Captain Stretton Block
540 - 560 Turnberry Street, Brussels, Ont.
( Built: 1890 )
Samuel Smale, a merchant tailor, bought the southeast part of Lot 13 from John McKenzie in 1869. He built a brick shop, and in 1872, a two-story 20x30 foot stone addition to the brick store. In October 1872, the Huron Expositor reported on the construction: “Mr James Mitchell, stone mason, of Grey, has just completed the stone work of Smale’s new shop, the building is 24 x 30 two stories high. This building when completed will be quite an addition to our village, and a credit to Mr Mitchell whose reputation as a stone mason is as well known.” (Huron Expositor May 10 and Oct. 25, 1872)
The Huron Expositor, in an article headed “Progress of Brussels,” reported that: “Smale’s two story store was completed this year. The building is well finished; size. 30x24 feet. The masonry was done by James Mitchell, the carpentry by McCormick & Morries. Over Smale’s tailoring shop an additional story was built, 36x12 feet. James Stretton has had a fine building put up near his hotel on Turnberry street. It is a two story one, 52x24 feet. A portion of the upper floor is at present used as a photographic gallery, and when the lower part is finished Mr. Stretton will let it as a hardware store. There is a good opening here for this class of store. Mr McAllister is the builder.” (Dec. 26, 1973) John McCracken owned the property between Stretton and Smale in 1873 but it remained vacant.
GA Page, a photographer from Strathroy, leased the second story of Stretton’s new store in April 1873. William Stewart bought Page’s photography business one year later; the newspaper didn't report a tenant for the lower part of Stretton’s store during this period.
Smale’s store was rented to CR Cooper in 1874: “CR Cooper has removed his News Depot to the new building second door south of Stretton’s Hotel.” (Huron Expositor June 12, 1874) CR Cooper & Co. added a stock of jewellery to their line of business and secured the services of a watchmaker in October. In December of that year Messrs. Moore & Campbell, photographers from Seaforth, “opened a branch gallery in the rooms recently occupied by Mr. Wm. Stewart, next door to CR Cooper & Co.’s news depot and jewelry store.” A Mr. Snyder from Listowel opened a new furniture store in Stretton’s block about the same time. (Huron Expositor Dec. 18, 1874)
Advertisement Right: Ad appeared in the Brussels Post February 14, 1880. In 1875, Mr. W Oremus of Seaforth opened a new barbershop in Stretton’s block. Mr. A Hood of Wroxeter rented the store adjoining the Queen’s Hotel, for three years, and occupied it the 1st of October. The Dominion Telegraph office moved into CR Cooper’s bookstore in May. Mr. Somerville, formerly of Seaforth, was placed in charge of this office. “Mr Somerville is a first-class operator, and is a thoroughly reliable and trustworthy young man, and we are sure that he will very soon become a favorite among the business men of Brussels.” (Huron Expositor Apr. 2, May 7, Sept. 10, 1875)
Stretton sold a little less than half of his Lot 13 property to John Duncan in April 1874. Duncan and his partner, George Davidson, had had a harness shop a little further south before they dissolved their partnership and Duncan built a store on his new property in 1875.
Photo Below: The Stretton Block, adjoining the Queen’s Hotel, built in 1890. Note the large panes of plate glass marking each of the three stores. The Standard Bank, John Hewitt’s barbershop, Thomas Hall’s grocery, and WJ Fairfield’s photo gallery were the first tenants.
The fire of August 1876 destroyed all of the buildings on the west side of Turnberry Street between Thomas and Market Streets. Stretton’s hotel and the stores owned by John Duncan and Samuel Smale, were all burnt. James Stretton’s loss was estimated at $12,000; he was insured for $2,000. The following is a list of some of the other losses suffered: John Duncan, saddler, loss $2,000, insurance $750; A Hood, merchant, loss $3,000, insurance $2,000; W Oremus, barber, $100, no insurance; UF Uren, photographer, loss $100, no insurance; Dominion Telegraph office, loss $100, no insurance. No mention is made of CR Cooper; it is likely that Mr. Fletcher, a jeweller who is said to have
lost $400-worth of property, had taken over Cooper’s store by the time of the fire.
