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AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH OF THE WRRA AREA taken in 1948. Click on the photo to enlarge it. The detail is amazing. You can see the old Central School (the
current library location), the old Radial Bridge (now Rebecca Street), etc.
| [Click on picture to enlarge] |
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| South end of WRRA area: 1948 |
How did the name HOGS BACK come about...?
Under the bridge on Shepherd/QueenMary is park land and 16-Mile Creek. The land is referred to as "Hogs Back Park".
Ever wonder how it got that name?
The high spur of land, east of Kerr and north of the railway tracks, surrounded on three sides by a river is commonly
referred to as a hog's back. There are areas with the same name in Ottawa, Toronto and various other places. According to
the Oxford Dictionary, it means a crested hill ridge.
Then and Now Pictures
The Radial Railway
1906 - 1925
This is the only remaining station of the Hamilton Radial Railway which carried people (like a San Francisco Cable Car)
from Oakville to Hamilton. For years after it shut down, people would walk across this radial bridge to get downtown
or to school. In 1960 it was torn down and replaced by the Anderson Bridge (that is why we have the parkette on the corner
of Rebecca and Forsythe called Anderson Bridge Parkette).
| Radial Railway Station 139 Thomas St. 1908 |
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| Present Condition - The only remaining station |
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Electric Trolley Bridge
This bridge was in place before Randall Street and Rebecca Street were linked up with the new road
bridge over Sixteen Mile Creek. It used to carry electric trolleys from Hamilton until their cessation in 1926. Until 1960
it was used as a pedestrian footbridge.
| The Radial Car went between Oakville/Hamilton |
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| It's now the bridge on Rebecca - "Anderson Bridge" |
| Radial Bridge under construction |
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| Radial Bridge - looking towards East - the old |
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| public school is distant right (Library today + performing arts) |
The Old Smith Houses
531 + 533 Kerr Street
(Empire Development location Kerr & Speers)
Check out this EXCELLENT overview of these historic houses right in our own backyard done for Empire Developments
in 2006.
CHECK OUT THIS PRE-1970's COMMUNITY STREET LAMP
This one lamp was saved by Bruce McAulay and now shines down on his driveway at 16 Kingswood Rd.
Bruce tells us that these lamps were removed in 1969 or 1970 and replaced with the existing ones we have
today.
| Otto & Marie Jelinek (brother&sister) Championship |
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| 1962 World Pairs Skating - Homecoming on Rebecca |
| Photo taken standing at Arena on Rebecca looking |
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| south. Kerr St. to left of photo. |
| Orphanage on Bond Street - Old Postcard |
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| Before: the Canadian Armed Forces Headquarters |
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| South (lake) side (Bond St. shown east-west) |
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| North side (Kerr St. shown top right corner) |
CENTRAL COMMAND
The main building was once an orphanage (it is still standing and is
directly across from Wilson Street). For a number of years this massive complex on Bond Street was the Canadian
Army's Central Command headquarters. The other buildings were administrative and barracks. Today we have Westwood
Park, but back then half of the park property was covered with greenhouses.
| 1940's: Prince Charles Drive under construction |
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| Prince Charles Dr. today. Far right house |
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| torn down for the apartment. bldg on corner Kerr St |
| Building boom in Oakville in 1958 - House with |
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| stone front 263 Riverside (south end) on river side |
| We are currently going through a renovation |
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| and rebuilding stage in this area. |
Digging Into Oakville's Roots
In 1805, all the lands on the northern shore of Lake Ontario between Etobicoke and Hamilton, except the land situated at
the mouths of Twelve Mile Creek and Sixteen Mile Creek, were purchased by the Assembly of Upper Canada from the Mississauga
Indians.
William Chisholm (1788-1842) immigrated to the area from Scotland in 1820. In 1827 William had his
eye on the Township of Trafalgar - in particular, the mouth of the Sixteen Mile Creek - as an ideal site for a harbour
and town. He was able to buy it at auction from the Crown. The purchase price of the 960 acres was $4,116, or about
$4.25 per acre.
| Young William Chisholm |
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| Oakville's founder |
| William Chisholm - middle age |
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Chisholm's nickname was "White Oak", and it is thought that this nickname is the origin of "Oakville". In any case, Oakville, situated
in the township of Trafalgar, became a village that same year (1827) and a town in 1857.
