The 1950s – Years of Prosperity
EDITOR’S NOTE: this is the 10th in a series of 15 articles. 2017 marks the 150-year existence of two architectural gems that grace Summerside’s streetscapes. The Lefurgey Cultural Centre and the Wyatt Historic House Museum, both owned by the City of Summerside, occupy a whole block between Granville and Spring Streets, with Prince Street to the south and Winter Street to the north. Built in 1867, each building has an interesting history. In tribute to their milestone anniversaries, fifteen weekly articles, focusing on decades, will highlight the changes that have taken place within their walls and in the community. The Wyatt sisters had some fine adventures together in the 1950s as a continuation of the excursions they made in the late 1940s when they spent several weeks in western Canada, several months in Texas and Mexico and a month in Florida. In 1952, they went once more to Florida and the following year they spent seven months in Europe, returning to Florida again in the winters of 1956 and 1957. Neither of the women had ever earned a salary. They were fortunate, through the wise financial decisions of Wanda, to live on the proceeds of the family investments and apparently by the 1950s felt a freedom to spend some of their money on trips to different parts of the world. There was a dramatic change for Wanda when Dorothy died of cancer in May 1958 and she had to go on with her life alone.
In the Dalton House, the household was also growing smaller as the older children left home. Mr. Dalton was still very much involved with his business, which had become a Rexall drug store back in the 1930s.
His 50-year membership in the P.E.I. Pharmaceutical Association was honoured at the annual meeting in 1955. In addition to his pharmacy, he also owned the Clifton Hotel building and various farm properties including the Dalton Ranch, where silver foxes were raised in the early years of the industry. The ranch buildings burned down in 1959 when he was 76 years of age.
In January 1950, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Board of Trade, L. R. Allen addressed the annual meeting with a brief account of Summerside’s history and a summary of its current situation.
In addition to mentioning the variety of commercial businesses, which included “three of the largest stores in Canada in respect to population,” he proudly referred to the airport which could accommodate the largest aircraft, and the electric plant owned by the town. Conditions in the town continued to thrive over the following 10 years.
RCAF Station Summerside expanded, a housing development known as Slemon Park was created in close proximity, and the economy of the town boomed. The population grew, dial telephones became common, television sets became part of many households, most families had a car and there were three theatres, including the Starlite Drive-in. Several new major buildings were constructed, including the Prince County Hospital, the Civic Stadium, and the new federal building housing the Post Office. The principle setbacks for the town in the ’50s were the loss of Town Hall to fire in 1955 and major havoc with telephone and electricity lines caused by the sleet storm of 1956. Some parts of town were without power for two weeks while repairs were made to the poles and wires.