By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer He was the first Sarnia Mayor who had to deal with a genuine terrorism crisis. Dr. Arthur Poussette, who became the Municipality's 16th Mayor in 1886, found himself in office at a time when the community was badly torn by the prohibition issue. [...]
By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer A century before the local Economic Development Commission was established, Mayor Joe Lowrie was actively urging new industries to locate in Sarnia. Lowrie, who was born in Berwickshire, Scotland, came to Canada in 1852 and immediately established a Blacksmith Shop on Victoria Street. [...]
By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer A century before Marceil Saddy launched his annual Mayor's Honour List, George Leys was recognizing the achievements of outstanding Sarnians. Just days after being sworn in as Sarnia's 13th Chief Magistrate in 1880, Mayor Leys held a reception at his 171 Lochiel Street [...]
by Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer The welfare problems facing local politicians today pale beside those encountered by Sarnia's municipal leaders in the late 1870s. Indeed, during Mayor Daniel Mackenzie's administration Council was briefly saddled with a "corporate baby" that was literally dumped in the lap of a startled [...]
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 [...]
