Phil Egan By 1873, Sarnia had bounced back from two disastrous downtown fires and was again making substantial progress. The flourish of activity was especially noticeable on Front Street, as a writer noted in a letter to the editor that year. Brick buildings were replacing the frame structures that had [...]
In the days of Port Sarnia every home had a gun Phil Egan Looking back through time, we know one thing for certain about Richard Glynn. He could run. During our Port Sarnia days, Glynn was a volunteer firefighter. This was a time before horse-drawn fire engines and ladder trucks. [...]
Phil Egan The brutal death of a child is newsworthy in any age. In the autumn of 1866, the trial of the “callous-hearted wretch” Kate Davis, as she was described in the newspaper, was on everyone’s mind. Three-year old Kate Shibley was the daughter of Schuyler Shibley and Kate Davis. [...]
Phil Egan The Charlottetown Conference was still three months away in 1864 when a peculiar case was heard at the County Courthouse in Sarnia. The U.S. Civil War was still raging and things weren’t looking good for the Union side. The first encounter between Robert E. Lee and Ulysses Grant [...]
Phil Egan Every age has its great writers, and the love of books was universal in Sarnia 150 years ago. Taking a stroll through the town’s commercial core in the time of Confederation, you’d pass Daniel Mackenzie’s Dry Goods store, Moses Masuret’s grocery, and the Belchamber Hotel. Close to Pottinger’s [...]
Phil Egan In August of 1859 the sounds of hammers and saws created a din as the new fire and town hall began to rise on George Street. This was an edifice built to last. The project cost council $3,500 and the builder was determined to see the town got [...]
David D. Plain In 1818, the British colonial government of Upper Canada approached the Chippewa Nation living in the St. Clair region with an offer to purchase the Huron Tract. This was a tract of land that stretched from Sarnia to Goderich, to the head of the Thames River, to [...]
Phil Egan Over the past 150 years Sarnia has seen has seen many changes, but perhaps none have been as profound as the changing mores of our justice system. When I began school at Our Lady of Mercy School on Christina Street in 1953 I was confronted with a constant [...]
Sarnia Fire Chief John Kingyens, left, history writer Phil Egan, and Deputy Fire Chief Bryan Van Gaver, right, at the Clifford Hansen Fire Station on East Street, where a public open house is planned July 15. Cathy Dobson Cathy Dobson Sarnia Fire Rescue will unveil its latest educational tool at [...]
Bob McCarthy is a local author, historian and retired teacher working to compile 150 stories from across Lambton County, stories that highlight the county's history. He has written 11 books on local and family history. Bob discussed his latest project with us at our last Sarnia Historical Society meeting, which [...]
