By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer
He built modern Sarnia.
Those four words probably best sum up the achievements of William C. Nelson, the City’s 59th – and longest serving – Mayor at that point in time.
Born in 1885, he attended Durand Street School and Sarnia Business College.
During his youth he developed the fighting spirit he’d exhibit in a dozen successful election campaigns by boxing with his brothers in a ring set up in his father’s barn.
As a young man Nelson worked in a local sawmill before going into real estate. In that field he amassed a small fortune and was reputed to be the City’s largest individual taxpayer.
He was elected Mayor in 1946 and served nearly 12 years until his death in office on August 2, 1957. In fact, he’d become so popular that in his last campaign he was acclaimed without facing any opposition.
Mayor Nelson was in charge during the post war construction boom that saw the Chemical Valley grow rapidly, creating thousands of new jobs. In fact, the City’s population skyrocketed from 25,000 to more than 40,000 during his time in office.
There were constant demands for new roads, sewers, sidewalks, street lights and parks.
Council provided the services without going into debt. Mayor Nelson, according to a contemporary newspaper report, had a “pay as we go approach to civic business”.
He was also in office when the City’s boundaries expanded from East Street to Murphy Road.
By the time of his death, just days shy of his 72nd birthday, the City had grown into a modern, prosperous community that boasted the highest average wage in Canada.
In a tribute, The Observer wrote, “he was unorthodox in handling Council and civic matters. Parliamentary procedures or precedent was almost beside the point. He lobbied motions to passage or to discard, brow-beat short-sighted Alderman, prodded City departments into action on an urgent case and had little use for the red tape surrounding his post as Mayor”.
Today, the fountain in front of City Hall is named in his honour.