Body: Heritage Advisory Committee Type: Agenda Meeting: Committee Date: January 29, 2026 Collection: Council Agendas Municipality: South Frontenac
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Document Text
Township of South Frontenac Heritage Advisory Committee Meeting Agenda
TIME: DATE: PLACE:
3:00 PM, Thursday, January 29, 2026 Council Chambers/Virtual Via Zoom .
Call to Order
a)
Resolution
That the meeting of the Heritage Advisory Committee of January 29, 2026 be called to order at ____ p.m. 2. Election of Officers 3.
Approval of the Agenda
a)
Resolution
That the agenda be approved, as presented. 4.
Confirmation of Minutes
a)
That the minutes of the November 6, 2025 Heritage Advisory Committee be approved.
Disclosure of Pecuniary Interest
Delegations
Briefings
Business
a)
Walking Tour Project - finalize details with photographer Paul Wash
- Sydenham Walking Tour refresh - finalize text, confirm civic addresses, and finalize photography.
- Verona Walking Tour - finalize photography.
- Suggestions for future tours.
b)
Heritage Advisory Committee - 2026 work plan
Motions
Notices of Motion
Correspondence
Date of Next Meeting
a)
The next Heritage Advisory Committee meeting - April 23, 2026
Adjournment
a)
Resolution
3-4
5 - 15
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That the January 29, 2026 meeting of the Heritage Advisory Committee meeting be adjourned.
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Minutes of Heritage Advisory Committee November, 6, 2025
TOWNSHIP OF SOUTH FRONTENAC Heritage Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes Meeting #2025-04 Time: 3:00 PM Location: 4432 George Street Present: Michael Gemmell, Wilma Kenny, John McDougall, Michael Payne Regrets: Councillor Scott Trueman Staff: Noah Perron - Planner, Heather Woodland - Deputy Clerk
1
Call to Order
2
Approval of the Agenda
a)
Resolution Resolution No. 02 Moved by Wilma Kenny Seconded by Michael Gemmell That the agenda be approved, as presented. Carried
3
Confirmation of Minutes
a)
Resolution Resolution No. 03 Moved by Michael Gemmell Seconded by John McDougall That the minutes of the July 24, 2025 Heritage Advisory Committee meeting be approved. Carried
4
Disclosure of Pecuniary Interest
a)
There were none.
5
Delegations
a)
There were none.
6
Briefings
a)
There were none.
7
Business
a)
Discussion regarding Walking Tours: Finalize draft Sydenham and Verona text and photograph list, and suggestions regarding other possible tour locations. The Committee reviewed the draft text for the Sydenham Walking Tour and provided revisions. As the next step, Heather Woodland and Michael Payne will incorporate the revisions into a final draft. Once the text is finalized, a
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Minutes of Heritage Advisory Committee November, 6, 2025 mock-up of a pamphlet and the digital walking tour will be created for feedback at a future meeting. b)
Heritage Event - Debrief of October 8th event and suggestions for future speakers. The Committee discussed the event and made suggestions for future events. Michael Gemmell suggested that the Grace Centre was an ideal venue and should be considered for heritage events. Heather Woodland requested that the Committee share ideas or connections for potential speakers.
c)
Heritage Property Inventory John McDougall suggested that, following the completion of the walking and driving tours, the Committee shift their focus to the research on the inventory of limestone properties within the Township.
8
Motions
a)
There were none.
9
Notices of Motion
a)
There were none.
10
Correspondence
a)
There were none.
11
Questions of Clarity (from the public on outcome of agenda items)
a)
There were none.
12
Date of Next Meeting
a)
The 2026 calendar of meetings is to be determined.
13
Adjournment
a)
Resolution Resolution No. 04 Moved by Michael Gemmell Seconded by John McDougall That the Heritage Advisory Committee meeting on November 6, 2025 be adjourned at 4:23 p.m. Carried
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Stop/Location Introduction
Draft Text?
