As I sort through various stories for my weekly heritage articles on NewmarketToday, I frequently come across interesting little stories. I’m sharing some of those facts and antidotes that I have collected. The theme for this article, if we need one, is ‘did you know’?’
Newmarket has altered its numbering system for streets at least three times in our history. In the 1930s, Newmarket began to implement home delivery of mail to relieve the post office and offer more convenience. All occupants of local buildings were expected to provide valid street addresses and mail receptacles.
House numbering had been virtually non-existent until the 1930s and was very haphazard, at best, after that with identification being tied primarily to the lot number recorded in the town’s assessment rolls.
Attempts were made in the 1950s to establish a uniform numbering system but without complete success. The federal government refused to extend home delivery to Newmarket until all houses were properly numbered. This was finally completed in September 1953 but, in fact, actual home delivery didn’t commence for most households until November 1957.
Of note was the change in the social conduct of Newmarket’s citizens as going to the Post Office and picking up of one’s mail was seen as a social occasion.
A completely new numbering of houses was introduced in 1971 when the regional government took power. This was to allow Newmarket and area to integrate with the new national postal code system that began early in 1973. In April 1976, a 2-½ acre site was chosen for the new postal processing plant on Mulock Drive and it was up and running by 1978.
The vista at the foot of Main Street at Water Street was altered in December 1960 when the old waterworks building of 1888 was replaced by the new Hydro office. The town works department was to move in 1958 to Timothy Street by the Fairgrounds. The Pte. Haines Boer War Monument remained on the site until 1982 when it was moved to D’Arcy Street.
Many people do not remember that the Hydro offices initially sat behind the King George Hotel. Many also forget what a major project it was when, in 1950, the process of hydro conversion changing us from 25 cycle to 60 cycle in line with the national power grid was undertaken.
In September 1950, the rush was on to convert or replace all electrical equipment to meet the new standard. A military drill hall at the Fairgrounds was used as the conversion office with all household and commercial equipment converted within a relatively short time period.
The removal of poles and overhead wires on Main Street was delayed until after the conversion and was planned to coincide with the planned rebuild of Main Street in 1953.
I have done a few articles on Main Street for Newmarket Today but let’s look at the 1950s specifically and a few of the changes that occurred during that period. While the character of Main has constantly changed, this period of the 1950s was particularly vibrant.
This change was accelerated by new methods of merchandising. Grocery stores, drug stores, hardware, dry goods, and butcher shops were all having to adapt to new requirements for goods and services.
An example of this change was the arrival of the Dominion Bank in 1947, located in the old ‘Wesley’ building, replacing the E. H. Adams barber shop and pool hall that had stood there since 1917. In September 1955, the Dominion Bank merged with the Bank of Toronto and promptly relocated. This location housed the Victoria and Grey Trust when I was a youth.
The publishing offices of the Newmarket Era were destroyed by fire on June 14, 1953 and many adjoining buildings were badly damaged, including Roadhouse and Rose (thanks to Wesley Playter the building was restored recently).
The Era moved to a new building on Charles Street. Roadhouse and Rose purchased the old Era property and enlarged the funeral home. During construction, they moved their operations to the home of W. S. Bosworth at Main and Davis.
The Bell Telephone office and switchboard was, for many years, located at 167 Main until 1954 when they moved to Millard Avenue. Of note, in 1950 there were said to be 1,960 telephones in service locally, which increased to 2,750 by 1955. In December 1956, the old manual switchboards were replaced by the new dialing system in December 1956 and long distance was introduced locally in June 1958.
A question I am often asked concerns the history of the post office in Newmarket. Newmarket’s postal system can be traced back to early 1814. It really was not until 1914 that a new federal building was built, dedicated to the national postal service.
However, the requirements for postal service rapidly exceeded the capabilities of the facilities built in 1914 and with the expansion of service to the new subdivisions growing around Newmarket necessitated, in 1952, a plan to expand the facility.
You will remember from my article on the Old Town Hall that the town purchased two old structures west of the Post Office in 1950, with thoughts of building a new memorial auditorium. Well, those buildings were expropriated by the federal government in February 1955 for $4,200 and promptly demolished.
In July 1955, tenders were closed for a new extension to the west of the current Post Office at a cost of $233,000. It was to stretch 89 feet west along Park Avenue with a depth of 80 feet. Initially it housed the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Unemployment Commission. Later, other federal offices would be added. On Jan. 1, 1955, the customs office was designated as a Customs Excise Port.
The practice of home delivery of bread and milk gradually began to wane during the 1940s and 1950s, although I still remember as a child checking out the milk-box for goodies, provided quite often by Mr. Glover.
Some may remember the family-owned bakery at the old Metropolitan powerhouse on Queen Street run by the Riddell Bros. I understand that in the 1940s, they had 24 delivery trucks serving the entire township.
Pre-sliced and wrapped bread had been introduced in the 1930s and sold, if you can believe it, for six cents a loaf but by 1956, it had increased to 10 cents a loaf. Bread and rolls were produced at the Queen Street bakery, while cakes, pies and pastries were made at the Riddell’s Main Street bakery north of what was then Spillette & Son (home of Broadbents Bakery when I was a youth).
Finally, a quick look at the other necessity of life in my Newmarket, the dairy. There were three established dairies in Newmarket in the 1940s and ‘50s, Newmarket Dairy on Prospect Street (across from Grace Street) was owned by the Williamson brothers. It was the first dairy in town to introduce pasteurization in 1935 and it lasted until 1958 when it sold to Glenville Dairies.
Hillsdale Dairy was on Main just south of the Post Office. They had purchased the dairy from William Muirhead, who had done business out of the old Royal Hotel building at Main and Millard. In 1948, Hillsdale Dairy moved to Davis Drive, using a building rescued from the military camp and converted for their use. That later sold to Glenville Dairies, my favorite.
The third dairy of note was Cousins Dairy on the southeast corner of Main and Water, a branch of Cousins Dairy of Aurora owned by Archie Cousins.
I hope I have brought back a few memories for many of you and perhaps added some new information for others. We will continue our look at more random memories of interest in the coming weeks if you find this type of article of interest.
Sources: The History of Newmarket by Ethel Trewhella, The Newmarket Era, Newmarket Progress by the Pioneers, An Essay by George Luesby, Oral History Interviews Conducted by Richard MacLeod, The Memorable Merchants and Trades 1930 to 1950 by Eugene McCaffrey and George Luesby
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NewmarketToday.ca brings you Remember This?, a weekly feature about our town's history, in partnership with Richard MacLeod, the History Hound, a local historian for more than 40 years. He conducts heritage lectures and walking tours of local interest, as well as leads local oral history interviews. You can contact the History Hound at [email protected].
