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PETE NCS ET el mete it te ant AED A et AM IN A "A Family Tradition for 128 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, Tuesday, February 7, 1995-19 Sketches of Scugog is a historical column written by local resident and historian Paul Arculus and published in the Port Perry Star the first issue of each month. [J ® [J] PRINCE ALBERT Before I launch into the fascinating topic of the history of Prince Albert, I would like to thank those who have written or phoned to encourage my efforts in these articles on the history of the Lake Scugog basin. In response to last week's letters to the Editor, yes, there will be a book someday, but not before I have completed more research on this fascinating study. This means that these articles will continue for some time. Again, to John and Betty Cincurak and Joan Hartwick, who took time to write, and others who continue to support this research, thanks for your encouragement. Last month's articles dealt with the "ghost town" of Port Hoover; a once booming port and ship building centre on the north shores of Lake Scugog. In the next few articles the focus will be on the strange phenomenon of the "ghost town" of a different type; Prince Albert. Today, Prince Albert is a large residential community on the south side of Port Perry. It's main intersection being at the junction of Old Simcoe Road and the 5th Concession of Scugog. Prince Albert has become a "ghost town" in the sense that its entire reason for existence has - completely ~ changed over the . pastcentury and a half. Ahundred and for- ty years ago Prince Albert was the second largest grain buying centrein Canada! It was the first major settle- ment in Reach and, for several yearsit was the commercial centre not just of Reach, but the surround- ing townships as well! There \ - were mills, hotels, black- rll smiths and manufacturersof \ -- various kinds. Most of the area's churches had their start inPrince Albert, and the area's \ + . first newspaper was published here. | When Reuben Crandell made his way through the bush to settle on the 5th Concession, Lot 11, just east of Manchester, he established a point of contact for early settlers. He and his family were the first white settlersin Reach, and the year was 1821. Old Simcoe Road Ashe made his way north into Reach, Crandell followed an established but nar- row Indian footpath. This path, for the most of its distance, followed Simcoe Street to near Columbus, veered slightly west and up tothe Ridges. From there, it followed what is now Old Simcoe Road to Prince Albert. When he had reached roughly that point, he made his way west along the 5th Concession almost to where Manchester is now located. Here, where Fred Christie now has his farm, Crandell established the first home- stead in Reach Township. The Mississaugas had occupied this region for many years but they lived off the fish, wildlife and rice in the region. They were not farmers and had not cleared any land. It was still entirely virgin forest. Once Reuben and his family had begun toclear some land and build a cabin, word of their efforts would have reached the front and other pioneers would then feel confident about moving into the region. Skelc by Paul Arculus HISTORICAL Neighbors For The Crandells In 1824, Abner Hurd brought his family to create a homestead at the point where Crandell had turned west; Con. 5, Lot 17. He took possession of the east side of the intersection. That same year another fami- ly, the Daytons settled just west of the Hurds. The Hurds and the Daytons began the community of Dayton's Corners. On some early maps of the region the little community was simply called Reach, since it was the first and only community in the township for several years. The location which the Hurds had chosen to settle was a strategic one. Its most important aspect was that it was on one of the main north/south roads east of Toronto. Peter Perry had begun developing the Whitby area before his defeat in the elec- tion of 1836. He gave priority to the devel- opment of the harbour, then known as Windsor Harbour, and to Perry's Corners, now the four corners of Whitby, directly to the north. His harbour was the most easily accessible and most important shipping port between Toronto and Kingston. Kingston were planked over. Due to Peter Perry's effective persuasion, the Whitby- Manchester-Lake Scugog road was partial- ly planked shortly afterwards. More Settlers The Hurds and the Daytons were joined by several families in the late 1820s, including William Boynton who opened a tavern just south of the intersection on the west side of Old Simcoe Road. By 1829, there were enough settlers to justify the opening of a school just west of the settlement on the north side of the road just east of Cawker's Creek. Later a school was built right in the settlement just east of the four corners on the north side of the road. Noone settled in the Port Perry area until almost 20 years after Hurd and Dayton began their settlement. The First Store The beginnings of Prince Albert's rise as a commercial centre can probably be credit- ed to Prosper Hurd, Abner's son. He opened "ageneral store here in 1833 to supply the local residents with their needs. In 1831, Perry persuaded the govern- Prince Albert ment to establish a customs house at the When the young Queen Victoria married harbour. A wharf her German cousin, and Ssussianiiol PPro YAL MAIL STAGE] Albert, in 1840, warehouse were : : 0 CC many communities : EAVEB Whitby daily, e with th built there L Northern. Stages for, Mamlla. Desverton. celebrated by and Lindsay. Thijs Is the shortest and cheapest route from Toronto to either of the above places. 