Sarnia’s Angus McLeod, seen here in 1894, was a professional bicylist champion who set three national speed records. Photo courtesy of Glen C. Phillips, Sarnia: A Picture History of the Imperial City Phil Egan Fifty-eight years after I thought I had put it away for good, I’m riding my bicycle [...]
The Sarnia branch of the Royal Canadian Legion has found a new way to honour our veterans. Families can now purchase a banner honouring an individual veteran to be displayed on streetlight poles in the downtown before and after Remembrance Day. The banners are 24 inches by 54 inches and will [...]
The Belchamber became apartments and the Arlington is now the Riverport Tavern, but the rest of these establishments are nothing more than memories today. Courtesy of the Lambton County Archives, Wyoming. Sarnia Observer Negative Collection, 6O Hotels, Restaurants and Inns. Phil Egan When I was 10, back in 1957, my [...]
The Canatara Park log cabin. Troy Shantz Troy ShantzA trio of groups has begun discussions to return a log cabin in Canatara Park to its former glory. The Sarnia Heritage Committee, Seaway Kiwanis and the Sarnia Historical Society hope to renovate the two-storey structure that stands adjacent the Carriage House [...]
An Olympus microscope similar to this one was a gift from grateful Japanese general. Submitted Photo Phil Egan Some interesting facts and stories are often churned up by history-lovers in Sarnia responding to my columns. One of the more intriguing arose from my story about John S. Blunt. Blunt, a [...]
Richard Cobden, left, and John Bright. Tom St. Amand If, as author Philip Wylie suggests, “Our history is every human history,” then Sarnia’s street names provide a rich connection to the past. Tom St. Amand Take, for example, Cobden Street and Bright Street. Richard Cobden and John Bright were not [...]
Gertrude Stefkovic, third from right, grew up in what would later become East Germany. Submitted Photo Phil Egan In May, The Sarnia Journal published a photo from John Helle’s family album photo showing Adolf Hitler touring a small village in a jeep, his arm extended in the Nazi salute. And [...]
This ship anchor from an ocean-going “saltie” is a resident of Centennial Park. Journal Photo Tom St. Amand When the second Blue Water Bridge was completed in July of 1997 local residents were anxious to see the new addition to their famed riverfront. And they weren’t disappointed. During the grand [...]
A portrait of Anna Maria Penrose Mitton. Born in 1754, she sold the family’s holdings, left London, England and at the age of 80 crossed the Atlantic by sail to start a new life in “The Rapids,” which had a population of 44. She was buried at the Wesleyan Mission [...]
Mark Seibutis offers a thumbs-up from the cockpit of his vintage L-16 military aircraft. Troy Shantz Troy Shantz Along the side of the vintage L-16 airplane that Mark Seibutis built is a small graphic that reads: Ad honerem Patris mei visio. “In honour of my father’s dream,” explains the 57-year-old [...]