Text Finalized? Add context regarding schools Welcome to Sydenham village, in the district of Loughborough, South Frontenac Township. The current community was originally named Sloat’s Landing, for Michael Sloat, who received a land grant here in the 1790s. Other settlers in the area. soon followed, attracted by the sheltered valley with good farmland nearby. The site also offered a small creek flowing into Sydenham Lake Complete that could be dammed and used for waterpower for saw and grist mills and other industries. In the 1800s the village flourished and was renamed Sydenham in honour of Lord Sydenham, a wealthy British merchant and politician who served as Governor-General of the Canadas from 1839 until his death in Kingston in 1841. The village quickly became a commercial and social centre for the surrounding district, and an 1865 directory for the village indicates that it had a population of 354 people. These included carpenters, milliners and dressmakers, wagon makers, blacksmiths, tailors, a harness and saddle maker, a watch maker, and a glazier, among other professions. The village also had a teacher, two physicians, and several clergymen. Local manufacturers and businesses included a distillery, grist and sawmills, a foundry and machine shop, a tannery, general and specialized stores and several hotels and taverns, along with a post office. The town also became a regional centre for education. It was home to the Loughborough Public School and Sydenham High School, which was originally founded in 1872 as the Sydenham and Frontenac County Grammar School. Work on a permanent school building for secondary students from Sydenham and the surrounding region began in 1874. The village also had a local band and a volunteer militia company, reflecting its active community life. A small steamboat towed barges of mica down the lake from a nearby mine. Daily trains carried goods and passengers to and from Kingston and points north. After World War Two the village grew quieter, and many local businesses closed. As demand for mica declined, many local mines closed and so did most of the local grist and lumber mills and manufacturing operations. Two devasting fires also changed the appearance of Sydenham’s streets, and increasingly residents had to seek work in Kingston or other larger centres. The popularization of private cars reduced the need for railways and local hotels. Eventually the railway closed, although you can still walk the route of the railway line along the Cataraqui Trail. The last few decades have brought positive changes to Sydenham, as people have rediscovered Sydenham as a great place to live and an interesting place to visit to shop, to hike the Cataraqui Trail, or to trace the history of the village through its historic streets and buildings. Stop 1 - Township Offices & The original portion of what is now the South Frontenac Township offices was built in 1864 and is now used as the Township’s council chambers. It was built to house the Loughborough Township municipal government, before Loughborough Township was amalgamated Library with the former Portland, Bedford and Storrington to form South Frontenac Township in 1998. 4432 George Street The walls of the council chamber are decorated with four quilted hangings that depict the coats of arms of the four former townships, now districts, that make up South Frontenac. The adjoining township offices and library were built in the 1980s on the site of the former Brawley Grist Mill and have since been expanded and updated. The Brawley grist mill was an important early Sydenham business, but it was no longer in operation at the time the township acquired the property and demolished the building. The current restaurant site was once home to the American Hotel, one of Sydenham’s largest and best hotels. Long disused, it was demolished in the 1960s before the current restaurant was built.
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Stop 2 - Sid Davey House, 4449 George Street The 1865 Directory for Sydenham lists Adam and Chester Davy as carpenters living in the village of Sydenham. The 1851 census suggests that Chester was Adam’s son. Later another son, Sidney, also followed in the family profession. Sid Davy, or Davey as he was later known, would become one of Sydenham’s most prominent residents. In addition to working as a carpenter and builder, he opened a planing mill near his house. This mill produced many of the stair spindles, newel posts, and decorative wood trim found in Sydenham’s older houses. 4452 George Street was Sid Davey’s own home, but several similar houses on George Street were also built by Davey or incorporated his company’s wood finishings. These include 4449 and 4442 George Street. Although frame houses, the Davey houses reflect popular house designs in early Ontario. The Davey house resembles many of the one and half storey stone farmhouses in the surrounding area, particularly the symmetrical front façade with a peaked gable above the front door. The decorative wood trim details also reflect the material produced at the Davey planing mill.
Stop 3 - Foodland Site
Before you cross the small bridge to what is now the Foodland parking lot and site, the Davey Planing mill was located just to the right on the lake shore. You will also see a grindstone displayed from one of the grist mills that once occupied this part of Sydenham. The area just north of the bridge was Sydenham’s industrial and manufacturing centre. Although little remains of the original buildings in this area, it was the location for the Anglin Mill and Powerhouse, the Acme Farmers’ Dairy, and close to the current Foodland building, Sydenham’s busy railway station. This was also the location where mica from the Lacey, later General Electric, Mine was brought for sorting and processing. The mine operated until about 1947 and a small steamboat, the pride of the village, towed barges loaded with mica from the mine located at the far end of Sydenham Lake. The current location of the Foodland Building was once the site of the Acme Farmers Dairy condensery. This plant produced condensed milk and skim milk powder from milk produced on local dairy farms. The plant was built in 1916 and continued to operate right up to 1953 when it finally closed. Slightly north of the Acme Farmers Dairy was the Sydenham railway station. It was located on the north side of the current Cataraqui Trail near the trail gates. In 1884 the Napanee, Tamworth and Quebec Railway connected Sydenham with Napanee. Two years later, this railway was sold to railway financier, E. Rathburn, who connected it to the Kingston and Pembroke, or K & P, Railway that ran from Harrowsmith to Sharbot Lake. The Napanee, Tamworth and Quebec Railway was later renamed the Bay of Quinte Railway. It was eventually acquired by the Canadian National Railway, or CNR, and extended to Smiths Falls and Ottawa in 1914. Sydenham was a busy passenger station and a major shipping point for mica and phosphate, lumber products, and farm produce, including powered milk, hogs, cattle, and flour. The trains stopped running in the 1970s and the station was eventually demolished. The railbed, however, is still used as the Cataraqui Trail, now part of the Trans-Canada Trail system.
