Kingsville Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee
Transcription
Kingsville Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee
Kingsville, Ontario is located in Essex County on the northern shore of Lake Erie. It is Canada’s most Kingsville Heritage WalkingTour southern town, rich with Victorian heritage. KMHAC The Town of Kingsville is committed to preserving its heritage. The Kingsville Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee was formed in 2004 by Kingsville Town Council to promote and protect built heritage in the municipality. The committee fulfills these tasks by providing an inventory of built heritage, recommending properties for designation and performing public outreach. Much of Kingsville’s attraction stems from its unique collection of historic properties, visible reminders of Kingsville’s rich and storied past. For a virtual tour visit www.kingsvilleheritage.ca Kingsville Railway Station A self-guided walking tour of Kingsville’s designated properties 1. Your tour begins at the Coda-Leach House (111 Division St. S.), an 1884 Gothic Villa. William Coda was an engineer who lived here with his mother. Since 1969, it has been home to scientist Joseph Leach, integral to the discovery of invasive zebra mussels in Lake Erie, and his wife Mary, restaurateur and school board trustee. In 1987, it became Kingsville’s first property designated under the Ontario Heritage Act. 2. Head north on Division Street to the James Workman King House (86 Division St. S.), an 1882 Italianate design. It was home to the eldest son of Col. James King, after whom Kingsville is named. J.W. King was a merchant, salesman, bookkeeper and gentleman. The building has been used variously as a funeral home, doctor’s office and bakery. 3. Next door (78 Division St. S.) is the Curtis J. Green House, a Queen Anne home which when built in 1893 was the first house in Kingsville to boast indoor plumbing. Green was a lumber mill owner who married Fanny S. King, granddaughter of Col. James King. The original open-turret porch can be seen on the back cover of this brochure. The Jasperson House (321 Lakeview Ave.) was home to Lt.-Col. Frederick Kent Jasperson, commanding officer of the Essex Scottish Regiment during World War II. He led the regiment in the ill-fated invasion of Dieppe and was captured. While he was a prisoner of war, his wife, Jean McLaren, purchased this 1922 Cape Codstyle home on the shores of Lake Erie. The property was purchased from U.S. businessman Louis Irion, whose family owned the British American Brewery in Windsor. In 1945, when Lt.-Col. Jasperson came home to Canada after the war, it was in this house that he first lived. He wrote his memoirs in his study on the second floor. A lawyer by profession, he became a magistrate and then a judge in the Windsor courts. Blacks who escaped slavery in the southern United States, some said to still have shackle scars visible at their death, are buried in the Negro Cemetery located within Kingsville Memorial Gardens (2401 Division Rd. N.). John Williams, one of the first Black men to own land locally, set aside part of his farm for Black families to bury their dead. In 1837, Williams purchased the property from Richard Herrington, founder of the local Baptist community. Herrington is believed to have been a conductor on the Underground Railroad. The original gravestones were knocked down decades ago by rooting pigs from a neighbouring farm. The monument at the site was erected in 2005. Additional designated properties outside the walking tour Tourist Information Booth Driving ten kilometres north of town From Division Street drive west along the Old Talbot Trail is the 3.5 km on Main Street and head Old Boussey Farm House north 1.2 km on McCain Side Road (325 CR 34 E.). In 1825, Gabriel to the Jonas Wigle House Boussey and his bride, Mary (1423 McCain Side Road). Wigle included many personalizations in Josette, moved to the land where this French Second Empire style this house would eventually be home he had built on his farm in built. These early pioneers had no 1888. On the mansard roof in road to travel to arrive at this contrasting slate is a W for Wigle and forested property. The brick Y88 for the year of construction. farmhouse was constructed in 1886 There is also a floral design, said to for the Bousseys’ son, Joel. be a wegelia, a reference to his The 1½-storey structure is in the German surname — Weigele. The house, featuring brick from the local Gothic Revival style. In 1912, James Broadwell Brick and Tile Yard, is the and Hattie Pedrick, owners of a livery work of accomplished mason Newell business, purchased the property, Woodiwiss, who also built Their descendants continued to farm Kingsville’s Epworth United Church and reside on the land. They called it and the former post office and town Avonlea Farm. hall buildings. Start Here Lake Erie 4. Continue north to the Epworth Parsonage (62 Division St. S.), built in 1908 next to the Epworth United Church. The house features red brick characteristic of the Miner Brickyard. The cultural heritage value of the home lies in its association with the early Methodist Church that dates back in the area to 1817. 5. Proceed north to the corner of Mill and Division Streets where you will find the Canfield-Hellems House (2 Mill St.), built in 1872 in the Gothic Revival style. David W. Canfield was a town councillor, businessman and lumberman. He sold the property to William H. Hellems who, from 1893 to 1935, was the publisher of The Kingsville Reporter. 