by Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer He was the 'Mayor Mike' of the 19th century. Like Mayor Mike Bradley - who liked people to refer to him as 'Mayor Mike' – Michael Fleming was elected Chief Magistrate while still a very young man. In fact, when Mayor Bradley was [...]
by Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer Every time you hop on a bus or flush a toilet you can thank George Stevenson. That's because Sarnia's 10th Mayor was the father of Sarnia Transit and the man who brought indoor plumbing to the municipality, Stevenson, who was born in Glasgow, [...]
by Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to call Charles Taylor the father of the Chemical Valley. That's because Sarnia's ninth Mayor was at the Head of Council when it gave the Bushnell Oil Company permission to build the community's first oil [...]
by Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer He was our first crusader against immorality. Robert Sinclair Gurd, Sarnia's eighth Mayor, took over as Head of Council at a time when prostitution and public drunkenness were rife on the streets of what was still a very young community. The lawlessness apparently [...]
by Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer He was the Mayor who through the biggest party in Sarnia's history. Frederick Davis, who served as the community's seventh Mayor, was largely responsible for the huge hash held to mark the first ever Canada Day, or Dominion Day, as it was called [...]
by Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer If you live downtown and are bothered at night by the sound of trains along the waterfront, you can blame Mayor Robert Mackenzie. That's because the community’s sixth Chief Magistrate presided over the Council that agreed to allow tracks to be laid along [...]
by Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer The public can be fickle. Joshua Adams, the first Sarnia Mayor to be defeated at the polls, found that out the hard way. Mayor Adams, who was elected the community's fifth Chief Magistrate in 1862, started out as an exceedingly popular politician. But [...]
by Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer In the early years of its history, Sarnia turned to a doctor to help cure its economic ills. Specifically, the community selected Thomas William Johnston as its fourth Mayor in 1859. And it chose the Irish native to head Council two more times, [...]
by Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer He was the man who helped open Sarnia up to the outside world. Henry Glass, the municipality's third Mayor, took over as Head of Council at a time when the community was extremely isolated. The year was 1858 and Sarnia had to rely [...]
by Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer Call him the forgotten Mackenzie brother. Hope Fleming Mackenzie, Sarnia’s second Mayor, was a man whose considerable political achievements were completely overshadowed by those of a very famous sibling. Indeed, his baby brother, Alexander, went on to become Prime Minister of Canada. Still, [...]
