by Paul Morden for the Sarnia Observer (2014) William and Maud Hanna was a Sarnia power couple when the community celebrated becoming a city a century ago. William Hanna was born in Adelaide Township in 1862 but moved with his family in 1871 to a farm in what was then [...]
by Paul Morden for the Sarnia Observer (2014) The story of the multimillion dollar collection of Canadian art housed in the public art gallery in downtown Sarnia began a century ago when a group of volunteers went to work recycling paper and rags for Sarnia-Lambton’s war efforts. The murder of [...]
by Daniel Punch for the Sarnia Observer (2012) More than a century of golfing history began modestly in 1907 on property owned by Grand Trunk Railway. A group of golfers hacked balls through a field near Christina and Exmouth streets onto sandy greens, pulling any weeds that grew around the [...]
by George Mathewson for the Sarnia Observer (2003) High winds were still lashing the shore when a tugboat captain returning to Sarnia harbour reported that a large lake freighter had “tuned turtle” eight miles out. The mystery ship was upside down, its entire crew missing. The gale had already destroyed [...]
by George Mathewson for the Sarnia Observer (2003) Angler Don Chalmers has caught some big fish, but nothing like the whopper he hooked in August of 2000. The retired autoworker was down-rigging in Lake Huron when his fish-finder detected something massive on the bottom in 75 feet of water. Curious, [...]
by Paul Morden for the Sarnia Observer (2014) Sarnia was actually Canada’s second, or perhaps even third, Chemical Valley. By 1914, the year Sarnia became a city, its Imperial Oil refinery employed 1,200 workers, covered nearly 110 acres on the St. Clair River and manufactured products ranging from kerosene to [...]
by Paul Morden for the Sarnia Observer (2014) Joe Dagan believed Sarnia should be a city. As an alderman in the early 1900s, he urged town council to push for the growth needed to make that happen. As mayor, he led the celebrations in 1914 when the Duke of Connaught, [...]
by the Sarnia Observer (2003) When officials from the Imperial Oil company came before Sarnia council in 1897 seeking a tax break in exchange for expanding its refinery, town officials considered it too good a deal to pass up. So did The Observer, which praised the deal, declaring it would [...]
by George Mathewson for The Sarnia Journal (2015) Few business ventures ever survive 100 years, and even fewer are still run by the same family. But such is the case at Praill’s, a greenhouse operation that’s literally been part of the local landscape for four generations. Frank Praill was in [...]
by Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer (2003) There were statesmen and scoundrels, war veterans, a noted investor and even a football hero. In fact, included among the 63 men who have sat in the mayor’s chair during Sarnia’s history have been some of the most colourful characters ever to [...]
