn

This is an interesting picture given to us by Bill Emigh of Victoria, B.C. This picture was taken during the construction of the CPR railway Guelph to Goderich line. Bill also provided us with information about the people in the picture.

The pair in the buggy at the left side are Bill's great grandfather, Jonathan Emigh and his daughter, Miss Allie. Jonathan built the Commercial Hotel in Blyth (now the Blyth Inn) in 1906 and was for many years before and after a leading contributor to the business and general life of Blyth. He was also the first fire chief of Blyth.

The family standing at the entrance is that of William Emigh, son of Jonathan, who was proprietor of the hotel at this time. Bill Emigh's father is the babe in the high chair.

The workmen to the right of the entrance are part of the crew working at the railway construction taking place in the Walton area at the time. The buggy owners on the right of the scene are curious Blythites who have come to Walton to see how the CPR construction is proceeding.

The newspapers of the time show how high the expectations are for this new transportation link. Blyth will become a two-railway town, which in those days was seen as very positive development. The north south line, the London, Huron & Bruce line had operated since 1876.

The Sage family had operated this Hotel for a number of years. Mr Sage died quite young and his wife continued to operate the business with the help of her daughters and one son. This family offered entertainment with their considerable musical talent. We have collected a great deal of information about the Sage family - all included in the Repository of Blyth History.

SCHOOL BOARD GONE UNDERGROUND?

AVON MAITLAND DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD SEEMS TO BE IN HIDING

If the Board is cowering in shame over the damage they have committed over the past few months, no one should be much surprised. They may have locked the door of their communications department to prevent further embarrassment of issuing misleading information to the public.

Normally, you would think that during a time when they are in the process of building a monster school in Wingham, they would be proudly announcing every construction milestone as it is reached. But these are not
normal times. The Maitland River Elementary School provides no noble purpose about which to toot the horn. More of a monument to current board members than a needed educational resource, it stand out as a physical reminder of government waste. In its wake lie several communities stripped of their educational heart and soul. AMDSB is no doubt thinking it wiser to lay low and hope that the injured parties get used to being whipped by the people they once thought were their representatives on the school board.

Whatever is behind the lengthy hiatus, we can only worry that they are using this time to dream up further ways to attack small communities throughout their two county domain. When we consider all the adverse decisions that have emerged from this administration, it seems obvious that they much have spent a great deal of time in closed meetings plotting each of these moves. It is to be hoped that the Ontario Ombudsman will continue to investigate such activities in public bodies to ensure that the public have access to the information about the conduct of public business.

Brock Vodden