The former Barker General Store in Erindale was built in 1921-22, following the great Erindale fire of 1919. It served, originally, as both the family home of Marjorie and Delmar Barker (my grandparents), and the Barker General Store. The square “tower” portion was added in 1938 for expanded living space. The building was built on…
The former Lions Park in Port Credit (located at 20 Rosewood Avenue) was officially renamed Harold E. Kennedy Memorial Park in 2011 in honour of the long-serving and beloved City Councillor Harold Kennedy, who passed away in 2009. For most of his 27 years on City Council, Harold Kennedy represented the residents of Ward 1…
You will have to follow my train of thought here. I had the chance to spend part of the weekend in Bayfield, Ontario as part of a family tradition. While there, we spent one evening in Pioneer Park, high on the bluffs overlooking Lake Huron, watching the sunset. In the park is the salvaged remains…
One night, sitting in the living room, my father and uncle were reminiscing about the past – immigrating to Canada and moving to Mississauga. I asked them what their first impressions of Mississauga were back in the early 1970s. As with many who remember the early days of our city, they remembered the farm fields…
George McGill was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and came to Canada around 1837, together with his wife Elizabeth Bishop and their children: Ann, Henry, Margaret, James, John and newborn infant William. In 1851 George purchased a 200-acre property in what is now the Lorne Park area of Mississauga. His land was on the north side…
I recall many years ago spying the stone pineapples along Mississauga Road and being intrigued by this curiosity. Together with the stone gate posts and dry-stone walls, they seemed to harken back to a landscape from yesteryear. First, it is hard to date stone walls. As you travel along Mississauga Road south of Dundas Street,…
This article might pose more questions than answers. There is a street (or a court to be precise) in northwest Mississauga named for Bishop John Strachan (pronounced “Strawn”). Bishop Strachan Court was developed in the early 1990s as part of the Trelawny subdivision development in Meadowvale, which in itself is a unique part of Mississauga’s…
On May 29th, Ronnie Hawkins, famed Canadian musician, died at the age of 87 to the sadness of many fans across the country. Hawkins was born in Huntsville, Arkansas, on January 10, 1935, later making a life for himself north of the border. Known affectionately over the years as “Mr. Dynamo,” “Sir Ronnie,” “Rompin’ Ronnie,”…
A new road sign in the Lakeview area of Mississauga carries a significant link to history. Douglas McCurdy Common is a recent addition to the landscape (or is it roadscape?), and runs north off Lakeshore Road, just to the west of Cawthra Road. The road is named in honour of John Alexander Douglas (J.A.D.) McCurdy…
When I was growing up in Mississauga, as a person of mixed Chinese heritage in Canada, I did not often see Chinese arts highlighted in my everyday life. I remember the glee I felt when I would see artwork from Chinese artists around my grandparent’s house or scattered around Mississauga’s Chinese Centre, where we would…