the Heritage Walking Tour

www.townofsmithsfalls.ca Start your tour here... 1

2 3 4

20 5 21 19 6 7 18 14

8 12 13 15 9 16 17 11 10 Welcome to the Town of Smiths Falls 1. Smiths Falls Library in the heart of Eastern . We are proud of our architectural heritage, 81 Beckwith Street North and pleased to be able to provide you This Carnegie library was with this self-guided walking tour of our designed by George Massy historic downtown. Bayly, an born architect. The yellow brick building, on a Smiths Falls became a settlement in the early 1830’s, with the construction of the limestone foundation, features , which has been designated a temple like portico composed 2. Central School a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Industry of four large Doric columns 79 Beckwith Street North developed in the form of mills on Jason supporting a pediment that Now part of the municipal complex, Island and Ward Island, powered by bears the date of construction this stone structure was built in 1871 the falls on the . With the - 1913. The brick quoins along as a public school by contractor completion of the Canal, Smiths Falls the edges of the structure are William Willoughby of Almonte. It developed as a commercial village, with evidence of skilled workmanship. ready transportation provided by the river. was financed with railroad funds. The school was enlarged by a rear This library has the distinction By the 1850’s Smiths Falls had a railroad, addition in 1878. The 2½-storey of being the first that Andrew and in the 1880’s became a divisional stone structure is well proportioned Carnegie visited in Canada. He town for the . and incorporates classical elements This allowed the town to become an declared it to be the handsomest such as a symmetrical façade, large industrial centre. Over the years major small library he had seen that was gable above a central projection, industries have come and gone, including built thanks to his grant program. Frost and Wood, which provided stable and prominent cornice with frieze adorned with dentils. The words employment for 116 years, the Canadian The building received a heritage Northern Railway, RCA Victor, Hershey’s “Public School” and the date designation in 1984. Chocolate and Stanley Tools. “1871” are still present under the central gable. From the days of the construction camp to the beginning of the twentieth century, The rough cut grey-brown limestone families such as the Frosts, Woods, Wards of the exterior walls is contrasted by and Clarks prospered and built grand homes. This tour will take you past some the radiating voussoirs above the of their mansions. windows featuring granite keystones, lug sills, and the heavy quoins. The tour also includes the Town’s public and commercial buildings from the 1860’s The bell tower is devoid of the bell to the early 1900’s, and some of the which was moved to Chimo School earliest stone buildings from the 1830’s. in 1973. We hope you enjoy it! 3. Town Hall 5. Former Canadian 77 Beckwith Street North Bank of Commerce Built in 1859 to house the 2 Russell Street East municipal offices, the Town Constructed for the Canadian Bank Hall was designed by architect of Commerce in 1913 (Canadian Ezekiel Shipman of , Imperial Bank of Commerce since and constructed by contractors 1961), this building was designed John Dodds and William and by Victor Daniel Horsburgh. Francis Ballantyne. A number 4. Hose Drying Tower A Scottish born architect, he of additions have been made to Church Street East was appointed architect to the the structure over the years, but Canadian Bank of Commerce none interfered with the Classical An integral part of every fire hall, this hose drying tower was in 1910, and over the ensuing Revival emphases on balanced years he designed numerous proportions of the façade, constructed in 1876. Originally the red-brick tower had a branch offices following the bank’s and straight lines. The gabled specifications, which typically central projection includes the mansard roof, with decorative wooden brackets, semi-circular included, in small communities, words “Town Hall 1859” at the accommodations for the manager. top, and a rectangular transom windows and doors topped by arcs of granite, and stood well and sidelights that emphasize The balanced façade, large the front door. above all nearby buildings. A large bell that came from Garth roof and generous fenestration & Co. of in 1894 was are characteristics of Edwardian The rough-cut gray-brown Classicism. Also typical of the limestone of the exterior walls used as the fire alarm. It was replaced by a siren in 1950, and style is the interruption of the is contrasted by the use of brick exterior finish by contrasting sandstone in the keystones the whole tower was lowered by 35 feet in 1972. stone string courses and lintels above the windows, lug sills, the that span apertures. Of note is string course between the first the brick’s Flemish bond. and second floor, and the quoins that have both capital and base resembling pilasters supporting the building.