James Stretton had a temporary building erected soon after the fire. “His building is to be of frame which will be replaced by brick hereafter.” Smale had a new building closed in by September 1876. In August 1877, he “commenced the erection of a similar building to that of Mr. McCracken’s and adjoining it to the north. When completed the two will make a fine appearance.” (Huron Expositor Aug. 3, 1877)
In November 1877, Duncan sold his “new shop on Turnberry street, south of the Queen’s Hotel to Mr P Moore for $1,100.” The harness business was sold to George Davidson. John Chunter, furniture dealer, rented Moore’s new building and moved into it on the 1st of December. (Huron Expositor Nov. 16, Nov. 30, 1877)
James Drewe had a grocery and liquor business in the shop adjoining the Queen’s Hotel before 1883. In October 1883, he sold his grocery business to Messrs. Thomson & Black. They intended to run a flour and feed store in connection with the grocery line. Drewe moved to the shop formerly occupied by Robert Nott. T O’Neal, the new proprietor of the Queen’s Hotel, put billiard tables in the shop vacated by Mr. Drewe. (Brussels Post Oct. 5, 1883)
Stretton Block
By 1887, James and William R. Stretton owned all the property south of the hotel, adjoining Smale’s property. In 1890 they began a building project: “The brick work on the block being erected by Capt. Stretton is being rushed along by Messrs. Combs and McDonald. There will be three stores with brick walls in the structure. The block will fill an ugly gap on Turnberry Street.” (Brussels Post May 30, 1890) A photograph gallery was fitted up in the new block. In January 1891 the plate glass was put in place.
The photo gallery, located above the south store, was occupied by WJ Fairfield in January 1891: “WJ Fairfield has his new gallery in the Stretton’s block in order and is ready to attend to business as of yore. He has engaged L. Mason an experienced hand as assistant and will be better able than ever to turn out work promptly. He has a brand new outfit and he wants you to call and see him.”
A branch of the Standard Bank was scheduled to open in the southerly store on or about April 1st. A large vault, heavy Taylor safe, offices, etc were installed in the new premises. Come April the bank opened right on schedule and Inspector London duly installed Manager Schofield and Teller Morden and the cash and keys handed over to their keeping.
Advertisement Right: Advert from the Brussels Post 1894. Harry Brewer took over from H. R. Strong in 1894. He moved to the Smith Block a year later. In May 1891, John Hewitt moved his barbershop into the store next door to the Standard Bank. Thomas Hall opened a grocery and restaurant in the third store. Mr. Thomas Hall had a confectionery in connection with his store but closed it out just a few months later. Dr. McNaughton had an office on second floor.
WJ Fairfield, a young man of thirty, died of consumption in April 1891, shortly after he had sold his photography business to one of his apprentices, Lorne Hunter. By November, Walter Burgess had leased the photo gallery in Stretton’s block. He was also a pupil of the late WJ Fairfield and A. Bauslaugh of Seaforth. He formed a partnership with RA Buchanan, a crayon artist.
The partnership between Burgess and Buchanan was dissolved by mutual consent in January 1892. Burgess carried on the business for a while then sold to HJ Strong. On Tuesday, June 7th, Strong held a ‘Baby Day’ – he offered to photograph all babies two years old and under free of charge and present each mother with one timely finished cabinet photo. They began to arrive at his studio about 8 o’clock in the morning, and kept increasing in number as the day advanced, until when closing time came Mr. Strong had photographed no less than 64 babies.