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Stop 4 - Sydenham Railway Station The west side of the bridge at the creek. The Anglin Mill and Powerhouse took advantage of waterpower generated by raising the level of Sydenham Lake where it flows into MIllhaven Creek (known locally as Sydenham Creek). The current dam located under the bridge is managed by the Cataraqui Conservation Authority, but historically lake water levels were lower and sometimes dropped so low in summer that a horse-drawn plow was used to scrape mud out of the mill pond to keep area mills and the powerhouse operating. The first saw and grist mills in this location were built by George Yarker in 1835. In 1871 the site was used by the Booth & Woodruffe mill, and then in 1921 by the Anglin mill. The original stone mill building burned in 1897, and Anglin’s mill which produced flour, saw lumber and veneer burned in 1947. Most of the veneer was used for making cheese boxes, as many as 100,000 a year at the mill’s height of production. These were shipped to cheese factories throughout Ontario. The powerhouse also generated electricity for the village several hours every evening and during the day on Mondays. This enabled some village families to use electric washing machines for Monday washdays. A “ram” pump in the dam moved water to a tank on the top floor of the Anglin home, which ensured water pressure for the family and meant that the mill owner’s household never needed the basement rainwater cistern that most other village houses required. Stop 5 - West Side of George This portion of George Street includes several interesting residences and commercial buildings. The frame houses at 4443 and 4449 George Street were built by Sid Davey about 1900 for Jack Woodruffe, who owned what became the Anglin Mill and Powerhouse. Both reflect house Street designs popular in the pre-World War One era, and many of the windows featured panes of coloured glass that homeowners in the Victorian period felt added a touch of elegance to the property. The house at 4449 George Street was the Anglin family’s home , ideally located beside the Anglin Mill. The stone house at 4447 George Street was originally built as a commercial building. It housed George Yarker’s “domestic cloth manufactory,” or woolen mill before it was converted into Bradshaw’s Maple Lodge Dairy. After the dairy closed, it became a private residence. Stop 6 - 4413C George Street This small stone has been used as a private residence for most of its history, but it is also associated with Captain James Wood and the Loughborough Volunteer Cavalry Troop, a local militia group. The Loughborough Cavalry were formed in August 1856 as part of a major reorganization of Canada’s military defences following passage of the Militia Act of 1855. The hope was to reduce Canada’s reliance on British forces then stationed in Canada. The Loughborough militia consisted of three officers and fifty men commanded by Captain Wood, a local farmer and township reeve. The troop was described as being made up of “intelligent, hardy, farmers, well-horsed and equipped…” Stop 7 - Sydenham Food This building has had several uses over the years, including a grocery store. However, it was originally built as the Upton Hotel that dated Market/former Upton Hotel from the later 19th century. In January 1872 a public meeting was held at the hotel to discuss the need for schooling in the village. A decision was made at the meeting to approach the County for a grant to build a “Grammar School” in Sydenham. This became Sydenham High School which formally opened for classes in 1874.
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Stop 8 - 4402 George Street This unusual double stone house has an interesting history. It was constructed in stone for William Mace, a Sydenham brewer and distiller, who also operated a small tavern on one side of the building. It probably dates from the 1850s or 1860s as local directories from that period (east side) Mace-Tovell show Mace as a resident of Sydenham. After Mace’s death in 1866, his properties were sold, and the building was later purchased by Dr. House Tovell. It served Dr. Tovell as both a residence and office prior to his death in 1928. In addition to his medical duties, Dr. Tovell was also a notary and on occasion provided emergency veterinarian services. His son, Dr. Ralph Tovell, also trained as a physician and he too practised briefly in Sydenham. In 1929 he took up a position at the Mayo Clinic and went on to have a highly distinguished career as an anesthesiologist in the United States. Subsequently it has been used as two residences. The building, however, still shows clear evidence of its original construction as a residence and business premises as the façade details are not symmetrical, and the stonework suggests that the façade has been altered to change window openings at some point. Stop 9 - 1875 Blacksmith Shop
Stop 10 - Trousdale’s General Store
Built in 1875 for John McConnell, a local blacksmith, this building has served a variety of purposes in Sydenham over the years. At various times it has been a library, pharmacy, florist shop, and tearoom. Florence Boyce, who worked here as a pharmacist, was one of the first married women to graduate from the Toronto College of Pharmacy in 1919. Although adapted over the years to this variety of uses, the building reflects the work of a 19th century blacksmith in small communities such as Sydenham. Like most blacksmiths, much of his work involved repair of wagons and other vehicles and the 1898 fire insurance map shows the building as being used both as a blacksmith and wagon shop. The map also shows a sloping area on one side of the side addition to the main shop, perhaps used as a ramp or driveway for bringing wagons in for repair.
Trousdale’s General Store is believed to be the oldest continuously operating general store in Ontario and one of the oldest family-owned and operated businesses in Canada. The store is directly connected to the story of the Trousdale family who played a large role as pioneer farmers and businesspeople in South Frontenac. Members of the family have been involved in the general store business, a bakery, grain milling and other enterprises in Sydenham and area from 1836 onwards, and they remain so to this day. By the early 20th century, Percy Trousdale had consolidated the family retail businesses, including operating a store on this site. In 1927 he replaced the older store with a new larger building. The new store’s concrete construction helped it to survive the devasting fire that burned much of Sydenham’s commercial core in 1935. Many of the original store fixtures remain in place, including a marble soda fountain, counters and mirrors, although its interior has been remodeled several times to reflect changes in the grocery and retail businesses.
The Trousdale family lived immediately behind the general store for many years on Mill Street. One of the largest houses in Sydenham at the time, it features a large front verandah or porch and above that a screened second story porch as well. These second story screened porches were often used as summer bedrooms as the screened area was cooler for sleeping in hot weather. Stop 11 - 9739 Mill Street - When telephones were introduced in Sydenham, a bay window at the front of this building was used as a telephone exchange. Local former Telephone Exchange operators sat behind the window 24 hours a day ready to route peoples’ telephone calls through a manual switchboard. It was a challenging occupation and required operators to physically connect wires between the caller’s telephone and the intended recipient of the call, quickly and with minimal errors.
