Cady Block - Red Star Garage
73 - 77 Main Street South, Seaforth, Ontario
( Year built: 1945 )
Peter and Bridget Markey owned this lot in 1864. That year they erected a large frame building. The north part of the building was the Dominion Hotel, run by Peter Markey. John Potts was the Innkeeper in 1868, Ross James in 1870-71 and M. Purcell in 1875-6. A notice in The Huron Expositor of Oct. 27, 1871 informed readers: “Mr. James Ross is about to remove his hotel and stage office to the building formerly occupied by M. Robertson, cabinet-maker, east Main St., near the station.” A notice of Sept. 5, 1873 stated: “Mr. John Dunn of Brantford has leased from Mrs. P. Markey the Dominion Hotel in this village.”
The south part of Markey’s building housed William A. Shearson’s flour and feed store until 1869 when he moved to another location on Main Street. The south store was a grocery in the 1870s. The Markeys ran it from 1870 to 1877. Mrs. P. Markey advertised “New and Cheap Goods – Main St. opposite Hay’s Hotel” in September 1877. Albert Sparling was listed as a grocer here in 1877, Levi Mabee in 1878 and James Edwards in 1879. There also appear to have been other businesses here in the late 1870s. Allan Mitchell was a merchant here from 1877 to 1878 and George Dent also had a business here in 1877. James Jamieson had a shoe shop here in 1878. Andrew Halley & Co. had a business in the corner store in 1879.
Peter Markey died in April of 1879. In 1880, the north part of the building was divided into two spaces. One was occupied by George Ewing’s butcher shop and the other by Miss M. Rigg’s restaurant. Mrs. Markey was, at this time, selling groceries from the south part of the building. A fire that started in Rigg’s restaurant destroyed the building on February 10, 1881.
Shortly after the fire Mrs. Markey was remarried, to Swan W. Cady. Cady had a second large frame building block erected on the lot during the summer of 1881. The first to occupy the new stores were Robert Willis’ shoe store, John Ward’s saddle and harness shop, C.H. Baker’s jewelry store, and John G. Constable’s barber shop and bowling alley.
Above Photo: The north end of Cady’s Block as pictured in the 1902 Seaforth Biographical & Commercial publication. Robert and Walter Willis’ shoe store was here until November 1930 when the building burnt. Harry Beattie, Barrister, had the law offices above.
Store #1 at the north corner was occupied by Robert Willis, Shoemaker, who was joined in 1899 by his son, Walter. The Willis shoe store was in business here until 1930 when the block was destroyed by fire. W.J. Northgraves, Jeweler, had the north part of the north half in 1887-88. Beam & Archibald, Butchers, had the south part. John Constable’s barbershop was replaced by George B. Scott’s barbershop in 1883. Scott was here until 1904. The north part of the south store was home to Purvis & Milks, Watchmakers, from 1884 to 1887. Next to occupy the store was A.D. Young, Jeweler, 1888-89. The south part was a bowling alley operated by Robert Andrews in 1886.
Photo Below: This photograph of Cady’s Block at the corner of Main and Market Streets appeared in Souvenir of Seaforth published in 1900. The south stores were occupied by McNaughton & Dennison Furnishers, M. Broadrick, Saddler, and G.B. Scott, Barber.
Photographer, Andrew Calder, had three rooms above from 1877 to 1881. After the fire, Calder moved his gallery to the new Scott Block to the north. Also in “rooms above” in 1877 were Miss Leach and Miss Quinlan, both milliners, and Miss Beam, a dressmaker. Miss Oldfield, a milliner, was here in 1878. Dental offices were occupied by C. Cartwright, 1882-84, and W.J. Fear, 1885-88. Law offices were taken by J.M. Best in 1885, W.H. Hastings from 1887-88, and Harry Beattie, 1900-02. Dr. McKidd, MD, was here in 1885 and Dr. Martin O’Connell 1905-09.
Cady Block had four stores in the 1890s. Store No. 1 was the Willis shoe store. Store No. 2 was occupied by Horton Bros. Butchers from 1890 to 1898. Store No. 3 was M. Broadrick’s Harness Shop from 1897 to 1926. Swift Canadian Produce was the occupant at the time of the fire in 1930. After Scott, the barbershop in Store No. 4 was run by P. Mulcahy in 1905, John Weber from 1906-07, James Pender from 1908-10, and Allan Close in 1915. Elgin H. Close had the barbershop from 1918 to 1926. By this time, there were three stores again. Shoemakers Russel Sproat and James Willis were here from 1927-28. Then, George Israel and George Charters had a dry-cleaning and tailoring business here. It was in the dry cleaning plant that the fire which destroyed Cady’s Block started in November of 1930.
West of his business block Peter Markey had a livery stable in the late 1860s. Later, Joseph Abell and William Carnochan operated the livery here in late 1877-78, and William McNaughton in 1879. George Whiteley and Joseph Able ran the livery from 1885 to 1889. Whiteley carried on until 1892 when Hargan and Dorrance bought the business. Hargan & Dorrance were here until 1895. Adam Hays ran the livery stables, and had an office in a small brick building next door, until 1929.
Above Photo: Hays Livery on Market Street, behind Cady’s Block, 1902. Advertisement Above: from the Queen’s Hotel register of 1890-1892.
Above Photo: The Red Star Garage in the 1960s. The garage construction is typical of the 1940s. It is cement block with a stucco covering.
The Huron Expositor of October 18, 1895 published an item about the death of Mrs. Cady: “Mrs. Cady was about as usual on Saturday, and even as late as ten o’clock Saturday evening she visited Horton’s butcher shop.… She was then, apparently, in the best of health and spirits and talked and joked with those whom she met as was her wont…” Early Sunday morning she suffered an attack of apoplexy and died that night. “She was one of the early residents of the town, and came here from Paris over a quarter of a century ago. Her first husband, Mr. Peter Markey, was for many years proprietor of one of the best known and most popular hotels [in Paris, Ontario]. They were engaged in the hotel business for some time after coming here, but owing to failing sight and growing infirmities, Mr. Markey was forced to retire from business. He died several years ago, and subsequently his widow, the deceased, married Mr. S.W. Cady.… Mrs. Cady was a shrewd business woman, but possessed a kind heart and a generous, genial disposition.”
Lot 39, where Cady’s Block and Livery stood for so many years, remained vacant for many years after the fire. In 1943-44, a British American gas station and garage was built. The Red Star Garage was managed by Mel Clark into the 1960s. The garage was empty for a few years before Ross Motors started business here in June of 1965.
In 1976, the garage was converted into a real estate office. The exterior of the building was clad with a brick veneer and a wide metal cornice was added. Current occupants of the building are Tom Devereaux’s Chiropractic Clinic and McConnell, Stewart & Devereaux law offices.
 |
|
Click here to download a printer friendly version of the Historic Seaforth - Cady Block & Red Star Garage web page in Adobe PDF format. The PDF file size is: (418 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.
