Agriculture and the community: the Guelph farmer’s market system

For as long as the city of Guelph has existed, there have always been markets to facilitate trade between farmers and citizens. When City Hall was constructed, it featured an adjacent market building, complete with a butcher shop and stalls for animals as well. Subsequently the area around City Hall, along Carden St between Wilson St and Wyndham St and down to Farquahar St became known as Market Square, which was where a great deal of trade and commerce took place. The currentFarmer’s Market building is the location where the animals were kept

Market Square

Building Johnston Hall

Carnegie Free Library

The Albion Hotel

grew up in suburbia. The development we moved to when I was five was new and right on the edge of town, offering countless places to build forts, partially built houses to crawl through and fields to run in. Kids from around the neighbourhood gathered outside and we would amuse ourselves for hours. We were in charge of ourselves and we did pretty much

underground before being brought up to the original market. The animals were transported up to Market Square via an underground tunnel. This area was also used as a training ground for soldiers during World War I.

Because of its affiliation with markets, Guelph was also the former host of the Ontario Provincial Winter Fair. Strategically located between Toronto and London, and north of Hamilton, the Provincial Winter Fair attracted merchants and observers from all across the province. The fair was held almost every year in the early twentieth century, despite the fact that the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto was gradually acquiring prominence. The Guelph fair was halted in 1939 due to the beginning of World War II when the fair building was used for storage and as military barracks. The fair was not revived following the end of the war in 1945. The fair building was renovated in 1948 and was replaced by an ice arena, the Memorial Gardens, until its demolition in 2006.

John McCrae: Wartime Guelph, a city of patriots

With one of Canada’s earliest militias, the city of Guelph has always been an inherently patriotic city, sympathetic to our troops and always willing to help during desperate times. When World War I broke out in 1914, there was an incredible sense of eagerness among Guelph men, with 115 enlisting on the first day. Guelph’s most famous soldier was Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, originally a militiaman, before becoming a field surgeon and authoring the famous poem In Flanders Fields, a poem which he wrote in 1915 following the death of his friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, while stationed in Belgium. McCrae died of pneumonia while still at war in 1918; however, his birthplace, McCrae House, has been preserved in Guelph as a museum and a National Historic Site.

Throughout both World War I and World War II, citizens of Guelph did their part to help with the war effort. A familiar slogan was later tabbed, ‘knit and do your bit,’ referring to weaving that was done at home to help soldiers overseas. There was also a remarkably successful fundraiser, led by Guelph citizens, to raise money to purchase a field ambulance to be sent overseas to help soldiers. The Guelph Armoury is still a significant (and utilized) structure in downtown Guelph, built in 1908 and used to house and train thousands of troops during World War I.

Royal City Park: Guelph deals with the Great Depression

Like so many other cities that had experienced an economic boom in the first thirty years of the twentieth century, the Great Depression of the 1930s hit Guelph very hard. Businesses that had been instrumental to the development of the city were forced to close down and thousands of citizens were left out of work. To try and offset struggles and stimulate the growth of the city, the local government enacted a number of Make Work Projects, initiatives that would provide relatively unskilled jobs for the unemployed class of workers. One particular project that still exists today is in Royal City Park, on Gordon St just south of Wellington St. The stone walls along the riverbank of Speed River were constructed by approximately 200 ‘employees’ during this Make Work Project.

“Each week, the City of Guelph would allow different people to work on the bridge, to be paid in vouchers to cover the most basic living expenses,” said Wall.

The Great Depression also provided Guelph citizens with an opportunity to once again reach out in times of need to those who were less fortunate.

“There would be people going door-to-door through neighbourhoods, asking people to help out where they could,” said Wall. “Even if you didn’t have much, you at least tried to share because they had even less than you did. At least you had a house, whereas most of these people (going through neighbourhoods) were homeless, looking for places to stay and food to eat.”

Gender Issues: Discrimination abound on campus

Societal questions surrounding equality between men and women in the postwar era were not exempt from Guelph. In the 1950s, staff members from the Ontarion as well as several men with a severe self-righteous complex took it upon themselves to publish their feelings. The headline of the newspaper from Feb. 18, 1953 read, Women Here to Stay?? The first excerpt from below is a letter written by reader John Lee, entitled Women, Stay Home. The second is taken from an article written by Features Editor Keir Maybee.