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Stop 12 - Sydenham Post Office (immediately across Mill Street)
Post Office records held by Library ad Archives Canada indicate that there was a post office in Sydenham from at least 1853 onwards. The first postmaster was Hugh Madden who served from 1853 to 1874. He was then relaced by his son, Hugh Madden Junior, who held the post from 1875 to 1891. The current post office building appears to date from the early 1930s when Power and Son architects of Kingston produced drawings for a new post office in Sydenham. An undated photograph in the National Archives shows a building with the same design and structure as the current building. The exterior of current building has been considerably altered, including a new door, and windows, but the basic design and layout remains largely intact. Sydenham Post Office n.d., LAC: Public Works Collection, Accession number: 1979-140 NPC, Box number: 4379.
Drop? The extended Guess Family were among the first residents of the Sydenham area. A County Directory from 1865 lists seven individuals with the surname Guess heading households in Loughborough Township. As Sydenham grew several moved into the village. Stop 14 - 4345 Mill Street Dr. This was the family home of Dr. Francis Robert Sargent, a physician who practised in Sydenham for about 35 years from 1909 until his death in 1944. Although the house exterior has been modernized over the years, the basic design of a large brick home with third storey dormers Sargent House remains intact, as does the large town lot. Originally the house featured a large porch facing the street, which still can be traced on the front façade of the house. The house has always been one Sydenham’s largest and most distinctive family homes, and it reflects Dr. Sargent’s prominent position as a physician in Sydenham. This church has an unusual and complicated history. The original Anglican church in Sydenham was begun in 1837 on land donated by Stop 15 - 4336 Mill Street Specify location for Sarah Switzer. A rectory was added in 1848 and the land the church occupied was only transferred to the Anglican Church in 1851. The St. Paul’s Anglican Chuch old and new church was consecrated as St. Paul’s Anglican Church in 1852. In 1910 the railway line through Sydenham was relocated to improve the church. grade of the tracks and this necessitated the demolition of the original St. Paul’s Church and its relocation and reconstruction on a new site on Mill Street. While the rectory remained in place on its original site, the cemetery associated with St. Paul’s Church was also relocated ADD A LOCATION. The original rectory has been converted to a private residence on what is now Hobbs Lane, near Portland Avenue in Sydenham. The new church was designed by Joseph William Power of Kingston. Power was a prominent and very successful architect in eastern Ontario. He designed a number of buildings at Queen’s University, and he maintained a very successful practise designing churches in the area. His papers and those of his firm are held by Library and Archives Canada and he merits lengthy entries in Canadian architectural directories. Several notable ministers looked after the Sydenham parish including the first minister, the Reverend T.W. Allen and later the Reverend John Astley. Although he only served in Sydenham for one year in 1862, the Reverend Philip Tocque is also an interesting character. Originally from Newfoundland, he wrote several articles and books, including one of the first histories of Newfoundland published in 1878. He has been called “Newfoundland’s first man of letters.” The house across the street from St. Paul’s Church at the corner of Mill and Brewery Streets was used for many years as the Loughborough Stop 16 - Loughborough Memorial Library. The library was started by local citizens in 1903, and it was financed and operated by village residents until 1969. In 1969 Public Library it became the first branch of the newly created Frontenac County Library system. A new, much expanded library was built adjacent to the South Frontenac Township offices and this building became a private residence. Stop 17 - Sydenham High The corner of Mill Street and Rutledge Road has long been the centre of education in Sydenham and area. The original Sydenham High School and Loughborough School, which opened in 1874, was demolished and replaced by the present building, but the distinctive bell tower from the original school Public School can still be seen at the corner of the schoolyard. The stonemasons, Schammerhorn & Truscott, were hired to build the original school and their work can also be seen on the original township council building. The high school served not only students from the village of Sydenham, but much of the surrounding area. Today most of these students arrive by school bus, but in earlier years students from the surrounding area often boarded with Sydenham families or rented rooms while they attended school in the village. Loughborough Public School is located just east of the current high school. It too is a more modern replacement of an earlier stone schoolhouse that stood on the high school grounds. The schoolhouse was used for younger students from the village before they attended the high school. Stop 13 - 4369 Mill Street Guess House
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Stop 18 - United Church Manse - Rutledge Road
Stop 19 - 2907 Rutledge Road - Freeman House
Add text re: From the high school turn right on Rutledge Road and you will pass by the former manse of the Sydenham United Church. Like many location of manse. communities in rural Ontario, Sydenham was home to a variety of Protestant churches, including several associated with the Methodist Complete movement. In 1925 most of Canada’s Methodist, Congregationalist, and Presbyterian congregations joined together to form the United Church of Canada. In Sydenham the new faith combined several congregations into one using the former church building built for the Episcopal Methodist Church in Sydenham. The new church was known as Grace United Church, and it has since been turned into the current Grace Centre on Stage Coach Road. This house served for many years as the residence for Sydenham’s United Church clergymen and their families. Accross Rutldege Road, the Freeman House is one of Sydenham’s most distinctive early houses. It features a large projecting two storey Edits made in bold central bay, a front door with sidelights, a large arched window above, and a porthole window in the peak. The house was reportedly built using bricks imported from Britain by Peter Freeman. Peter Freeman (1824-1907) was a member of a prominent local family with United Empire Loyalist connections. This house is described as his town residence on an 1878 county map. The same map shows a P.W. Freeman as owning a large farm of about 300 acres near Wilmer, and local city directories from the mid-19th century suggest he may have acted as the postmaster at the Wilmer (or Wilmur) post office. The 1878 County Atlas, however, lists his occupation as agent for the Canada Land Company. The 1878 County Atlas of Frontenac included this illustration of the Freeman house in Sydenham and portraits of Peter Wesley Freeman and his wife Harriet (see below)