In 1894, Strong had his studio fitted for large work and a printing room was built. In July, Strong disposed of his studio to HR Brewer but stayed on as manager for several months. The Post informed its readers that: “Several very good views of Main Street on July 2nd, when the Foresters demonstration was in progress, adorn HR Brewer’s photo exhibit at his studio.” (Aug. 3, 1894) In July 1896 Brewer photographed the interior of James Fox’s drug store. While trying to take a flash photograph at the residence of John Hill in February 1897, Harry Brewer met with an accident: “in the act of taking a flash light picture … his left hand received the force of the explosive and the result was a badly shattered forefinger on his left hand and the splitting open of his thumb. Mr. Hill drove Mr. Brewer to Brussels and a physician was speedily sought, who removed the first and second joints of the injured finger and bound up the hand. Mr. Brewer, although somewhat incapacitated, is attending to the duties of his studio as usual. It was a fortunate thing that the results of the accident were not more serious.”
Above Photos - Left: W. W. Burgess, and Right: Harry Brewer. Photos courtesy of Huron County Museum (74.13.12 and 86.71.4)
Edward Hart of Orillia leased the photo gallery in the Stretton block in 1899. He made improvements in the studio and “he says business is good.” (Brussels Post Feb. 22, 1900) John Hewitt made some improvements and renovations to his “tonsorial parlor” in July 1894. Someone playing a joke on Hewitt placed this advertisement in his window while he was away to dinner one night: “Barber wanted to take possession of this shop. Low wages. No Irish need apply. Present proprietor going West, but not alone.” (Brussels Post Sept. 4, 1896) After a long stretch of 14 years in business here, Hewitt moved his barbershop to “the premises lately purchased from Mrs Fletcher.” (Brussels Post Mar. 9, 1905)
Thomas Hall was in business only a short while when he passed away in February 1892. In his obituary, The Post noted that he had been a resident of Brussels for 30 years and “had a rough exterior at times and was his own worst enemy, but he had redeeming traits of character that sometimes gave evidence of better things.”
In June 1897, Stretton was entangled in some legal problems concerning the construction of his brick block. The action was “brought by FS Scott as assignee of the firm of Smith, Malcolm & Gibson, who some time ago recovered a judgment against James Stretton, Sr., for debt and costs amounting to the sum of $923.83. Before this judgment was recovered but when the action was pending, namely in September, the defendant, Jas. Stretton, executed a mortgage in favour of his son, WR Stretton, for the alleged consideration of $5000.00, and on the 17th of the same month executed an absolute deed of most of his property in favour of the same party, for the alleged consideration of $7000.00, and again in February 1896, executed in favour of the same party a deed of the balance. The plaintiff brought the present action to have it declared that these conveyances were fraudulent as against the plaintiff and other creditors. Judgment was given in favour of the plaintiff, holding that these deeds, though absolute in form, were simply mortgages, and directing a reference to the Master at Goderich to ascertain and report the amount actually advanced by the defendant, WR Stretton, to or for his father. Further directions and costs were reserved until after the report of the Master is made.” (Brussels Post June 4, 1897)
The one-story frame store between the Stretton and Smale Blocks was burnt in 1898, causing some minor damage to the brick buildings. The Post reported: “A settlement has been arrived at by SB Smale and Capt. Stretton for damages to brick blocks by recent burning of the frame building located between the brick. The former gets $38.00 and the latter $18.50. These figures are expected to cover the cost of necessary repairs as adjudged by local appraisers.” (August 26, 1898)
The Misses Ross leased the store in the Stretton block formerly occupied by the Standard Bank. They opened out a new stock of millinery and millinery goods in September 1898. “Miss Ross has had a wide experience in city and town and will be glad to have a call form the ladies. In connection with the store Miss Ross’ sister will conduct a fashionable dress and mantle making department where she expects to demonstrate her ability to please her customers feeling assured that she will be able to fill the bill. Miss Ross has worked in some of the best shops in both Canada and the United States.” (Brussels Post Sept. 16, 1898)
In May 1899 the headquarters for Walter Lowry’s egg gathering business was in one of the stores of the Stretton Block. He sold his eggs to a firm in Wingham. Frank Roche made the collecting trips to the country. Dr. DF Smith engaged office rooms upstairs in the Stretton block in November 1899 to afford more satisfactory accommodation. “Office hours 9 to 12 am, and 7 to 10 pm. Specialist work, such as for eye, ear, throat, &c., in the office at his residence, Elizabeth street, from 2 to 6 pm. All medicines will be dispensed personally by the Dr. or under his direct supervision.”
