Thursday, August 8, 2024

On Algoma Street North, we walked south, crossing the bridge over McVicar Creek. We came to the HMCS Griffon property. I made a quick trip to the crest of the hill to snap the historic mansion.

To learn more about this building, Google Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Griffon. The site gives capsule histories of the first two owners, Thomas Marks and James Whelan, and describes the role of the Sisters of St. Joseph.

10. Thomas Marks Mansion, 1895

125 Algoma Street North. For some reason, the city’s Heritage Advisory Committee is silent on the heritage designation of this building. One would think it would lead the list. Googling this building gets one nowhere. Thomas George Marks, merchant, moved to Prince Arthur’s Landing in 1872 to a general store he had established there. His business enterprises are too numerous to list, but they included mining, railways, ships, and grain elevators. When Port Arthur was incorporated as a town in 1884, Marks was elected mayor.

The building’s first floor is brick, the upper storeys shingled. It has a striking three-storey tower on its southeast corner. The porch is made of Verte Island (Nipigon Bay) red sandstone. One description states “the small finials on the peaks of the roof [make] his building truly magnificent”.

Meanwhile, Kim, our guide, had been waxing eloquent about the Sisters of St. Joseph, who arrived in the city in -1881. In 1930 they acquired the Marks Mansion for a time, operating a school there. In 1943, HMCS Griffon took over the property.

We walked the long block to Camelot Street to the massive building of St. Joseph’s Hospital. The Sisters of St. Joseph built the city’s first hospital there in 1884.

11. St. Joseph’s Hospital, 1884

I could not find a detailed history of this facility, including its evolution as wings were added. This building today does not carry a heritage designation.

Past the hospital, at the junction of Red River Road, we found several buildings to note. Standing on the corner, Kim and our group surveyed the scene. It was up to Google to fill the gaps. We had to give up that part of the tour which featured Waverley Park Heritage Conservation District  ̶  we were famished.

12. First Baptist Church, 1907

308 Red River Road. My attempts to pull up info were unsuccessful. However, in 2015, Kimberly and Bill Morrison took over the former First Baptist Church and founded Urban Abbey. A TBNewsWatch article in November stated, “[Urban Abbey] will eventually house and feed people, run long-term addictions recovery, offer public art space and even a high end restaurant along with a traditional Anglican church service”.

My sister, Susanne, remembers attending a funeral service in the Baptist Church, and once, when it became Urban Abbey, she attended a service there, followed by a free meal.

13. Central School, 1884

10 Algoma Street South. In 1876 a temporary structure was erected with two classrooms, eventually replaced by the brick building in the photo. Four classrooms were added in 1884. Central School was the first permanent elementary school in the Lakehead cities. In 1965, the building was repurposed, and in 1997 there began a process that made it the home of Magnus Theatre.

14. St. Andrew Roman Catholic Church, 1924

292 Red River Road. In 1881, a brick building replaced the wooden structure which had burned down earlier in the year. In the early 1900s, it became apparent that this second church could not support the R.C. activities of the broader region. Issues about the design and funding of the third church delayed the laying of its cornerstone to July 13, 1924.

15. Port Arthur Public Library

285 Red River Road. In 1876, the Mechanics Institute opened a library in the new Central School. Such was the start of Port Arthur Library. A research librarian in Thunder Bay Public Library emailed me this: “In 1900, the Public Libraries Act was passed in Ontario and the Mechanics Institute Library became the Port Arthur Library under the Port Arthur Public Library Board.” In 1951, the library was transferred across the street to a new structure, Waverley Library.

We walked the short block to Court Street, breezing past the Masonic Hall. Between Court and Cumberland, the street had been gutted. We said our goodbyes and offered our thanks to Kim for a superb job.

16. Masonic Hall, Shuniah Lodge No. 287, 1910

270 Red River Road. The impressive portal features marble from Nipigon quarries. The first floor is reserved for commercial purposes; the second floor (denied to the public) has the Lodge Hall and banquet hall with vaulted ceilings. The third floor has rooms for social purposes.

17. Central Fire Hall, 1906

13 Court Street North. The station kept three teams of horses on hand to respond to alarms. A 2,100-pound bell on the roof signaled, by its number of tolls, which ward had the emergency. This fire station was operating until 1954, long into the automobile age. The bell is now on display at Hillcrest Park.

To capture this building on camera, I was stymied by Court Street traffic. I could not remain long in the busy street, so I trust you are satisfied by this image on Flickr.

I had promised our group a fine lunch at the The Foundry. We shuffled through the dirt to the door and found it closed. Probably many businesses in this block are suffering.

Two blocks away, we sat down to a lovely lunch.

[That’s all, folks!]