6. Next is the Carnegie Library (28 Division St. S.), erected in 1913 with a $5,000 grant from the Carnegie Foundation. Andrew Carnegie was an industrialist who used his considerable fortune to establish many libraries around the world. This was Kingsville’s public library until 2010. The building’s foundation is made of local fieldstone and its distinctive red brick came from the Broadwell Brick and Tile Yard. The walk is approximately 3.6 kilometers long. 18. Proceed west on Main Street to St. George’s Lodge (29 Main St. W.), the eastern section of the 1889 Union Block. This Italianate building has forever been home to the Associated Free and Accepted Masons, the fraternal society to which many respected civic leaders have belonged. The block was designed by John Alexander Maycock, whose work defines Kingsville’s architectural landscape. Maycock also designed the Church of the Epiphany (96 Main St. W.) and the Conklin Block on the southeast corner of Main and Division. 19. Continue one block west to the Church of England Parsonage (108 Main St. W.), built in 1883 to house the Anglican minister and his family. The Anglican Church has had a presence in Kingsville since 1842. This Italianate home served as the Church of Epiphany rectory until 2005. 16. Continue north to the Wedding House (98 Main St. E.). The circular porch of this 1904 Queen Anne Revival home has been a popular place for newlyweds to have their wedding pictures taken. The tradition began in 1905 when the local newspaper ran a photo of the homeowners’ daughter and her groom on the porch after their nuptials in the parlour. It has also been called the Wedding Cake house because the fish-scale trim on the porch looks like the icing on a cake. 17. Next door is the Wigle-Webb House (90 Main St. E.), a sevengabled brick Gothic Revival home built in 1886. Jacob Wigle was a farmer and local politician who helped guard the Lake Erie shore during the Fenian Raids. Notice the white, weathered stone in the front yard. Wigle found it on his farm and was convinced it resembled the profile of Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister. The property was later home to Mayor William Morton Webb, Ontario’s district engineer during the construction of Highway 3. 7. Turn west on Pearl Street and proceed to the corner of Queen where you will find the Gardner Cobblestone House (31 Queen St. ). Alfred Gardner was a painter and paperhanger who offered his services through the village hardware store. This 1922 Craftsman-style home shows an eye for detail, with its artfully-laid brick and stone. 8. Continue south on Queen to the James E. Brown House (47 Queen St.), erected in 1885. The Queen Anne-style veranda was added in 1914. Brown was a founding partner in the Brown and Wigle Woolen Mill. The company was famous for its thick Aue Saxony blankets used by prospectors during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. 9. Turn west on Mill and south on Laurel to the Henry P. Scratch House (121 Laurel St.), a brick Gothic Cottage built in 1902. A successful tobacco farmer, Scratch was the grandson of Capt. Nicholas Lytle, who fought in the Battle of Lundy’s Lane (Niagara Falls), a strategic victory for the British in the War of 1812. 10. Proceed east on Elm to the Davis McCay House (40 Elm St.), one of the best examples of the Queen Anne style in Essex County. This 1903 home features an openturret porch, stained and leaded glass and elaborate gable detailing. McCay, in addition to being a municipal politician, was a carriage maker, house builder and owner of the village hardware store. 11. Continue to Division and turn south to find the Howard Scratch House (164 Division St. S.). An accomplished tinsmith, Scratch put his talents to use in the 1886 construction of this Italianate home. Scratch owned the local bicycle factory. The bicycle business must have been good to him because when it came to building his home, he could afford such exotic materials as cocobolo, a tropical hardwood used for the interior staircase. 12. Further down Division is the John Malott House (189 Division St. S.), built in 1887. In addition to running the village bakery and confectionery, Malott owned an oyster parlour, the Victorian version of a bistro where fish and seafood were served. Malott sold the home to William A. Smith, who, before becoming Reeve of Kingsville, was for many years the village’s only lawyer. 13. At the foot of Division Street South is Lakeside Park. Covering 11.26 acres, it opened in 1907. The idea of an urban park was a popular concept at the turn of the 20th Century. Lakeside Park was part of the same trend that led to the creation of New York City’s Central Park. With its view of Lake Erie, landscape of trees, paths, gardens and its meandering Mill Creek, Lakeside Park has seen many community social and cultural events. 14. Head east on Park Street to the Mettawas Cottage (64 Park St. ), built in 1891 as a summer getaway for Hiram Walker’s family. Famous for his distillery in Windsor, Walker is one of Kingsville’s most important historical figures. In 1889 he built an opulent hotel on the lake that transformed Kingsville from a sleepy little village into a bustling tourist destination. 15. Proceed to Lansdowne and turn north to the Kingsville Railway Station (169 Lansdowne Ave). Hiram Walker hired Detroit architect George Mason for the design of this Richardsonian Romanesque-style building. When the station opened in June 1889, it became Kingsville’s stop on Walker’s Lake Erie, Essex & Detroit River Railway. The Kingsville Railway Station was saved from demolition twice, in 1989 and 1993, and was designated in 1994.