Stop 20 - Church Street Bridge
Stop 21 - Foxton Family House and Brickworks
Stop 22 - 2927B Brewery Street - Trousdale’s Bakery and General Store
Continue on Rutledge Road until you reach Church street where you turn right. Like the current Foodland site, the Church Street Bridge area was also a hub of manufacturing in early Sydenham. There was a shingle mill on either side of the bridge, and a low brick building on the far side of the bridge housed a cheese factory run by a local farmer’s cooperative. Milk was delivered to the factory and turned into cheese on a daily basis. The cheeses was stored in cheese boxes produced at Anglin’s veneer mill located just upstream, a good example of how Sydenham’s early industries complimented each other. Foxton’s Brick works was also located just across the bridge, and the island you see just west of the bridge was constructed to divert water through a flume for use by these industries. The Sydenham Village Cemetery is also located on Church Street on the far side of the bridge. Most of the burials there are members of Sydenham’s Protestant families. The Roman Catholic cemetery for the area was located on Keeler Road. Located at the corner of William and Brewery Streets this large brick house was home to the Foxton family, who operated a brickworks just across the steam from the house. The Foxton brickworks provided bricks for many of Sydenham’s early brick houses and buildings, including this house. In addition to producing bricks, Foxton family members also worked as masons or bricklayers according to census records. The Trousdale Family has owned and operated a variety of businesses in Sydenham. This simple wood frame building housed a bakery and general store. At its peak in the early 1900s, the Trousdale bakery produced 400 to 500 loaves of bread a day. Many were sold in the village but horse drawn delivery carts also transported bread to Inverary, Elginburg, Battersea and the mine sites located north of Sydenham. The building is now a private residence but you can still evidence of its original use as a store and bakery in the large display window on its front façade.
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Stop 23 - Holiness Church
Turn left off Brewery Street onto Amelia Street. The Holiness Church is not shown on the 1898 fire insurance map for Sydenham, but other sources suggest it dates from 1897. This corresponds with the origins of the Holiness Movement as an off shoot of Methodism. The Holiness Movement was begun by the Reverend Ralph Horner, an evangelical minister from Shawville, Quebec. It was strongly rooted in eastern Ontario, where Horner’s theological ideas and evangelical approach found an eager audience. In 1894 Horner split with the Methodist Church and within a few years he had founded a new church. He would later leave the Holiness Movement as well to found a second church organization known as the Standard Church of America. The Holiness Churches remained close to Methodism, although they did not join with the Methodists who helped establish the United Church of Canada in 1925. In 1958 the remaining Holiness Movement congregations joined the Free Methodist Church. According to an early photograph the house beside the current church was also used as a parsonage.
Stop 24 - Bob Richardson Royal Canadian Legion Branch 496
Legion #496 Sydenham was granted its official Charter on January 14th, 1949. In 1960 the same year Sydenham received its Cenotaph, the branch was named after Private Robert (Bob) Miles Richardson. Private Richardson was a local resident who joined the Canadian infantry in January 1916 at the age of 41. He served with the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles both at Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele. Richardson suffered a severe gunshot wound in his left hand in December 1917, before being repatriated to Canada where he lived in Sydenham until his death in 1949. The building had previously been used as a Primitive Methodist Church. The Primitive Methodist movement was strongly evangelical and emphasized camp meetings and revivals. The building dates from 1862 and was repurposed in 1895, not long after the amalgamation of the Primitive Methodist movement into the larger Methodist Church of Canada. From then up to 1953 it was operated as Wesley Hall, serving as a community hall and auditorium. Its current use by the Canadian Legion continues this tradition, which is now well over a century of use as a community social centre. The original building had a bell tower, and the front entrance and some windows appear to have been changed in the transition from former church to Legion Branch.
Stop 25 - William Street businesses and the 1935 Fire Amelia Street ends at William Street and if you turn right you will return to the Township Offices. The left (or west) side of William Street from Amelia to about Mill Street was the commercial centre of Sydenham until 1935. Over time a number of businesses have returned to this area but in 1935 much of the street burned in a devastating fire. These kinds of large fires were experienced by many eastern Ontario towns and villages in the pre-World War Two era. Wood frame construction and closely built buildings made fire a constant danger. The fire in Sydenham in 1935 could completely reshape commercial and industrial areas. The gas pumps at the One Stop station are located on the site of the American Hotel, once Sydenham’s largest and most refined. Although built of brick, it caught fire in 1935 along with three neighbouring structures including a brick bank building and an apothecary. Older Sydenham residents remember the spectacularly unsuccessful attempt to rescue a piano from the hotel by lowering to the street from a second-floor balcony. The 1935 fire burned much of the west side of William and George Streets, then the commercial heart of Sydenham, and changing the streetscape forever. If you have time…these sites can be reached on foot but may be more easily visited by car or bicycle.
