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© 2007 Plattsville & District Heritage Society Terms of Use |
This site hosted by Oxford County Library courtesy of the Community Access Program. |
Last Modified: Thursday March 20 2008 Contact: Webmaster |
1876 to 2006
The original section of the Plattsville United Church was constructed in 1876. It replaced what was known as the First Wesleyan Methodist Church which was originally a small frame structure built in 1852. Two Methodist groups used the Church for their services. In 1951 there were extensive renovations made to the building. The floor was raised and a basement excavated to provide for Sunday school rooms and a kitchen. Memorial windows were installed plus new pews, a balcony and an oil furnace. The choir and pulpit area were completely rebuilt and paneled in oak.
In 1995 a dedication service was held to recognize an addition to the south of the Church. This provided a new entrance, washrooms, a minister’s office, and elevator access to the main auditorium and basement. The original section of the church has been in use for 130 years.
Circa 1850
This building was built with the brick from the local brickyard as are many homes in this town. The structure originally had a flat roof. In 1864 this was the location for a busy Millinery and Men’s clothing store run by Adam Berst, who was a Merchant tailor. It was believed to have housed several of the employees or seamstresses. Rooms were rented for $1.50 per month.
Circa 1860
In 1867 Mr. Crump was the local butcher. Through the years, the business passed to William Fenn, Gillis Fenn, Graham Fenn, Cecil Love.
In 1952 Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Restemeyer owned and operated a meat business in this building which was purchased from Ed Fenn. Hubert was a butcher and ran the business for almost 15 years. The market ceased operation when Mr. Restemeyer accepted the position with the Provincial Government as a meat inspector.
There were two other mills in the area producing flour and livestock feed in the mid 1800’s. The Plattsville Milling company was established in1888 producing ‘Lyon’s” brand wheat flour in 100 lb. wooden barrels. Flour from this mill was shipped to England as well as parts of Ontario.
In 1944 a partnership between Vernon Kaufman of Woodstock and Donald Currah of Plattsville formed the Woodstock Feed Co. Ltd. Maple Leaf Mills Ltd. purchased the business in 1979 with the present date Plattsville Grist Mill, being established in 1987 by Jim McCartney.
Lot # 2 West Side of York Street, Plattsville
Date Constructed: 1850
Purchased by Edward Platt, brother of Samuel Platt, founder of Plattsville in 1875.
Original age unknown.
This century old home was operated by Mr. John Hilderly and was known as the Plattsville Chick Hatchery. Hatching was done in 1936 in this home. Then in 1939 chicks were hatched in the basement of the Mill in town, and also in what is known as the McKie house, from 1940 to 1948.
In 1940 property was purchased from the mill where once stood a barn. This was converted into a chicken and brooding house. In 1948 the hatchery was moved from the mill to this location on York street until its closure in 1959.
A popular way to spend a winter Saturday afternoon in the early 1900’s until 1912 was to watch the horse racing on the Nith River. The three-eighths of a mile track was reputed to be one of the best in Western Ontario. The horses wore special spiked shoes and pulled special racing cutter (sleds) .
Participants came from the Plattsville area, as well as Bright, New Hamburg and New Dundee
It was the search for oil that led to the discovery of Plattsville’s flowing wells. In 1905 a group of businessmen collected $500 and hired an oil driller. After sinking a casing 150 feet, a strong flow of water gushed out which had a high mineral content and distinct sulphur odour. Still convinced that oil lay beneath the village, they sank a second shaft behind the mill. This attempt was unsuccessful as water gushed out at the 125 foot level. This well produced an estimated 2,500,000 gallons per day. Unfortunately both of these wells succumbed to the passing of time. The first well was located in the park where Saint-Gobain Abrasives now stands. The second well which is located here on York Street behind the mill flowed only a trickle, until 1993 when the Plattsville-Bright Optimist Club talked about reviving the well.
In the spring of 1994, they attempted to unclog the flowing well. With support and encouragement from the community they worked and were able to revive the well to about 200,000 gallons a day. Peter Etril Snyder was commissioned to paint “Flowing From the Past” and the original painting was purchased by North Blenheim Mutual Insurance Company made the project possible. The dream of the Optimist Club to restore the well is on the way to completion and the people who purchase the prints will also have a part of history in Plattsville
In November 1931 the first sheet of sandpaper, bearing the trademark “Diamond Grit” was produced by Canada Sand Papers. Founders, P.R. Hilborn and Samuel B. Grimes along with 5 employees produced sandpaper in a former factory that made desks and due to the depression had ceased operations. In the initial operation, the employees alternated and helped operate a sawmill which was then located at the rear of the plant. During the first few years, the employees worked at the maker for a short run, then switched to the finishing department, then process and pack and finally to catch the noon hour train in Bright.
The big fire of 1935 was a narrow escape for Canada Sand Papers when the business block across the street was almost wiped out. The fire started at 11 p.m. and fire brigades were called from surrounding cities. Employees were stationed on the factory roof, lumber piles and at the front windows dousing the sparks as they ignited.
The war brought a greater demand for good old Diamond Grit, the product of service and quality. Employees joined the armed services and women were hired to help in the industry. They continued through the years to play a very necessary and active part in the company. Most of the boys returned from overseas to find their jobs waiting for them in an expanding industry. A new wing was added in 1938, and again in 1942. The three storey red brick building was added in 1948-49, a large steel warehouse was erected in 1950 with a new steam plant, and water tower in 1952 would follow.