'Thie Stoge leaves Scriptures Hotel,every morn- ing (Sundays excepted) oo the arrive] of the Traine from east and west, and arrives in ; Board of Works, in 1843, constructed a large breakwater as part of the harbour facility. At the time of hisdeathin 1851, Perry's harbour was the third largest and busiest port on the Canadian side of Lake Ontario, behind only Toronto and Kingston in the quantity of goods being shipped to the ~~ United States and elsewhere. Rival Roads There were two rival routes north in this area. The first was the "Centre Line" road from Whitby (essentially Hwy. 12 today). The second was Simcoe Street from Oshawa which at that time followed the route of Old Simcoe Road north from the "Ridges." Both routes were direct but Simcoe Street had fewer hills, ridges and swamps than competing parallel roads. Another factor was that the "Centre Line" road from Windsor Harbour initially went only as far north as Manchester and then headed east to Lake Scugog. However, this was Peter Perry's link between his properties on Lake Scugog and Lake Ontario. These roads were merely rough, and usu- ally muddy, pathways. Trees were cut down and allowed to fall across the pathway and then trimmed. The spaces between the logs were filled in with soil to make the roadway as smooth as possible. This form of road- way was known as a "corduroy" road. The planking of roads in Canada West did not begin until the winter of 1835-1836 when sections of the road from Toronto to banquets and elabo- rate celebrations. The people at Dayton's Corners celebrated by renaming their settlement Prince Albert in honor of the Queen's consort. Also that year, the post office, the first in Reach, was opened in Prince Albert. James Leach, another store owner, was the first ~ postmaster. This post office became the dis- tribution centre for all mail for the settle- ments to the north in Reach, Brock Township and Victoria County. The mail- man, William Thomas, brought the mail on horseback once a week from Oshawa to Prince Albert. He travelled up Simcoe Street and then Old Simcoe Road. The lower or eastern section of Simcoe Street from the Ridges into Port Perry was initially opened in the 1850s but was not a reliable road due to the constant flooding and the large areas of swamp close to the lake shore. Thus the road through Prince Albert continued to be the main transpor- tation route from Oshawa for more than a quarter of a century. Reach's First Doctor In 1846 the first doctor in Reach, Dr. Foote, moved from the Kingston Road and took up residence in Prince Albert. Later that year the mail was increased from once to twice a week. In William H. Smith's Canadian Gazetteer, published in 1846, he states that Prince Albert has "....a Methodist church, five stores, two taverns, two asher- ies, one blacksmith, one wagonmaker, two shoemakers, two tailors." He gives the pop- bes of Scugog ulation as "about 200." Prince Albert remained the northern ter- minal of the mail carrier's route until 1848. His route was then extended to the Nonquon River crossing at Seagrave (initially called Sonya) and then on to Manilla. Also that year, the first stage coach linking Oshawa with communities to the north, ran from Oshawa to Prince Albert. The Growth Of Prince Albert's Commerce When our pioneer forefathers hacked their way into the forests of Reach, their first task was to provide a shelter for their families. Their next task was to clear land on which to grow food for their own consumption. But, as more land was cleared, and more crops were . produced, the early settlers had some left over for sale. They would then seek out places to sell their produce. There was a ready market for grain, particularly barley and wheat. This grain was sold in the larger communities and abroad. : During the 1812 war, lumber became a sig- nificant trading commodity. By the 1820s, wheat and lumber had completely replaced furs as the major exports from British North America. Canadian wheat had achieved such a significance in the Canadian economy that the Toronto Stock Exchange was opened in 1855, primarily as a centre for the trade in wheat. Local grain merchants required substan- tial financial resources in order to buy grain from the farmers. They would need barns to Prince Albert. in time for the Stages going store the grain and north, Returning, leaves Prince Albert on the £R wagons to trans- arrival of the Northern Stage and arrives in Ne) " Tarr, port it to ports Whitby in time for the Trains going east and PEE WOE gp NE Hap or S here it could b west, . . Bg, 1 nN " Uppgatmag, is fod ay), "age 00 wi ereit cou e K3~ Good accommodetion. and careful, obli tng, Ops 125 Cudindipes rematizy | shipped tolarger cen- \"g.drlvers - N. RAY, Proprietor EE RGR oS Sol *[ tres on Lake Ontario vIN ' pi . 2 : and abroad. 1. Advertisment for T.C. Forman"s store showed The townships to the his desire to buy wheat, oates and peas. He north and west of Reach ~ also allowed people to buy on credit. . 2. Advertisement for the stage coach had been established and from Prince Albert to Whitby return. settled well before Reach. 3. Inthe firstissue of the Ontario By 1850 many of the farm- Observer, advertisements for separate ersin Uxbridge, Thorah, Ross and Curie stores appeared in . . the same column. Later the two Brock and the neighboring ert Tn men formed a partnership OWnships produced a con- dT an TY ie Se which lasted for years. siderable amount of grain for I NR SE From 1857 issues of sale. Ajourney to Oshawa or hie Ontario Observer. Whitby with a load of grain could take several days. Taking 1833.The holding grain to Toronto was out of the question. Reach's First Grain Buyer James and Andrew Laing of Oshawa had a highly profitable general storein Oshawa. As their business grew, they began tolook for further opportunities to expand. They decided to venture into the buying and selling of grain. Realizing that Prince Albert would be a good place to set up a grain buying business, thus providing the farmers in the area and to the north with a convenient place to sell their grain, they asked one of their employees, Thomas C. Forman to operate a store for them in Prince Albert. T.C.Forman agreed and a large barn was builtin Prince Albert to store the grain. His store and barn were on the north side of the 5th Concession just west of Old Simcoe road. Forman married Laing's daughter. When his father-in-law died, Forman took over full control of the business in Prince Albert. More Grain Buyers Another major grain buyer in Prince Albert was George Currie. In Oshawa, the Gibbs brothers had become prosperous grain merchants and store owners. George Currie was one of their partners. Currie opened a store immediately west of Forman in 1844, in partnership with Aaron Ross. Currie became the principal grain merchant in the community for many years. Next Month: More on Prince Albert; its growth to 55 booming businesses! And the establishment of Reach's first newspaper. 1