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Stop 26 - 4295 Stage Coach This church was built in 1861 as one of two Methodist Churches built in Sydenham for different branches of the Canadian Methodist Include language Road - Grace United Church movement. The Primitive Methodist Church was built on Amelia Street. The Church was originally built for the Episcopal Methodists in re: presbyterian Sydenham and area. The Episcopal Methodist movement was centred in the United States and was better established in Upper Canada than chuch. Complete and the Grace Centre other versions of Methodism. It joined other branches of the movement in 1884 to form a unified Methodist Church in Canada and then in 1925 again to form the United Church of Canada. The new United Church of Canada also included many Congregationalist and Presbyterian parishes, thus making it the largest Protestant church organization in Canada at the time. The final service was held at the church on 16 May 2010, and shortly afterwards the church and surrounding property was sold to the Southern Frontenac Community Services Corporation. Although the church bell tower was lost, the SFCSC incorporated much of the original church structure in a larger building renovated and rebuilt as a community services hub after it acquired the church in 2011. The design of the new facility was undertaken by Colbourne and Kemble Architects. This large house was owned by William Holditch, a prominent early resident of Sydenham and the man often credited with changing the Stop 27 - 4440 Portland name of the village from Sloat’s Landing (or Loughborough as it was sometimes called) to Sydenham. The new name was chosen to honour Street, William Holditch Lord Sydenham, the former Governor-General of the Canadas, who died in Kingston in 1841. House William Holditch emigrated from England to Upper Canada and he appears to have served as an officer with the Frontenac Militia in the late 1830s. Most sources describe him as a “Gentleman,” or someone who lived by private means. He married Mary Ann Johnston, a daughter of Captain John Johnston, a military officer who served at Fort Lennox and Kingston. In later years Holditch and his wife left Sydenham and seem to have returned England where Holditch died in 1869. Mary Ann returned to Canada and eventually settled in Ottawa where she died in 1885. This stone and frame building is now a private residence. It dates from about 1836, and it was originally operated as an inn and tavern by the Stop 28 - 4519 Portland Switzer family. The 1857-58 directory for Sydenham lists John Switzer as an innkeeper in the village, and in 1865 he was listed as a tavernStreet Switzer Hotel keeper. In the 1850s the inn was used by the Loughborough Township council for its meetings prior to the completion of the township hall on George Street. It is a good example of the stone construction commonly used for homes and businesses in early Sydenham. The nearby Switzer Road is also named after the Switzer family. Stop 29 - The Point Long a popular local picnic and recreational area, the Point was purchased in 1971 by the Sydenham Women’s Institute and the Sydenham Board of Trade to preserve the area. It was then donated to the township for use as a public park, and to ensure on-going public access to Sydenham Lake. The park includes sports fields, tennis and pickleball courts, a boat launch, walking trails and a beach with swimming area. Stop 30 - Mica Mine Loop Suggestion to add Several mica mines operated just north of Sydenham, and mica production was a significant industry in Sydenham’s early history. The Trail - Gould Lake language about largest of these mines was the Lacey or General Electric Mine located near the northeast end of Sydenham Lake. The McClatchey Mine is Conservation different types of more easily visited. It was briefly owned and operated by J.W. Trousdale of Sydenham before it closed due to flooding and declining Mica. Complete demand for Canadian mica in 1913. This mine is located in the Gould Lake Conservation area and is located on the Mica Mine Trail just off the Rideau Trail. You can still see remains of the mine pit and traces of mica in the rocks along the trail. The world’s largest documented single mica crystal was found in the Sydenham area at the Lacey Mine. It measured 10 x 4.3 x 4.3 metres and weighed about 330 tonnes. Mica was an important commercial mineral in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Canada. Sheet mica’s resistance to heat made it valuable in the contruction of windows on furnaces, bioilers, and ovens, and its electrical resitance made it useful in the manufacturing of toaster, heaters and other devices. Ground mica is also used as a component in manufacturing a variety of products ranging from cosmetics and building materials to roofing.