The Town Hall received a heritage designation in 1977. 7. Hotel Rideau 20 Beckwith Street North Constructed between 1901 and 1902 by Charles O’Reilly, this 3-storey flat roofed building is a fine example of turn of the century commercial architecture. 6. Davidson Courtyard One of the most outstanding 8. Washburn Block 7 Russell Street West features of the structure is the 2-6 Beckwith Street South H. A. Davidson established wooden cornice along the roofline Built as the Garrett’s Block, this Davidson’s Bakery in 1889, and of the front and side façades building has been part of the installed the best equipment along Beckwith and William main street since the mid 1800s. money could buy. It was continued streets which incorporates carved Subsequently known as the Washburn by Milton F. Davidson and Forrest brackets under the soffit, dentils, Block or the Farmer’s Exchange, it E. Davidson, and grew to be and frieze boards with a garland provided a place for farmers to sell considered at one time the largest motif, and the words “Hotel goods to forwarders until a public commercial bakery in eastern Rideau” above the main entrance. market was opened in 1892. Ontario. It delivered bread six days a week, and was a major The front originally featured a This structure incorporates employer in the community. By two-storey portico. Italianate features such as the 1994 it was the oldest continuing dichromatic double-tiered brick business in town. The ground floor has round headed windows, while the corbeling along the roof line, quoins, and repetitive cast-iron The original bakery building rectangular openings on window heads and consoles on has undergone a number of the second and third floors the second and third floor. expansions that resulted in the are flanked by brick quoins. present configuration of a central The William Street façade The brick treatment of the 2-storey courtyard flanked on three sides features four oriel windows on addition along Main Street West by a mixture of commercial and the second floor. These are attempts to relate to the main block. residential units. surmounted by balconies with wrought iron balustrades. The elevator remains as a reminder of days gone by. The Hotel Rideau received a heritage designation in 1986. 9. “Fort Hemlock” 10. East Mill, 28 Beckwith Street South Wood’s Mill Complex According to local folklore, this 34 Beckwith Street South building, the last commercial The East Mill is part of the Wood’s Mill structure on the west side of Complex located on the bend of the Beckwith Street, sits on the site of Rideau River adjacent to the Rideau a mid-19th century donnybrook Canal. The complex played a key between two local groups, where role in the industrial development of the existence of a large Hemlock the Smiths Falls area. 11. The Old Rideau Theatre tree prevented one group from 1 Chambers Street East pushing the shack where the Alexander Wood, partner in Frost other group took refuge into the This flat iron shaped building & Wood, purchased Ward Island was constructed in 1912. The river, thereby naming the site and mills from Abel Russell Ward in Fort Hemlock. Rideau Theatre was equipped 1880, and constructed this building with a motion picture screen ten years later. Originally flat roofed, A stone above the central and a full stage. The projection the unornamented exterior walls of room was located in the narrow second-storey window bears this large, four-storey structure are of the words - Fort Hemlock, end at the corner of Chambers contrasting dark and light limestone and Beckwith streets. Erected AD 1868, Rebuilt by Jas from Beckwith Township, to harmonize Gould, 1877, Us Vincit (Justice with the Town Hall at the top of Triumphs). Renamed the Capital Theatre Beckwith Street. A smaller, two-storey in 1929, it replaced the Opera office wing abuts the south façade. House for live productions, and operated until the late 1940’s. The mansard roof was added, and the building was altered to The two-storey, concrete-block accommodate changes in milling building featured a car-port technology and access requirement. style portico that has since been During the 1950s the East Mill was removed. The concrete blocks on used for offices and apartments. In the front have been stuccoed, but 1981 the Canadian Parks Service are still visible in the rear. purchased the run-down property, and restored the East Mill building.

This property received a heritage designation in 1979. 13. Royal Canadian 14. Formerly the Legion Branch 95 “Last Chance” Hotel 7 Main Street East 32 Main Street East This residence, one of the finest This stone structure was built in the downtown, was built in the 1840s for Patrick Tierney for Alexander Clark upon his and served as his residence and move to Smiths Falls in 1840. store. About ten years later, the He subsequently founded his James Burrows family operated commercial business on the a hotel in the building. It was corner of Main and Beckwith. leased to Robert Robertson (See previous stop). between 1858 and 1859, who called it the Burrows Hotel. In 12. Clark Building When built, the two-storey the 1880s it was known as the 1 Beckwith Street South yellow brick house was “40 x 45 Doyle’s Hotel but nicknamed feet, exclusive of the kitchen and the “Last Chance” hotel. The The Clark Block, or Clark’s offices in the rear” and stood round-headed window on Granite Block, was built by facing Main Street “on plat of the Market Street façade was Alexander Clark for his hardware ground 120 feet square, tastily originally a door with a fanlight, store in 1871. His son James laid out in lawns and gardens, and the rooms on the upper Clark took over the business and ornamented with shade and floor were accessed by an four years later. fruit trees, flowers, vines and outside staircase. shrubbery. “* Reflecting the fashionable Mr. J.J. March purchased the French Second Empire style Renovated and altered over the property in 1906 and converted of the times, the 2-storey years, the building has been used the hotel into a residence limestone and sandstone by a number of local groups. and funeral home until it was building incorporates the style’s *”Town of Smith’s Falls: History of One of the purchased by G. Ray Lannin in most distinguishing element - Latter-Day Railway Centres”, The 1957. The adjacent new funeral a mansard roof. The transom Mail, Saturday, March 5, 1887, page 7. home was erected six years later. above the front door in the corner entrance, quoins, cornice, and window treatment give the building a classical appearance.

