by Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer (2003) It was a time when The Observer could report in the same edition that an auto maker was considering coming to town and that a runaway horse had smashed through a plate glass window downtown. The first decade of the 20th century [...]
by George Mathewson for the Sarnia Observer (2003) They had wicker seats and screechy wheels and a bell that went clang, clang, clang. Before the automobile reworked the urban landscape – for the worse, many say – Sarnians relied on the streetcars to get around. The first track was laid [...]
by Scott Stephenson for the Sarnia Observer (2003) The history of firefighting in the city predates even The Observer. The first public meeting held to organize some type of fire protection for the community was held in 1840 and resulted in the creation of the St. Clair #1 Volunteer Fire [...]
by Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer (2003) “One of the great engineering feats of the age.” That’s how the Sarnia Observer described the completion of the original St. Clair River Tunnel in a special supplement published on Sept. 19, 1890. And more than a century later, few would quarrel [...]
by George Mathewson for the Sarnia Observer (2003) Malcolm Cameron was already an energetic member of the Upper Canada legislature when he moved to Sarnia in 1834 in search of new opportunities. The 27-year-old quickly found them. Before he was through, Cameron helped launch the Observer, named Lambton County, built [...]
by George Mathewson for the Sarnia Observer (2003) The boisterous crowd of merchants and farmers who assembled in downtown Sarnia the fateful afternoon of Aug. 21, 1872 were itching for a bare-knuckles political fight. They weren’t disappointed. Sir John A. Macdonald, the first prime minister of Canada, had arrived in [...]
by Karen Robinet for the Sarnia Observer (2003) “I have always held those political opinions which point to the universal brotherhood of man, no matter in what rank of life he may have taken his origin.” Alexander Mackenzie, Canada’s first Liberal prime minister and editor of the Lambton Shield newspaper, [...]
By Deborah Creatura for the Sarnia Observer (2003) On July 11, 1879, a tornado ripped through Sarnia and the surrounding areas leaving a trail of chaos in its wake. The skies were filled with ominous purple-black skies around 10:00 am and a massive lightning shower was the only relief from [...]
by Kip Cuthbert The melodic strains of the Big Band sound of Jack Kennedy’s Orchestra to the burning guitar of Kim Mitchell – both benefitted from the rare talent of Sarnia’s Russ Mills. Russ Mills was one of those natural musicians who could pick up almost any instrument and make [...]
by Neil Bowen for the Sarnia Observer (2003) Astronaut Chris Hadfield maintains a vibrant Sarnia connection although he left the city as a young boy. The Observer has tracked his career for more than 15 years, including his time as a top fighter pilot from 1985 to 1988. He was [...]