CH Dodds and JJ Habkirk opened “a high-class tailoring establishment” in the store lately vacated by John Hewitt in March 1905. “They will keep a choice stock of goods and guarantee satisfaction.” Miss Ardell of Gorrie took up a situation in the tailoring shop. An addition was also made to the building: “An addition of 20 or 22 feet will be made to the shops now occupied by Frank Stretton and Messrs Dodds & Habkirk, Stretton block. It will be cement and one story high. The gravel is being hauled now for it and work will be proceed with at an early date. (Brussels Post Aug. 24, 1905) Frank Stretton was a jeweller and optician. He had a store here until 1935.
The Misses Habkirk had a millinery store in the Stretton Block in 1905. In 1910, their former store was leased to JH Kerney, Express agent and Division Court Clerk. New fittings were put in to create an office.
Advertisements from the Brussels Post - Above Left: March 23, 1905; and Above Right: October 23, 1905.
According to the Tax Assessment Records, John Wright operated the Express Office from 1918 to 1921. WP Fraser had a tailor shop in one of the stores from 1911 to 1920. The Bank of Nova Scotia occupied the third store from 1918 to 1920. Dr James Anderson, Veterinary Surgeon, moved his office from the Stretton Block, where he had been since 1921, to his home in 1925.
WH Bell had a restaurant in the north store in 1919 and 1920. By the end of 1920, Wilfred E Willis had made arrangements to move The Palace Bakery from the Garfield Block, where he had opened at the first of the year, to the north store of the Stretton Block. He was baking breads and confectionery here until 1956. The store continued to house a bakery for many years. George Stephenson had Stephenson’s Bakery here until 1980. Todd’s Bakery opened in 1980.
Roy McKay had a grocery in the third store from 1919-1923. The Mercantile Sales Co. was briefly a tenant of this store in 1925. Sam Carter had a gas station here for two years, 1928 and 1929. Woodrow & Bowler (Alex Woodrow and Harry Bowler), Poultry Merchants, had a business in one of the stores, likely the south store, from 1933 to 1940. Margaret Rutledge ran a lunchroom here during the 1960s up until 1972.
Photo Above : In this photograph taken in late 1928 or 1929, you can see the word “Bakery” on the awning of the W.E. Willis’ Palace Bakery. Located in the south store is the gas station operated by Sam Carter with its White Rose Gasoline sign. The centre store was Stretton’s jewellery store in business here from 1923 to 1976. The Queen’s Hotel is to the north of the Stretton Block.
Advertisement Left: from the Brussels Post January 5, 1911. Frank Stretton had his jewellery store in the centre store from 1923 to 1947. Herbert J Stretton took over the business in 1947 and was here until 1976. The store was vacant off and on; Country Ceramics was one tenant during those years, here from 1980 to 1983. In 1989, the Brussels Chiropractic Clinic opened with Dr. James Mason and professional Chris TenPas providing chiropractic and reflexology services.
A succession of law offices was housed in the Stretton Block starting with Elmer D Bell from 1928 to 1945. His offices were taken over by Crawford & Hetherington (1946-55), and later partnerships. Crawford Mill & Davies bought the McCracken Block store in 1876 and moved their offices there. Goodall & Campbell, lawyers, took over the offices in the Stretton block from 1977 to 1985.
Brussels Post Advertisements - Lower Left: August 10, 1905 and Lower Right: December 16, 1920. W. F. Stretton was a long-time tenant of the centre store in the Stretton Block as was Willis in the north store. Wm P Fraser had a tailor shop in the Block from 1911 to 1920.
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