A Walker's Guide to Historical Trafalgar Road
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The Charles Pettit Chisholm House - c1893 (164 Trafalgar Road)
Charles Pettit Chisholm - c1893
This property was purchased in 1839 from William Chisholm by his son John Alexander Chisholm who lived farther north on a large farm. John and his wife, Sarah Pettit Bigger, had four sons on their farm and by 1871 employed four men and eight boys making baskets for the fruit trade. They could make up to 300,000 during the winter months.
John’s son, Charles, developed a machine for paring logs and he and his brother William developed a basket factory at the empty Victoria Brewery further up Trafalgar Road, that we'll talk about later. In 1877 the partnership dissolved and Charles and another brother, John Alexander, developed a method of processing vegetables which they sold world wide.
John’s son, Charles, developed a machine for paring logs and he and his brother William developed a basket factory at the empty Victoria Brewery further up Trafalgar Road, that we'll talk about later. In 1877 the partnership dissolved and Charles and another brother, John Alexander, developed a method of processing vegetables which they sold world wide.
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In 1881 Charles married his second cousin, Christina Kate Chisholm. They had no children. The brothers developed a machine that could shell peas and entered into a partnership in New York State. The company became Chisholm Ryder and closed in the 1950s.
By 1866 a tenant, Reverend R. Scott, lived in a modest house on the site. |
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Ballroom of the house
In 1890 Charles was a tenant here and purchased the property a year later. This house was built by 1894. "It forms an 'L' shape with a gable end facing the street. Originally a verandah bordered the house on two sides, with rows of spool-work and a series of fret-work bracketed columns that served to disguise the unbalanced window arrangement of the front facade. Once crowned with king-posts, the gable ends, faced with decorative wooden shingles, still exhibit enormous bargeboards composed of a complex geometric design that includes fans, quatrefoils, and sunburst patterns. The ballroom that extends northward from the rear of the structure was added shortly after the house was built and was the scene of many parties and large family gatherings. A massive brick fireplace displaying three recessed niches is set in a bay on the westerly wall, while the orchestra at one time performed from a raised platform in a bay that projects from the north end of the ballroom.
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The Charles Pettit Chisholm House is one of the last great houses built in the nineteenth century in old Oakville."1 Charles died in 1914 but his wife, Kate, lived here until 1923. In 1940 she gave the property to Esther Lawson Chisholm, widow of her nephew, James McCraney Chisholm. It was the site of many large Chisholm gatherings until the late 1950s. Many local girls took dance lessons in the ballroom from Esther’s daughters.
On Esther Chisholm’s death the property was sold and the house was split into apartments. |
Home in 2006
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George’s Square (cenotaph, band stand and fountain at northeast corner of Trafalgar & Sumner)
The Edward Palmer Plan of the village, commissioned in 1835 by William Chisholm, shows George’s Square set aside for public use. It was at the northern edge of development at the time and was probably named after William’s father, George, but it could have been named after one of many other Georges including the King. One thing is certain; it has never been St George’s Square! The locals went to the area between here and MacDonald Road to catch pigeons. The breasts were salted in barrels.
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Although the property had been reserved for the use of the townspeople, it had never been used as a public park and, after William’s losses to his creditors, his sons purchased all his interests in the townsite. The park became the property of William’s son, George King Chisholm, who was the mayor. In 1875 it was conveyed to the town for $1 with the condition that the town maintain a fence around it to keep cattle out. The Town’s baseball team, the White Oaks, played here and in 1888 Wilfrid Laurier spoke to a crowd of 1500 before being entertained at the Canadian Hotel, later the Murray House.
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George's Square
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The original part of the cenotaph, commemorating those who died in the First World War, was erected by the Town. The benches were added after the Second World War by the Royal Canadian Legion. The fountain was originally located at the northeast corner of Dunn and Lakeshore and was placed there by the Sunshine Circle. It was moved in 1915 and eventually ended up in storage at the water purification plant where it was rediscovered by former Mayor Harry Barrett and installed here. Many of the trees growing in the park represent species that are rare in this area.
Proceed north on Trafalgar Road to...
The Robert Farley House or Charles Lusk House - c1858 (205 Trafalgar Road)
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The property on which this house stands was purchased from William Chisholm by John Wood in 1839. He was a mason and tavern keeper in Fergus. On his death it was purchased by John Urquhart, a druggist. He sold it in 1857 to Robert Farley for £50. It was sold again in 1864 for £300 as an investment but the owner, George Rutherford of Hamilton, took a bath and sold it in 1867 for £125. |
Robert Farley or Charles Lusk House
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It was purchased by Dr Charles Lusk and wife Jerusha Potter who was the daughter of John Potter who lived a block up the street. The Lusks were Methodists and he was instrumental in building St John’s United Church. The church hall was named after him 3 years after his death in 1920. Jerusha sold the house to Dr William Wilkinson who was Medical Officer of Health and coroner for Trafalgar Township.
The house is built in the Gothic Pointed style with a tin medallion in the gable. The main floor windows are not original. A red ochre paint with false mortar lines covers the original brick. There was fretwork or bargeboard at the eaves. The verandah led patients to a waiting room.
The house is built in the Gothic Pointed style with a tin medallion in the gable. The main floor windows are not original. A red ochre paint with false mortar lines covers the original brick. There was fretwork or bargeboard at the eaves. The verandah led patients to a waiting room.
1 Peacock, David and Suzanne, Old Oakville, (Hounslow Press, 1995), Pg.130-132