One of the notable families of Church Street a century ago
Our old photo this week shows a distinguished local citizen out for a ride with his son and a neighbour girl in downtown St. Catharines early in the last century.
On the right we see former mayor John S. Campbell mounted on his favourite horse in front of his imposing Church Street home. During his long life Campbell (1860-1950) was a barrister, the commanding officer of the 19th Lincoln Regiment, a member of city council beginning in 1896, mayor of St. Catharines from 1908-09, the first chairman of the St. Catharines Public Utilities Commission in 1914, and judge for the County of Lincoln from 191634.
His wife Elizabeth Oille Campbell (1868-1956), herself prominent in a wide range of community affairs, was the niece of another St. Catharines mayor, Dr. Lucius D. Oille. She is likely one of the people visible in the background, seated on the front porch of the Campbell home.
When this photo was taken in 1910, the west end of Church Street (not yet paved, you notice) was still almost entirely residential. The Campbells lived at 32 Church St., on the south side of the street at the corner of Helliwell’s Lane.
Next to Mr. Campbell in the photo is a small cart drawn by a pony and occupied by two youngsters. On the left is Campbell’s son Colin. He would later be called to the Ontario bar, in 1930, served overseas in the Second World War with the Royal Canadian Artillery, and later joined the Defence Department’s Office of the Judge Advocate General.
Seated in the cart next to young Colin is Helen Stanley Smith, a little girl who lived across the street from the Campbells. She would later graduate from University of Toronto, marry another young neighbourhood lad, E. Frank McCordick, and during the Second World War would be active in the local branch of the Canadian Red Cross and in the women’s auxiliary of the 10th Field Battery.
The Campbells built their house on Church Street in 1898. It was a solid looking Edwardian style home with a prominent front porch. The Campbells named their residence Cruachan, a name derived from Celtic history. (Perhaps in hopes that their home would become a popular gathering place for local society, i’s said the greatest assemblies in Celtic Ireland were held at Cruachan, in County Roscommon.)
The Campbell residence stood on Church Street until March 1955, when it was demolished — along with several other residences and the Pen-More/ Journal Building — to make way for the new federal building and post office, which would extend along Church all the way from Helliwell’s Lane to the Market Square.
Construction of the new building began in April 1955. It opened in March 1957. Renamed the Laura Secord Building in 2012, the building’s main occupant today is the local office of the Canada Revenue Agency. Postal customer service moved elsewhere downtown in the late 1990s.
Our “today” photo shows the northwest corner of the federal building, which stands on the corner where the Campbell house once was.