In 1950, the company was sold to Carborundum Abrasives and marked the start of 33 years of American ownership. In 1958 a $700,000 addition provided gleaming new offices and at the rear, the biggest cloth finishing plant of its kind in Canada. In 1966, buildings covered 4.5 acres. In 1977, Kennecott Copper purchased Carborundum Abrasives. $5 million dollars was invested to build a new maker with capabilities to produce 54” wide sandpaper and storage facilities. The new line became operational in June 1980.
In 1981, the company again changed hands – Standard Oil of Ohio and celebrated their 50th Anniversary. In 1983, a new technical laboratory was moved from the old part of the building to the newest and the company was again Canadian owned by private investors. In 1985, Norton Company purchased the company and brought with it more than 120 years (since 1885) of manufacturing experience in grinding wheels. In 1987, Maker # 4 was built from maker parts from Brantford along with a new oven installed along the west side of the old cloth finishing building. All zinc stearating over sizing is run on this machine.
The company again changed hands in 1990. Saint-Gobain Corporation ranks among the leading industrial corporations in the world today. It all started in 1665, when King Louis XIV of France commissioned Saint-Gobain to manufacture the glass for his now-famous Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles. The purchase of Norton Company brought Saint-Gobain into the abrasives business.
In September 2005, an Open House to celebrate the start of the 75th year of making sandpaper in Plattsville was held for employees and retirees. 2006 marks another significant investment with the installation of Maker # 5 to assist with the increased demand for stearated products; making Plattsville the “Centre of Excellence” for no-fil products world-wide.
Robert McKie Jr. constructed this house in 1908. In 1900, McKie’s Buggy Factory was listed as a business on the north side of Albert Street. The site of the old buggy factory stood where the current Home Hardware exists today (see page 7).
According to the Plattsville Echoes, “McKie’s Buggy Factory took over the woolen factory and for a number of years turned out carriages, sleighs, etc. When the market for these became smaller, Stewart McKie opened a garage and Ford sales in the building until he and his family moved to Sutton, Ontario” (Page 14). The woolen factory was established by James Crombie, and operated in 1862 by Warnock, Farrand & Company (Walter James Farrand), manufacturers of woolen goods, carding and mill.
During the late 1980s and 1990s, Joseph & Gisele St. John operated a tearoom on the main floor.
The home has since been returned exclusively to residential. Hydro appears to have come to the town in 1910 for street lamps. About 12 homes installed it in the following year. Since this house was constructed prior to 1910, remnants of overhead oil lamp piping remain in the ceilings.
The original cast iron boiler remains in the basement. This was a coal-fired boiler that circulated hot water through wall radiators. It measures 4.5 feet wide, by 4.5 feet high and 8 feet long; and was manufactured by L. Leonard & Sons of London, Ontario. Supplementary heating came by way of piping that circulated water underground and over the factory’s forges.
This four bedroom home is approximately 3200 square feet and has maple and oak hardwood flooring through the first two floors. The attic is finished as well with pine flooring. Note the stained glass windows.
The original building (1-A & 1-B) was built in 1884 on land donated by the Pickwell family to the Plattsville Baptist congregation, organized in 1880. After the 1890’s the congregation declined and in 1930, the church was officially closed. However, following a revival meeting, interest was revived and occasional services were held until 1937. It was then sold to Canada Sand Papers Ltd. for storage. For a brief period beginning in 1949, due to crowding at Plattsville Public School, Grades 1 and 2 were accommodated in the building. About 1956, as members of the New Dundee Missionary Church were looking for a site for a daughter Missionary Church in Plattsville the Canada Sand Papers Ltd. offered to donate this building to them. After renovations including a new entrance and a gallery and the purchase of two lots to the west for parking (2), Plattsville Missionary Church was officially opened in June 1956. Since then there have been extensive additions. In 1986 an addition to the rear, with full basement and kitchen facilities alleviated crowded classes (3). The 1997 addition to the east (4) provided a new sanctuary and classrooms for the Christian School and Sunday school classes.
Special thanks to Plattsville Evangelical Missionary Church for this information excerpted from their booklet “Celebrating 50 years 1956-2006”.
Circa 1867 (Lot 17)
This building was formerly the Evangelical Church and was used as a church until 1918. It was sold in 1930 to James E. Greene, and in 1938 sold to Harold Stewart who used the building for his bee business. In 1941, he died and the business was purchased by Owen Showell who was in the bee business for many years. Lyle Edmonstone was an employee of Owen Showell and in the Spring of 1965 he purchased the equipment and business. The Honey House has been in business for almost 70 years. Mr. Edmonstone still rents his honey bees out for pollination of orchards and legume fields.
Plattsville has had four parks. The first being located South of Albert Street between the Nith River and the mill race. In the late 1800’s, a second park was established on the north side of Oxford road 42 and the west side of the Nith River, first known as Diller’s Park and then Smart’s Park. Number three was established in 1915 and was located were the single story Saint Gobain office and plant building now stands. This park was dedicated as a Memorial Park in August of 1921 after the Great War. A large sulphur flowing well fountain (see Page 6) was located In the west side of the park, which later was utilized as water supply for a large shallow wading pool. The present park was initiated in 1958. The Memorial Gates were relocated from the old park and host an annual Remembrance Day Service. In 1967 a Centennial Pavilion was constructed with local businessmen supplying all the materials and labour. The Park also contains a lighted ball diamond, concession stand and children’s play area.
