William Hill Block
79 & 81 Main Street South, Seaforth, Ontario
( Year built: 1869 )
Thomas Bowerman owned this lot in 1863, but it was William Hill who started business here in 1865. In 1869, Hill built a brick block containing two stores. In his Britannia House, Hill sold groceries in one store and dry goods in the other, until 1881 when he declared insolvency and the business and building were sold to John McDonald of Toronto.
The stores remained empty until 1883 when Scott Bros. opened the Seaforth Musical Instrument Emporium. In 1886, Scott Bros. moved to the other side of Main Street. M.A Charlesworth and Joseph Brownell, who had formed a partnership in 1885, moved their growing wholesale and retail grocery business into the Hill Block stores from one of Samuel Dickson’s stores to the south. In a Nov. 5, 1886 ad in The Huron Expositor they stated: “Owing to our large and increasing trade, we found our late premises far too small, and were compelled through the pressure of business to move to a much larger store.” They offered “teas jobbed by the caddie and half chest, at wholesale prices” and assured farmers they could get “job teas and general groceries at wholesale prices in quantities.” Charlesworth & Brownell were in business here until 1895.
Advertisement Left: appeared in The Huron Expositor March 23, 1906. William Casey & Co., Merchants, were the next tenants from 1896 to 1898. They billed themselves as “the leading tea house in town” selling all grades of tea as well as groceries and crockery.
The stores had separate tenants for most years after 1899. Miss Carrie Kinsey, a milliner, moved from the Kidd Block into the north store in 1900. A Mrs. Hillner occupied this store from 1901 to 1904, but the business she was in is not known. James Dunn was the merchant here in 1905. In 1906, J.T. Staples, a barber, opened a barbershop where he also sold tobacco and smoking equipment. Loftus Stark had a business in the south store in 1900, but he was here just one year. James Gillespie, who bought the property in 1890, started a harness shop here. Gillespie, along with his son, William, was in business for 30 years.
Above Left Photo: William Hill’s Britannia House between Peter Markey’s frame store to the north and Samuel Dickson’s brick block to the south. The photograph was taken some time before 1881 when Hill went out of business and the Markey’s frame store burnt. The photograph shown Above Right: was taken in 1938.
By 1915, the north store was a laundry operated by Hop Sing. W. Lee took over the laundry business in 1923. Rose Shinan opened a clothing store here in 1925 and was in business until 1928. Both stores appear to have been vacant for a while in 1931-33. Violet Gillespie started a dry-cleaning business in 1932 in the south store. Fred Johnson joined the business in 1940 and John Flannery took over in 1957.
The north store became a restaurant in 1934, run by Thomas Chong. The Star Café was here into the 1950s.
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