2007 was the 150th birthday of the founding of Oakville.
Within a few years, Chisholm had established a thriving shipbuilding business and had also become a major timber merchant.
As well, he established the first privately-owned harbour in Upper Canada, and soon the harbour was flourishing, handling
trade between Hamilton, Toronto and foreign cities.
In 1834 Oakville was formally affirmed as a Port of Entry into Canada. William Chisholm served as its first Customs Inspector.
Soon, Oakville's first post office opened, and Chisholm was named postmaster. After his death in 1842 William's son, Robert
Kerr Chisholm, became the Customs Inspector and postmaster in his father's place. George King Chisholm,
another of William's sons, became the first mayor when Oakville was incorporated as a town in 1857. He was mayor from
1857 to 1862 and again in 1873-74.
| George Chisholm |
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George became very political, and in addition to his political activities, in 1853 George joined his brother John in a
grist mill operation. In 1857 George sold his house in town on Navy Street and moved to a new, more impressive home he built
called "The Retreat" on the lovely grounds near the west river bank. That’s the area in which we now live.
The house stood at the location of 199 Queen Mary Drive until it was replaced by the present apartment buildings in the
early 1970's.
George was interested in farming his 260 acres. Half of the land was cultivated by 1860, 3 years after
purchase. The land lot line was basically Bond Street on the south, the creek on the east, Kerr St. on the west and what
would become the QEW (formally known as Lower Middle Road) on the north.
| Today: 750 homes and 12 apartment buildings |
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The original Chisholm farm house (built for his Lead Farm Hand Mr. Forster) on what is now Queen Mary
Drive. The house was replaced in 2006 (see photos below). Chisholm eventually sold this house to the Forster family.
At approximately this time, The International Fraternal Society of The Independant Order of Foresters (note the similarity
to Lead Farm Hand Forster's name) chose Oakville as the location for a home for
the orphaned children of deceased members at 53 Bond Street. An outstanding administrator and superintendant of the orphanage,
Mr. J.C. Morgan lived at 43 Bond Street.
Prior to the completion of the orphanage some children lived in "The Retreat" home which was still owned
but no longer used by the Chisholm family.
Children from across Canada, the USA and elsewhere came to live in the orphanage built in a several-acre setting of farmland
and orchards. The children went to the Oakville Public School built in 1850 (where the central public library now stands). They
learned about agriculture by helping to tend the farm produce grown on the property.
George Chisholm later sold many acres of the farm property to his Lead Farm Hand, Mr. Forster, along with "The
Retreat" home. Mr. Forster began living in The Retreat, established a saw mill and lumbered much of the
acreage, and eventually ran his own farm. It was Mr. Forster who developed much of our present area after clearing the
land. The central park in our neighbourhood is named Forster Park, as are the streets that wrap around it, North and
South Forster Park Drives.
| Orphange on Bond Street - also used as Ortona |
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| Barracks during World War II |
| William Dowdle on Forster Farm |
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Mr. Forster hired a man named William Dowdle, who began living in the original farmhouse. William married
Lillian, and they had a son, George, in 1910 while living in the Forster's farm house. The Dowdles eventually
had 8 children.
| William Dowdle on Forster's Farm |
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| A corn field where St. Aidan's Church now stands |
| William Dowdle eventually built his own home on |
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| Washington Ave. (old St. Aidan's playground) |
| Lillian Dowdle on Washington Ave. The 8 children |
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| grew up and many remained as neighbours. |
| Back of William "Junior" Dowdle's house |
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| on Washington Avenue (8 kids in this house) |
| George Dowdle walking on what is now the QEW |
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| George Dowdle standing in the family lumber yard |
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| Corner of Stewart and Queen Mary - 1935 |
| David "Dave" Dowdle |
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George’s
son, David "Dave" Dowdle and his wife Barb continue to live on Stewart Street to this day. The driveway entrance
is now off Queen Mary Drive, but before Queen Mary Drive ever existed the original entrance was on Bond Street.
| Trees were cut down just prior to house removal |
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| in early summer of 2005 |
WHERE DID WE GET SOME OF OUR STREET NAMES?
