Auburn neighbourhood is historically significant

To: Jennifer Sawatzky, committee of adjustment, RE: Formal Objection to alterations at 101 Auburn St.

On behalf of the volunteers at Lakefield Heritage, we would like to formally object to the alterations to 101 Auburn St.

This clutch of houses would otherwise become a designated heritage district. All have had few alterations since about 1850-1860.

These houses were part of the long-gone Boswell’s Mill, as shown in the map of the Brown Brothers property.

These houses were then rented by yard workers for the Grand Trunk Railway. The present-day Auburn Street was a four-track yard, and, named “Brown Street Yard.”

Two main tracks, one north, one south, and, a siding on each side of the mains.

This is why the present-day Auburn is double-wide, with the hydro poles on the road side of the street.

The railway workers not only worked the Brown Street Yard, but, also worked the gravel yard, now the Auburn Apartments, and, the woollen mill “mini-yard.”

They also worked what was called “The Upper Quaker Yard,” which serviced American Cereal/Quaker Oats, London Street Generating Station, Wand Sash and Door, Peterboro Mattress and Rutherford’s Mill.

It would be a shame to change the community now, having existed, more or less as we see today for about 150 years.

We hope that city council would allow PACAC to create these houses as a heritage district, but, for the moment, at least, be listed as being of heritage importance to the city.

Thank you sincerely for reading this note and your interest in our concerns.

Gord Young, Lakefield Heritage Research