In days of yore, man had two great advantages over women. He was physically stronger and mentally wiser. Today, in this pushbutton world, physical strength is of no advantage, so competition between men and women narrows down to the field of wisdom.

In our world, everyone is seeking influence and power. Men and women seek this in different ways. Man by his wisdom, and woman by her influence over man. That is why man was made wise and women made sugar, spice and everything nice.

However, a few women would like to lead their gender into a men’s world where wisdom is power. They would like to become lawyers, doctors, politicians and executives in our society. They are unsuited and powerless in this competition and frustration and restlessness are the only results.

But women, you are powerful in your own world, for you have a great influence over men. You can cause a man to devote his whole life to you and the building of a home. This is the most important contribution to any society. If you rock the world, then rock the cradle and be pretty, witty but not too wise.

- John Lee

The other day, I heard someone complaining about women’s rights; I agreed with him wholeheartedly – certain things can be carried beyond a joke. Women must be suppressed, although as a sex, they take quite a bit of beating.

It is my contention that practically every major disaster or crisis this world has had to face can be directly traced back to the shenanigans of a woman.

…A few fairly simple recommendations to the Union Council might help to return things to their proper order:

1.)     No women be allowed to eat in the dining hall until all men have finished their meal.

2.)     Women shall give preference of seats, and if necessary, remain standing in buses when men are travelling.

3.)     Work parties from Mac Hall shall be organized to attend to the menial duties in the Men’s Residence.

- Keir Maybee

A city of activists: Gwen Jacob and the battle for equality

Guelph has always been known as a city where activism flourishes, particularly student-affiliated demonstrations. Arguably, no student demonstration has garnered more attention than Gwen Jacob’s topless stroll through downtown Guelph in July 1991.

Jacob was charged and convicted with indecency, yet she claimed that a law requiring her and other women to wear a shirt in public was discriminatory.

Following her arrest, Jacob wrote for the Ontarion, telling her story and explaining her position.

“I cannot understand why male chests are socially acceptable and female chests are obscene,” she wrote. “According to section 15.1 of the Charter (of Rights and Freedoms), it’s illegal to discriminate against people based on gender.

“The problem is that women are considered sexual objects,” she continued. “As such, we may be dismembered by predominantly male industries and media, and our ‘parts’ used to promote things that have nothing to do with the ‘parts’ in question.”

Letters to the editor and future columns concerning the story were exclusively in support of Jacob’s activism as the progressive attitudes of the Guelph student population came to the forefront.

Upon appeal to the Court of Appeal for Ontario, Jacob’s conviction was overturned in 1996 and the law was changed, allowing all women to be topless in public in Ontario.

Women’s rights, gay rights and environmental awareness are but a few of the many causes that Guelph students and citizens alike have campaigned for over the years as the city continues to be a breeding ground for intellectual activism.

The Albion Hotel: Gangster myths and segregation

The Albion Hotel has always been a popular hangout in Guelph, though it has not always been the restaurant and bar that it is today. Soon after its construction in 1856, the Albion acquired just the second liquor licence in Ontario. The Albion brewed its own beer, using water that was fed from a natural spring underneath The Church of Our Lady Immaculate. The Albion, like other hotels in Guelph, was primarily occupied by people who came to work in Guelph for relatively short periods of time. There were also other bars throughout downtown Guelph, but these establishments were heavily segregated. There was usually a room for men, separated from a room for women and their male escorts. Women who did loiter in the men’s room of the bar were probably prostitutes.

As the prohibition movement gained steam in the early twentieth century, many advocates questioned whether people should be spending any time in bars at all. In an attempt to sustain the livelihoods of restaurant and bar owners, organized crime and bootlegging in Guelph became more frequent. In fact, there are rumours that Al Capone, the great American gangster had a certain level of affection for beer that was brewed in Guelph by the Sleeman family. It is rumoured that Capone sometimes visited the Albion, where he kept a mistress. According to certain stories, Capone’s mistress killed herself in the Albion and her ghost still haunts the building. These rumours, however, are just that.

“It was more likely a Hamilton gangster by the name of Rocco Perri,” said Kathleen Wall, Assistant Curator at the Guelph Civic Museum and McCrae House. “If you look at pictures, [Perri] actually looks similar to Al Capone and it’s pretty common knowledge that [Perri] would come up to Guelph to do business.

“There are some people who swear to this day that they’ve seen Al Capone in Guelph, but who knows,” she continued. “(But) it’s very likely that it was Rocco Perri. Coming across the border wouldn’t make a lot of sense for Al Capone to do.”

