Sarnia Streets Project, with His 1988 Publication the Origin of Sarnia’S Street Names
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The Streets of Sarnia Project What’s in a (Street) Name? Randy Evans Tom St. Amand 2 Table of Contents 1. Foreword Page 4 2. Authors’ Introduction and List of Contributors Page 5 3. Preface Page 11 ● Significant Dates in Sarnia’s History ● The Naming of Sarnia’s Streets ● After Whom or What are Sarnia’s Streets Named? ● Street Designations 4. Explanations of Sarnia’s Street Names Page 25 5. Appendices Page 335 ● The Origin of the Term “Bluewater” ● Andover Lane ● Echo Road ● Egmond Drive ● Everest Court ● Grace Avenue ● Berkley Road ● Blackwell Road ● Cathcart Boulevard ● Cull Drain ● Dora Street ● Hay Street ● Livingston Street ( Pt. Edward ) ● Maria Street 3 ● McMillen Parkway ● Mitton Street ● Proctor Street ● Road Scholars ● Russell Street ● Sarnia’s Suburbs – Maxwell – The Original Bright’s Grove ● Sarnia’s Suburbs – Robertsville ● Sarnia Suburbs - City Neighbourhoods ● Talfourd Street ● The Telfer Brickyards ● Vidal Street ● Who Gets to Name Sarnia Streets? ● Woodrowe Avenue ● Wood: Its Importance to Sarnia’s Development 6. Sources / Works Cited Page 347 4 MIKE BRADLEY MAYOR CITY OF SARNIA 255 Christina Street North PO Box 3018 Sarnia, ON Canada N7T 7N2 519 – 332-0330 Ext. 3312 519-332-3995 (fax) 519 – 332-2664 (TTY) www.sarnia.ca [email protected] September 19, 2016 Dear Friends: What a wonderful journey is the Sarnia Street Project. It explores Sarnia’s rich and diverse history going back to the founding of Port Sarnia in 1836. Street names provide a fascinating look into the community’s history, diversity, culture and social and economic evolution over time. The project, while reflecting our past, also mirrors the present with hundreds of citizens contributing to the research with their own personal knowledge. In turn, it demonstrates the spirit of the “New Sarnia” where collaboration is the unofficial motto of the City. Randy Evans and Tom St. Amand took on an enormous task with enthusiasm, good humour, dedication and commitment. They became two modern-day historical detectives, never assuming why a street was named, and always searching for supporting evidence. They engaged people from around the world in their research and historical treasure hunting. Readers will learn not only why the street was named but also by whom--with historical background--giving context and colour to the name. On behalf of the City of Sarnia, I would like to thank Randy and Tom for their dedication to preserving and enhancing Sarnia’s history and for leaving a legacy for this generation and future generations of the history of our streets. Enjoy your fascinating journey through the streets of Sarnia. Yours sincerely, Mike Bradley Mayor of Sarnia 5 Introduction In November 2014, when Mayor Bradley asked if we would consider updating the history of Sarnia’s street names, we agreed to do so for a couple of reasons. First, it was a subject that we both found very interesting and, secondly, we had the available time to finish the project in six months. As we near the three-year mark in researching and in writing what has become known as “The Streets Project”, we have many people to thank. It is always a risky venture to name individuals for fear of excluding others, but we would be remiss if we did not acknowledge the contributions of certain people and groups. Mayor Mike Bradley has ardently supported this project in every way possible, from providing us with people to contact to obtaining resources for us to use. In completing the project, we met several people who are passionate about Sarnia and its history and Mayor Bradley is certainly one of them. A special note of thanks also to the Sarnia Community Foundation for its financial support in helping us complete the project. You took a chance on us and we hope you consider it money well spent. The local media has been wonderful in publicizing this community project in its various stages of completion. In particular, we would like to thank George Mathewson of the Sarnia Journal for sharing his knowledge of Sarnia’s history and for publishing a series of articles on our findings in the last three years. The researching and compiling of information on Sarnia’s streets was, at times, challenging, but three groups of people helped make this task less daunting. 