Grip House
138 Main Street South, Seaforth, Ontario
( Year built: Hotel - early 1860s, Existing Building - 1968 )
The Grip House is the last name given to the hotel built on this lot some time in the 1860s. William Lancaster was the innkeeper here in 1867. E.P. Houghton, and then George Houghton, are listed in tax assessment records as the hotel keepers here in 1868 and 1871. According to Isabelle Campbell’s history, Houghton kept his own hotel next door, on the corner to the north.
Duncan D. Rose took over management of the hotel in 1872-76. The Huron Expositor of February 19, 1874 reported: “Town Council - The hotel License was fixed at $55, and shop license at $85. A by-law was passed requiring applicants for liquor licenses to give security to the extent of $100 each, and two sureties of $25 each.” Rose is not listed among those who purchased a hotel liquor license in 1874. Rose opened a grocery store when he left the hotel.
John Brigham was the innkeeper in 1877 but was replaced by Richard L. Sharp the next year. Sharp had previously managed the Commercial Hotel. Under his management the hotel by the railway tracks was known as Sharp’s Hotel. Sharp operated the hotel until 1883 and is listed among those who received tavern liquor licenses May 3, 1883.
The next longterm hotelkeeper here, who also lent his name to the hotel, was H.P. Kennedy. From 1883 to 1890, the hotel was well known as Kennedy Hotel. William F. Flannagan succeeded him and was the hotel’s proprietor until 1895.
Dr. T.T. Coleman was the property owner until 1896. Mrs. John Lynch purchased it from the Coleman Estate and made improvements to the hotel. The hotel was a frame building in the early 1860s. Mrs. Lynch had a white brick veneer put on the exterior.
G.E. Henderson was Mrs. Lynch’s hotelkeeper until 1900 when William and James Hunter took over. In 1903, Jonathan Miller of Benmiller assumed hotelkeeping duties for the next two years. There were five other hotelkeepers here in the 1900s – William Hamilton, J.J. FitzPatrick, H. Carnochan, and Frances Carlin.
Left Photo: Grip House in the early 1904 or 1905 when William Hamilton was the hotel keeper.
In 1913, the Grip House ceased to be a hotel and became a factory, the W.J. Duncan Legging and Shoe Factory. Behind the building Frank Allen operated a horse trading business which then became Cudmores stables in 1924 after Allen’s death.
Duncan’s Shoe Factory became Seaforth Shoes Ltd., with Fred Peel as Manager, in 1950. Boshart & Sons used the Crombie Street part of the lot for lumber storage. Seaforth Shoes vacated the building in 1958 and since then it was used as a storage facility. Topnotch Feeds Ltd. bought the property from the Town of Seaforth in September 1965. The old Grip House part of the building was demolished and the newer part was remodelled into a modern office for the Topnotch Feeds company. The Huron Business Centre moved into this particular historical building in the early 1990s.
Above Photo: This photograph of the 1914 Old Boys Reunion parade shows the Grip House in the background at left. By then it was Duncan’s Legging & Shoe Factory.
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