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Stop/Location South Frontenac Township Council Chamber/Brawley Grist Mill
Historical Photo
Yes
Yes Union Hotel Site/Lenny’s 4452 George Street (Sid Yes Davey’s House) 4449 George Street 4442 George Street Yes Anglin and Power House Yes Milk Condesery Yes Saw Mill and Grist Mill Former Railway Yes Station/Cataraqui Trail Mill Stones 4449 George Street Yes 4447 George Street Yes 4113C George Street Yes Sydenham Food Market Yes 4402 George Street Yes 4395 George Street Carriage Shop and Hardware Yes Store Yes Trousdale General Store Former Site of American Yes Hotel Trousdale Family Home 4379 Mill Street - Post Office
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4345 Mill Street - Dr. Sargeant House 4369 Mill Street - Guess Family Home 9379 Mill Street - Telephone Yes Exchange Yes First Trousdale Store Yes Former Library Yes St. Paul’s Anglican Church Sydenham High School Bell Yes Tower Loughborough Public School Yes United Church Manse 2907 Rutledge Road Yes Freeman House Yes Church Street Bridge Yes Sydenham Cemetery
Former site of Foxton Yes Brickworkds William Street - Foxton House Brewery Street - 2927B Yes Brewery Amelia Street - Primitive Yes Methodist Church Yes Amelia - Holiness Church William Street (businesses built on land covered by 1935 fire) Grace United Church/Grace Yes Centre Yes Original Anglican Rectory Yes Holdich House Yes Switzer Hotel Yes The Point
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Stop/Location
Start
Kiosk (Streetscape photo from Kiosk) Bellrock Road on K&P Trail
K&P Trail - Railway history
Draft Text? Text Finalized? Start your Tour at the K & P Trailhead in the parking lot at the corner of Bellrock Road and Road 38, adjacent to the Verona Railway station historical kiosk. The kiosk was designed and built by volunteers from the Verona Community Association. Details are listed on the recognition plaque. Verona, located in the central part of the former Portland Township, was the commercial hub of the region. Surrounded by primarily farming communities, Verona was where they did their banking, went to church and brought their groceries, dry goods, hardware and other necessities of life. Richardson, the original name for Verona, amalgamated with Verona as the village is now called. From the Kiosk, walk south across Bellrock Road to K&P Trail bridge to the interpretive signage for Napanee River Watershed. This area, the Cameron Bog, is one of the largest bogs in Ontario. The idea of building a railroad from Kingston to Pembroke was probably first discussed during the late 1860’s. The early success of the K & P was because of C.F. Gildersleeve’ a member of a wealthy shipbuilding family in Kingston. It was chartered on April 14. 1871 but for financial and political reasons never ever reached Pembroke. The rail line was never a true success, although there were good years for the lumber business and many citizens benefitted from its existence by bringing them closer to the outside world. The 180 kilometres of tracks were fully removed in the 1970’s signalling the birth of the K & P Trail that was eventually developed by the City of Kingston and the County of Frontenac. The Trail stretches from Kingston to Sharbot Lake.
Discuss history of Highway 38: Highway 38 was established in the mid-1930s shortly after the completion of Highway 7 between Madoc and Perth in August 1932. The Department of Highways (DHO) assumed responsibility over the 76.0 km (47.2 mi) Sharbot Lake Road on April 25, 1934,[1] which was gravel-surfaced north of Cataraqui and generally paralleled the K&P Railway. Originally beginning in downtown Kingston, it connected Highway 2, then the main route between Toronto and Montreal with the newer Highway 7, a portion of the Trans-Canada Highway that linked Madoc to Perth before eventually continuing on to Ottawa. In 1936 the DHO began construction of the Verona–Hartington Diversion, which bypassed the original route of the highway along what is now Boyce Road, Quarry Road and Burnett Road. The 3.5 km (2.2 mi) diversion was completed in early 1938, and the old routing decommissioned on January 10, 1938. This realignment of the highway led to the expansion of Verona, which was strategically located along the highway. Sor many years, Highway 38 was the main connecting highway between the major east-west highways paralleling Lake Ontario (old Highway 2 and later the 401) and Highway 7 which led to Ottawa. Although less busy now, it remains one of the most Muddy Waters - Hwy 38 (streetscape photo) important north-south highways in eastern Ontario.
Doctor’s Office & Clinic (6582) Asselstine Hotel (6652)
Walker House (6663)
Farm to Table Centre/Food Less Travelled (6697)
Trinity United Church (6689)
Revell Ford (6715)
Historical Photo Picture of early days of Verona
Street scape
K&P Rail Photos
History of Hwy 38 photos (Photo 1, HM Kerr)
A great example of community initiative and creative thinking. For many years Verona struggled to attract a resident doctor. In 1963, the community had raised $ 14 000 to build a suitable residence to attract a qualified doctor. A group of 11 citizens held the mortgage, managed the property, advertised for and found the young doctor, Dr. Gordon Day and his wife Louise. The Verona Lion’s Club offered to pay their moving expenses and to donate some medical equipment. The Days committed themselves to the community and stayed for 36 years until 1999. After Dr. Day’s retirement, Dr. Laurel Dempsey took over the practise. When she retired, the Township of South Frontenac purchased the clinic and made it available as an incentive to attract a new doctor. Verona now enjoys our resident physician, Dr. Sabra Gibbens.. Built in 1899 by Samual Asselstine, the Asselstine Hotel accommodated travelling salesmen and American tourists until the late 50’s when it was renovated into apartments. This beautiful red brick home was built in the early part of the century by Harold Kerr, a renowned builder whose last project was the “new” post office erected in 1967. As the years went on it was the headquarters for a well drilling business, the first telephone exchange, a life insurance business and the home of the Edna and Ray Walker who managed a very successful general store. Stop 8: Farm to Table Centre/Food Less Travelled A growing interest in purchasing food from local producers and eating a more seasonal, local and sustainable diet has led many to seek out alternatives to grocery shopping at large chain stores. A number of farm to table businesses and farmers’ markets have opened in South Frontenac. In Verona, “Food Less Travelled” offers consumers the option of buying groceries produced locally. The site now also hosts the Verona Drug Store. The property was the site of several auto-related businesses over the years. A car dealership began in the 40’s selling DeSotos and Dodge cars and trucks. In the 50’s, it became Verona Motors and dealt with General Motors vehicles. The church was built on land donated by Alexander Spike, around 1886. The original frame church, which was destroyed by fire in May 1910, was completed before the actual planning of the village. The Christian Education addition was built to allow for the amalgamation of the Bellrock, Verona and Godfrey United Churches in 1967. Verona’s largest employer and one of its oldest businesses, Revell Ford was begun by Wesley Revell in 1936. He began by selling cars and trucks as a sideline to his original grocery business, but Verona’s location on Highway 38 and role as the central service centre for a much larger region meant that more and more customers came to The business looking to buy cars and trucks or to have their vehicles serviced and repaired. Revell Ford became a cornerstone of the local economy and it remains one of the most successful dealerships in eastern Ontario.