St. Patrick’s Ward: Immigration and Entrepreneurship

St. Patrick’s Ward, more familiarly referred to as simply, The Ward, located just southeast of downtown Guelph, is now seen as a popular area of residence for many culturally-aware university students. As Guelph’s first organized suburb, it originally attracted groups of immigrants, specifically Italians, in the early twentieth century. There were essentially three waves of Italian immigration to Guelph, the first occurring in the 1900s and 10s, the second in the 1920s and 30s and the third and final wave directly following World War II in the 1940s and 50s. At its inception, the majority of the land in The Ward was owned by local businessman and city councillor J.W. Lyon. Lyon gave away the land in the area for free to industrialists, and then subdivided the remaining area into residential lots, which were sold to the factory employees, many of which were immigrants.

During the early decades of the twentieth century, at least 80 per cent of Guelph citizens came from British ancestry. Nevertheless, the Italian community that settled in Guelph became significant.

“There is still a very large Italian community in Guelph, especially in [The Ward],” said Wall. “It’s a very strong and proud community in town.”

The Ward eventually contained a very distinct Italian flavour within the community. Market gardens frequented residents’ backyards and the European culture prevailed throughout the neighbourhoods. To this day, the Italian-Canadian Club still exists and every year, the community hosts an Italian festival. There is also an Italian vice-consulate who resides in Guelph and acts as a liaison to the community.

As the century progressed, other ethnic minority groups increasingly took up residence in The Ward and throughout Guelph. Particularly following World War II, Guelph saw an influx of European immigration from France, Germany, Poland and Ukraine. Chinese, Jewish and Black communities had already been established in Guelph with landmarks such as the Beth Isaiah Synagogue on Surrey St and the British Methodist Episcopal Church on Market St serving as locations for congregation.

Architecture in the downtown core: Guelph gets a facelift

In the years following its founding by John Galt in 1827, the majority of buildings in downtown Guelph had a striking Victorian presence to them, complying with the grand architecture of the era. Over time, however, these buildings deteriorated and became increasingly difficult to maintain. Joseph Wolfond was a land developer during the 1950s and 1960s who owned a great number of these buildings and he believed that downtown Guelph was in desperate need of modernization. Wolfond’s developing company, which employed hundreds of Guelph citizens, tore down numerous Victorian buildings throughout the downtown core, replacing them with larger and more efficient modern structures. The Bank of Nova Scotia building in St. George’s Square is a result of one of Wolfond’s constructions. With this dramatic shift towards modernization, however, also came resentment.

“The downtown development sparked the idea of heritage preservation,” said Wall. “With the demolition of a lot of these buildings, there were concerned groups, including one led by a professor at the university, Gordon Couling, who helped to start the local heritage preservation society. [The heritage groups] were concerned with the idea of tearing things down without considering their historical significance.”

Couling was the first chair of the Department of Fine Arts at the Macdonald Institute, one of the three colleges that would ultimately comprise the University of Guelph. As a lifelong artist and historical preservationist, Couling was responsible for designing many of the original stained glass windows in Guelph and other Ontario churches.

The Great Amalgamation: The University of Guelph is born

The University of Guelph has not always been a singular body, but rather, three colleges, the Ontario Agricultural College (1874), Macdonald Institute (1903) and the Ontario Veterinary College (1922). On May 8, 1964, the Ontario Legislature amalgamated the three colleges to form the university. The amalgamation left students of the colleges wondering what sorts of change to expect. Some of their views were published in the Ontarion.

University status has finally appeared to us as a very tangible development. True, we don’t see the evidence of a new university springing up around us, but we can at least use its name and speak of its future with some assurance. For the past few years, students of the three Colleges have used this as a favourite discussion point. Now we can see its emergence as a reality.

…Have you ever wondered what the students of the future will have to expect at the U of Guelph? … For by 1970, some 5,000 students will be passing through these halls, and according to all reports, the figure should reach 15,000 by 1980.

…The university is now the namesake of Guelph, and effective student-city relations are an essential factor. For 90 years, the residents of Guelph have considered the college-on-the-hill an isolated community, though the down-town (sic) businesses have reaped the benefits over the counter.

…The future is very near and very demanding. By meeting its challenges, the students of the University of Guelph will create from the seeds of changing times, a forest of achievement and success.

- Don Winslow

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