6 Carol Ann Dillon and the Planning Department of City Hall promptly answered our many requests by providing us with too many registered plans to count and invaluable street maps of Sarnia. Secondly, we tested the patience of the extremely helpful personnel at the Registry Office and, in particular, benefited from the immense knowledge that Allan Mearns imparted, saving us hours of time. Finally, the co-operative staff on the second floor of the Sarnia Public Library helped us to locate and to use resources and gave us more than a few lessons on how to properly operate the microfiche machines. Special thanks to Cheryl McFarlane for patiently deciphering our illegible scrawls and for typing the information accurately. To our thorough and exhausted group of editors, a sincere thank you. The late local historian, George Smith, provided a foundation for the 2017 Sarnia Streets Project, with his 1988 publication The Origin of Sarnia’s Street Names. We used George’s book as a starting point and a reference for several streets. We both still think it is a great honour to have a street named after a person or his/her family; therefore, we agreed from the beginning that, as much as possible, we would try to tell the story of not only the person after whom each street was named but also the person who did the naming. In other words, who the person was and why the street was named for him/her. Unfortunately, despite our best intentions and efforts, we did not find the origin of every street in Sarnia; however, for streets where more than one plausible origin exists, we provided every explanation. We also knew beforehand that Sarnia had the well-deserved reputation of being a very generous community and we would need the community’s help in completing the project. Collectively, you have been more than generous with your time and in every way this has always been a community project. To the over 500 people who returned our phone calls and answered our emails and letters; who provided us with a name, a book, a map, a piece of information or a 7 telephone number; who invited us into your home or your workplace where you answered our innumerable questions; who met us for a coffee or something stronger to share your thoughts and your knowledge--we couldn’t have done it without your help. Sadly, Ivan Mater, Matt Schafer and Onorio Iacobelli, three gentlemen who developed and named streets over a number of years in Sarnia, passed away during the writing of this project. We enjoyed writing the history of Sarnia’s street names and sincerely hope you get as much enjoyment reading about Sarnia’s streets as we did writing about them. Randy Evans and Tom St. Amand [email protected] 8 Contributors Charles Addington; Robert Alcock; T. Susan Alexander; Jordan Allsupp; Allan Anderson; Virginia Anderson; Bob Andrews; Jane Anema; Nick Anic; Bill Anning; Gary Anning; Ginnie Anning; Mike Anning; Susan Aquilina; Doug Armour; John Armstrong; Francien Arts; Leo Arts; Anne Ashton; Bill Atkin; Marjorie Atkin; Erik Balodis; Doug Bain; Liz Bednar; George Bice; Nicole Bigras; Liz Birchall; Curt Bladon; Carol Blais; Marcel Blais; Dave Blanshard; Birgit Blizzard; Betty-Anne Blok-Andersen; John Blundy; Jeff Bonnar; J. D. Booth; Mary Jane Boucher; Suzanne Bouskill; Lyn Bower; Dallas Boychuk; Mike Bradley; Pat Brain; Christine Bramham; Phyllis Brander; Bob Brennan; Frank Brennan; Dave Brown; Debbie Brown; Debbie Buchner; Illa Bullock; JoAnne Burrell; Terry Burrell; Dave Burwell; Jane Buono; Dave Burke; Greg Burr; Kathy Burr; Pete Buscema; Krystal Butler; Tim Butler; Marilyn Cahill; Ann Callum; Buffy Campbell; Cheryl Canie; Mark Capern; George Capern; Glenn Carey; Norm Carr; Diane Carson; Karen Cassidy; Curtis Cataford; Janet Chalmers; Al Charge; Bonnie Charge; Randy Charge; Christine Charge; Marlene Charge; Tim Charrette; Chuck Chrapko; Carlo Cimetta; Ron Clark; Marianne Clift; Paul Coccarell; Mary Jo Coccarell; Harold Cohen; Glynne Cole; Jane Cooper; Dan Cote; Caleb Courtney; Mike Crabb; Howie Crabb; Susan Crabb; Beverly Crawley; Mary Crawley; Rick Crawley; Don Crich; Phyllis Crich; Chris Curran; Ed Curran; Lyle Curran; Dorothy Dagg; Marlene Dally; Bill Dalton; Dan D’Andrea; John D’Andrea; Madison D’Andrea; Rick D’Andrea; Ron Date; Bruce Davie; Hank DeJong; Jeff DeRush; George Dickenson; Delia DeSantis; Fernando DeSena; Francis DeSena; Claudette Deshaies; Mary Dietz; Carol Ann Dillon; Janice Dillon; Martin Dillon; Betty Dore; Cathy Douglas; Harma Douglas; Janet Doyle; Paul Doyle; Jan Dudek; Vic Dudek; Gayle Dunlop; Karen Durance; Ross Durance; Sylvia Durance; Frank Durco; Paul Dylewski; Kevin Edwards; Phil Egan; Murray Elliott; Sandy Elliott; Pete Esser; Joan Evans; Royce Evans; Martha Everingham; Robert Fader; Harry Farris; Frank Fazio; Mario Fazio; Pat Fazio; Randy Fisher; Lori Forsythe; Jack Fraser; Gilles Gagnon; Geoff Gander; Valerie Garant; Audrey Garrison; Rosemary George; Michelle Gerrits; Marc Giampietri; Lou Giancarlo; Cathy Gibbs; Bert Giffels; Beth Gignac; Mike Gilmore; John Girard; Bob Gladwish; Kim Gladwish; Kim Gledhill; Jean Gordon; Brian Gormley; Sheila Gormley; Jim Gough; Jane Graham; Jodie Graham; Theresa Graham; Patti Grant; Anne Gray; Shawn Gray; 9 Terry Gray; Laura Greaves; Michael Grunte; Margo Guilliford; Chris Gunn; Mitch Guthrie; Stewart Guthrie;