Photo 4?
Need photo Main Street (before this stop)
McMullen Property/McMullen Family Verona Cemetery McMullen Park Beach and Verona Lake
Revell photo Main St Walker & This imposing concrete block house was the home of Dr. Goodfellow . The office was on the right hand site, but the examination Genge photo, room was in a small den off the office area. There was a large fireplace in the room with a spittoon on the hearth. The doctor was Newspaper a tobacco chewer and he often missed the spittoon while examining a patient. Many thought the building was haunted. Current photo of d article NO TEXT - PICTURE ONLY N/A N/A Joseph McMullen (1831-1892) emigrated to Canada from Ireland c. 1850-1853. He married Anne Johnson in Toronto in 1856. The McMullens came to Verona in the 1860’s where he was a dry goods store merchant. Their son Henry (1857-1935) married Mary Goodfellow (1859-1940) at Piccadilly / Godfrey in 1876. Henry was a store merchant, line merchant and farmer. He was Portland Township Reeve in 1904 and Councillor for 7 terms. He was also Justice of the Peace Clerk of the 4th Division Court, County of Frontenac. McMullen Beach and Park , The Verona Cemetery, McMullen Manor (1980), the Verona Cenotaph and McMullen Lane are legacies of the McMullen family . All of these were built on the McMullen farm property. Portland Township purchased land from the family for the McMullen Beach on Rock Lake and the Verona Cemetery next door. The land for the 28 unit McMullen Manor on Road 38 was donated to the Township by the family. This apartment complex, owned by the Kingston and Frontenac Housing Corporation, was completely destroyed by fire in 2021. We are still waiting for it Show location of to be re-built. manor with cemetery behind The McMullen family presence continued in Verona into the 1960’s. See above N/A N/A See above N/A N/A
Verona Free Methodist Church (6804)
The present brick church was built in the late 50’s and was dedicated in October 1959. The Christian Education Wings was added in 1993. The original frame church, built in 1891, was moved a few blocks north-east and made over into an apartment building. Several camp meetings were held in Verona; the first in 1890. Some revival meetings lasted over two weeks.
Garage/Stables (confirm)
Before cars and trucks were common, many homeowners kept a carriage and horse or horses at their houses for transportation, even in towns and cities. These older carriage stables were often replaced by purpose built car or truck garages as carriages were replaced, but many still remain. You can see the door providing access to a loft for hay and feed and a large sliding door for access to the carriage or buggy.
Doctor’s House (Stop 11) (6724) Park and Cenotaph
FM Camp photos Walk out of free methodist church, looking at garage in the driveway Horse and buggy Current photo with stable in back captured
Across the road you can also see another well-maintained example of a combined stables and carriage shed. This building is now a hardware store but it was originally used as Verona’s icehouse. Before electrical and propane powered refrigerators were common, most households relied on ice-boxes to keep foods cold and from spoiling. Every winter large blocks of ice were cut on local lakes and transported to an icehouse were they were stored in sawdust for insulation until purchased by area residents for their ice boxes. The local ice-man often delivered blocks of ice directly to residents’ doors every Current photo needed Old Ice House (Asselstine Hardware) (6826) few days from an ice wagon. The Verona Pentecostal Church was established in 1946 under the direction of Rev. W. B. Greenwood, a church planner and district leader in the Pentecostal movement in Canada. The founding pastors were Rev. Hope Smith and Rev. Laurie Price from 1947-1950. Verona Pentecostal Assembly (6704) At the back of the church parking lot walk back along Verona Street which parallels the K&P Railway Trail or use the trail itself to return to your car. Verona Street was built as a bypass for Road 38 when the village roads were being paved. It continues to be a an option in times of emergency or special occasions. As you walk back you will pass the area of the village where a new housing development is in progress. You will see the original Davy Well Drilling truck and the backs of the business community of Verona. Be sure to stop for refreshment as you head back to the Trail Head. HAVE A GREAT DAY!!! Newman House (6811)
End of Tour
This Tour is courtesy the Township of South Frontenac and the South Frontenac Museum Society. South Frontenac Museum Society 5595 Road 38, Hartington, ON K0H 1W0 southfrontenacmuseum.ca
Church 1910
Street view
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