James Murphy Block
16 & 18 Main Street South, Seaforth, Ontario
( Year built: 1877 )
Franz Meyers had his house, and south of it his Checkered Harness Depot, on this lot in 1863. But, James Murphy was the owner of the house and store from 1872-76. When fire struck, Murphy lost his store, his stock of groceries, his dwelling house and household furnishings valued at $4,800; he was insured for $2,200. Murphy replaced the burned buildings in 1877 with a brick building containing two stores. He moved his Chequered Store and Tea Depot into the north store and was here until 1883.
David and John Currie had a dry goods, fancy goods, tobacco and confectionery store in the south space from 1877-79. A succession of four other confectioners ran a business in the south store in the 1880s after the Curries left. In 1886, Mrs. W. Clement had a restaurant here. J.C. Smith & Co. opened a private bank in this store space in 1891 and were here until 1897.
C.L. Papst and Thomas O'Connor opened a new music store in the north store in 1890. Peter Dill and Harry Speare, Tailors and Furnishers of men’s clothing, moved into the north store in 1893 and were here until February 1897. The June 11, 1897 issue of The Huron Expositor informed the public:
Harry Speare, successor to Dill & Speare, moved to larger store, Feb. 26, 1897, West side Main street, Whitney’s Block, next door to Henderson’s Ground Floor Gallery – Tailoring & Gents’ Furnishings.
Matthew Williams, a grocer and the owner of the building by this time, replaced Dill & Speare. He was soon succeeded by J.A. Hingstone and R.A. Sparling, Painters, when he moved his business north to the corner store.
B.B. Gunn opened a second store and occupied both of the stores here in 1900. By 1905, a number of different businesses occupied both stores for one or two years at a time. Matthew Williams again had his grocery in the north store from 1907-09. His wife and daughter continued the business into the 1910s. W.J. Allan had the south store.
In 1921, Isaac Hudson, a produce merchant, had the south store; David Stewart, a butcher, had the north store. The next year, Silverwoods Dairy occupied the south store and were here until 1927. By 1929, there was again a produce store in the south part and George Cameron, had taken over the butcher shop.
By 1933, B.F. Christie was the butcher at work in the north store and he was in business here until 1957. In 1934, Leonard Bolton had a barbershop in the south part. The next year, Leona Mac Box had a hairdressing shop in the south store. Bertha Box took over the hairdressing shop and Fred R. Parsons had the barbershop in 1940-41. Ernest L. Box, a coal merchant, was the property owner at this time and he had the north store from 1939 to 1944. Frank Kling, Plumbing & Heating Supplies, had the south store for a couple of years in 1943-44, then it became a pool hall run by E.M. Hadfield and then by C.G. and Frank Lee.
Christie’s butcher shop in the north store became O'Shea's Men's & Women's Wear by the 1960s. By the 1990s, Anna's Dress Shop, had moved into this store space.
The south store became a beauty parlour in 1957, run by Robert McPherson, Beautician. Grace Kerr was a Beautician in Roberts' House of Beauty in the early 1960s. By 1966, the business here was called the Snip & Curl Beauty Salon. Box Furniture eventually expanded their store into this space.
The building appears to be of-a-piece with the neighbouring store block to the south. The entab-lature detailing, pilasters and window labels are the same as the building to the south and the Ault & McGregor Block to the north.
It is a 2½ storey yellow brick building with four pilasters marking off three window bays. The section to the south is wider and has a larger window. The roof cornice and the storefront were restored to their original appearance, to match Box Furniture to the south. At the storefront level, the doorway insets and windows are as they were originally.
Above Photo: The photograph above is part of a panoramic taken circa 1900. The James Murphy building is to the right of the store with the awning. At the time, B.B. Gunn’s general store was here.
 |
|
Click here to download a printer friendly version of the Historic Seaforth - James Murphy Block web page in Adobe PDF format. The PDF file size is: (486 kb)
Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 (or higher) is required to open and view any Adobe PDF files. Please visit the link to obtain your free copy of this software.
