Owen Sound Bay
Owen Sound Bay is a broad valley that cuts through the Niagara Escarpment. The valley preceded the last great Ice Age, but was broadened by the action of glacial ice, then by the erosive forces of the Sydenham and Pottawatomi Rivers. During his preliminary survey of Lake Huron in 1815, Captain William Fitzwilliam Owen named the bay for his brother, Admiral Sir Edward William Campbell Rich Owen.
1) CNR Station - 1155 First Avenue West
The former Canadian National Railway Station was built in 1932, replacing the Grand Trunk Station of 1894. Passenger service ended in 1970, freight service in 1986. The tracks were removed in 1995. The station now houses the Marine & Rail Museum, and the City’s Visitor Information Centre.
2) Corbet Foundry & Machine Co. - 1050 First Avenue West
The foundry was established by George Corbet and Son in 1853. This structure, erected in 1910, is reputed to be the first poured-in-place concrete building in Canada. It specialized in steel truss bridges, boilers, iron and brass castings, pipe fittings and blacksmithing.
3) Drs. Dow & Pollock House - 1000 First Avenue West
This Queen Anne Revival style house was built by Dr. William Dow in 1893-94. Dr. Allan Pollock, with his wife Grace, a niece of Dr. Dow, purchased the house in 1937. It was used as a medical centre and residence until 1978, when Dr. Alan Pollock resigned his practice.
4) Charles Rankin House - 996 First Avenue West
Appointed Deputy Provincial Surveyor in 1820, Charles Rankin surveyed most of Grey and Bruce Counties, including the town site of what is now Owen Sound. He lived in this house from 1851 until his death in 1886. A private banker and a wealthy man, he lived simply, as evidenced in this plain dwelling, originally frame, and bricked over at a later time.
5) Former Christian Science Society - 898 First Avenue West - D
Built in the early 1870s from native stone cut on the site, this was originally a Congregational Church, then, in 1902, a meeting hall of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, which got its start in Owen Sound. It is the oldest existing church building in the City. In 1963 the Christian Science Society purchased it.
6) Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library - 824 First Avenue West
The Public Library was established in 1855 as a Mechanics’ Institute. The present building was erected in 1911 with an Andrew Carnegie grant. The addition dates from 1972.
7) Atkins House – 215/217 Eighth Street West - D
This red brick, two-and-a-half storey house poses a solid counterpoint to the library “kitty corner” to it. The corner tower, with its gracefully flared roof interrupted by a mini gable, mimics the parapet gables on each side of the house - a light-hearted note to counter the rectitude of the overall Victorian design.
To continue the Core Route, cross the bridge & go to #21
To the Downtown Extension Route, go to # 8
Origins of the Commercial District
Second Avenue and Eighth Street East mark the first intersection of the village of Sydenham. Eighth Street East was the first street to be cut through the bush, away from the settlement by the river. Look up as you walk, the upper storeys are more representative of the original architecture than today’s modernized store fronts.
21) Legate Building - 790 Second Avenue East
This structure was built for William Legate in 1906, with shops below and apartments above. Legate established the Owen Sound Furniture House in 1914. Renovated in the 1930s, marble inserts below massive display windows, wooden signage and awning complement the original style. The second floor windows are now recessed, with stone sills.
22) Waterworks/Market Building - 110-114 Eighth Street East - D
The Market Building was built in 1868 as a private waterworks, and taken over by the town in 1890. The building became a farmers’ market in 1935. The surrounding site has been in continual use as a market for over 150 years. The symmetry of this vernacular building’s utilitarian design is emphasized by the centre gable with its bull’s-eye vent.
23) Coulson British Hotel - 801 Second Avenue East
Two years after his arrival in 1854, J. P. Coulson opened Coulson’s British Hotel, the village’s first major hotel, with 80 rooms, stables, dining rooms, a bar, and a women’s parlour. Its utilitarian design has lost its front balcony, and gable-end pitched roof. It’s rumoured that there was a secret room, once a stop on the Underground Railroad.
24) Parker’s Drugstore - 854-856 Second Avenue East
Originally the home of Owen Sound’s first telegraph and telephone exchange, this building later became Parker’s Drugstore, part of Ontario’s first drugstore chain. The words “Parker’s” and “Toiletries” are still visible above the entrance doorway. This commercial terrace features intricate brickwork in contrasting colours.
25) Fulford Hardware - 874 Second Avenue East
Edgar Allan Fulford was born in Sydenham Township. He opened his first hardware store across from City Hall, and moved to this location in 1941. Original floors and fixtures help maintain this store’s old-fashioned atmosphere. The first floor façade at the main entrance, door, posts, windows and leaded glass over the doorway, are original.
26) Coates & Best Building - 883 Second Avenue East - D
Built in 1902, this building has always been a stationery and bookstore. Its façade is continuous with that of the adjoining building. Repetitive window patterns lend visual significance. The upper windows are surrounded by recessed masonry arches. A moulded cornice separates the lower storefront from the upper facade.
27) Whole Foods Store - 941 Second Avenue East - D
This commercial building is distinguished by unusual glazing in the upper store front, a pattern suggestive of the Art Deco style. The architectural importance of the building is contextual, part of the overall visual integrity of the downtown.
28) McKay Bros. Ltd. Store - 942 Second Avenue East - D
This building, with its prominent brick pilasters, window arches, ornate cornice, frieze of classical swags, original sign and large windows, is a major design feature in the downtown. Note the painted sign on the upper south wall. Built in 1905, this three-storey Beaux-Arts-influenced building was McKay Bros. dry goods store from 1924 until 1989.
29) Commercial Terrace & Commercial Building - 958/966 & 992 Second Avenue East - D
These heritage buildings are typical of 19th century small town Ontario main streets. The nine arcaded windows above the two stores at 958/966 are separated by brick pilasters and echoed by nine vents above emphasized by polychromatic brickwork. The architectural features at 992 are the finely detailed window ornamentation and cornice work.
30) Superior Block - 1002 Second Avenue East
Built around 1880, this three-storey, six-sided building was originally named the “Superior Block.” It was later named the “Griffith Block” for John Charles Griffith, who came to Owen Sound in 1875 and established a tannery and a harness shop. Patterned brickwork emphasizes the building’s round-headed windows and corners.
31) Seldon House - 1005 Second Avenue East - D
Built in 1887 as a hotel with 44 rooms, three parlours, bar, dining room and commercial sample rooms, from 1904 to 1937, it was a temperance hotel operated by daughters of Mrs. R. J. Doyle - a founder of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. A key element of the downtown streetscape, the exterior of the building was restored in the 1980s.