The brick annex to the east was added in 1889. 16. 57 Chambers Street This brown sandstone residence was built for Abel Russell Ward, one of the first settlers of this area, in the 1830s. The 2½-storey house incorporated Neo-Classical elements such 15. 30 Chambers Street as a balanced façade, smooth masonry surfaces, a low-pitched 17. Frost Mansion Row This 2-storey structure is gable roof, dentil mouldings, purported to be the oldest stone and returned eaves. The ornate 65 and 69 Chambers Street building in Smiths Falls, and brick chimneys emphasized the Both of these Edwardian presumed to have been built in symmetry of the original structure. mansions were built in 1905 for the 1830s. Its sides are defined members of the Frost family, by extension of the walls above The main entranceway has been children of Ebeneezer Frost, the roof level and finials, and quoins altered and now features a wood founder of Frost and Wood, a along the wall edges. The front portico with four Ionian columns farm equipment company which doors are set above street level. and two Ionian pilasters. A was located where the Giant Tiger leaded glass rectangular transom store is now. These homes are fine Used as a shop and residence by and sidelights accentuate the examples of the American shingle Alexander Williamson, a British centre door. style of architecture, featuring tailor, it became the Pig’s Ear irregular rooflines with uniform Tavern that provided rooms on Following Ward’s death, the covering of shingles across the upper level. William Edgar house was purchased by the gables and open verandas from Kitley sold stoves here in Charles B. Frost, co-owner of highlighted with classic pillars. the 1850s, and by 1863 Frost & Frost & Wood, and underwent a Wood used it as a store in which number of additions such as the 65 Chambers was built for Edwin J they accepted produce from bay window with its bracketed Frost, while 69 Chambers was built farmers in exchange for their cornices on the west side. for Nellie Frost and her husband manufactured goods. George F McKimm. McKimm was a prominent citizen in his own right as founder and editor of The Rideau Record, the local newspaper which later became known as The Record News. 18. The Craine House 19. 39 Russell Street East 20. Trinity United Church 2 Bay Street North Replacing an earlier structure on 41 Market Street North A fine example of local early the site, this 2-storey brick veneer Dedicated in February 1886, stone structures, this house building was constructed in 1887 the church building proved too was built in the 1850s by James by Charles Cross, a carpenter, small to house the congregation Rose. It served as the home carriage maker, machine sales due to the increase of the of the Craine family from the agent, and sometime butcher. Smiths Falls population during late 1800s till 1937. Agnes Incorporating many features of that decade. The 1896 addition Craine (1861-1937), a native the Italianate Villa style, inspired doubled the size of the structure. of Smiths Falls, was one of by the vernacular architecture of Master craftsmanship is visible Canada’s pioneer women in the Italian countryside, this house in the brick work of the tapered medicine. After graduating features a central square tower, central tower, and decorative from the Kingston Women’s hip roofs, prominent decorative details below the gables. Medical College in 1888, she brackets under wide eaves and set up a medical practice, while a Palladian and round-headed her brother set up law offices in windows. The original building this large home they shared with featured a keyhole shaped their parents. veranda on the east side.

The building received a heritage For fifty years, from 1901 to designation in 1974. 1956, this property was home and surgery for four successive doctors. Note the ball on the pole in the old photo, which signifies a doctor’s office. Each owner made changes to the building, including the creation of a separate entrance to the doctor’s office either at the front or side, the removal of the veranda, and the addition of a porch (now at the rear). It is now a single residence. [The original of this photo is held by the Heritage House Musuem.] 21. Old Post Office 30 Russell Street East This building was designed by Thomas Fuller, chief architect to the Dominion of Canada from 1881 to 1886, in the Romanesque Revival style, typified by heavy masonry, steep roofs and wide semi-circular arch openings.

Constructed in 1894 using local red-brown sandstone on a foundation of Beckwith Township limestone, with red sandstone My favourite stop was... trim from New Brunswick, the building consisted of a 2½-storey structure with a single storey wing at the north end. The first floor was the Post Office, the second was used by the Customs Office, while the top level served as accommodations for the caretaker.

The 1914 addition at the rear filled in the corner of the courtyard and raised the wing to two storeys. The clock tower Show us! was added a year later.

After the closure of the Post Office in 1964, the building served a Welcome Centre variety of functions and received #beautifulsmithsfalls 77 Beckwith St. N. a heritage designation in 1978. @townofsmithsfalls Smiths Falls, ON www.smithsfalls.ca K7A 2B8