BOND STREET - Sir Francis Bond Head, Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (1836-37)
CHISHOLM STREET - Colonel William Chisholm (1788-1842)
In 1827, William Chisholm purchased 960 acres of land from the Crown at the mouth of the Sixteen Mile
Creek and planned out the Town of Oakville and the harbour. The first brick building on site was erected c.1835, and
served as a storehouse and possibly an early Custom House. Later in its' life the Custom House was converted into the Chisholm
family home know as Erchless Estate. William developed the harbour and invested heavily in shipping and shipbuilding. He
spent his final years in the family estate, living with his son, Robert Kerr. Despite his dreams and determination, William
declared bankruptcy in 1842, dying shortly after at the age of 54. William is buried in Oakville St. Mary's Cemetery.
KERR STREET - Robert Kerr Chisholm (1819-1899) Robert Kerr (R.K.) followed in his father's shipping and business interests, becoming Deputy Collector of Customs when
he was only 19. After his father William's death in 1842, R.K. became responsible for the port and postal operations. R.K.
completed construction of the Custom House in 1856 and the second addition to the Erchless family home in 1858. The prosperous
R.K. purchased surrounding properties and continued to expand the estate until his death in 1899.
FORSYTH STREET (note no "e") - James Bell Forsyth, a partner in the firm
of Forsyth, Richardson & Company, a firm with which William Chisholm (Oakville's founder) had direct business
dealings. Forsyth was prominent in the general trading and forwarding business, banking and canal building.
REBECCA STREET - Rebecca Silverthorn - the wife of William Chisholm.
(Formerly Radial Road until the 1950's).
WILSON STREET - the brothers Robert, William and George Wilson, all lake captains
and friends of William Chisholm.
We continue to find information on the history of our neighbourhood. Even today, Dee McAulay's daycare business
in her home on Kingswood Road tends a young child who is a Dowdle, the granddaughter of Bruce Dowdle, who lived
on Washington Street up until around 2000.
Our Past
Do you have any photos from days gone by in the neighbourhood? Some before and after pictures of
houses, or perhaps when the bridge was built?
Pictured left to right: Marion Dowdle, Dee McAulay, Barb Dowdle, Barb Stewart, Dave Dowdle
Barb Dowdle and Bruce McAulay were students at Oakwood
School. Here they are at the 2005 Annual General Meeting looking over their 1957-58 Year Book, the "Oakwood
Omnibus".
Mr. Balfour was the principal at the time and his family still lives in the neighbourhood.
There were Religous Classes, Boys' Shop and Girls' Home Economics. Many public schools south
of the QEW had to transport students to Oakwood School for the Shop and Home Economics facilities. Those rooms are
now storage and the teachers' lunch room.
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HISTORIC HOMES IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
142 Forsythe Street
What a lovely home to greet you as you enter our community,
situated on the corner of Rebecca and Forsythe Streets. This house is right across the street from the Anderson
Bridge Parkette which the Horticultural Society maintains.
| Forsythe House |
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Happy 153rd Birthday!
This lovely home celebrated its 153rd birthday
this year. What a beautiful house with caring owners. A new
picket fence just went up this year. There must be over 400 pickets! Great
Job!
| 15 Head Street |
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| 158 Forsythe Street |
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DEVELOPMENT - BEFORE
AND AFTER
The following black and white pictures
are from a book titled "The Prints of Oakville", courtesy of North Shore Publishing, Burlington, Ontario.
| 2007 Kerr & Rebecca |
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| Clock Tower October 19th 2008 |
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| Before: the Canadian Armed Forces Headquarters |
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| Today: Oaklands Regional Centre on Bond Street |
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This is the caption, enlarged, from the photo above left.
| Before: St. Aidan's Church - side view |
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| Today: same view |
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| Before: the corner of Stewart and Queen Mary |
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| Today: same view |
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