King Street West, looking east from near Kincaid St.

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ca.1894

This ia a “gritty” view of King Street, with dirt road, wooden sidewalks, gas lamps and towering wooden electric poles. Dominating this old scene is the large brick Central Block which has stood on this part of the main street since it was built in 1878.The first awning on the left was that of McConkey’s Grocery, then Edward Clint, undertaker and furniture dealer, George Wooding, boots & shoes (note his stock in the front), Michael Kehoe, merchant tailor, Morrison & Percival, tinsmiths, Timothy Browne & Co., grocers, and lastly, McGlade’s Hotel. The small building where the present Tim Horton’s stands was the location of Anson Carr, the barber and Ross & Burns, butchers.

On the other side of Chase St. is the three-storey Grand Central Hotel, at that time operated by Samuel Connor and owned by Charles and Kate Cossitt.

The corner of the street at Kincaid on the bottom right was vacant, and the second large building with the tower was the Tompkins Block. This property later became the western part of the Strathcona Hotel, also developed by Thomas Tompkins one of Brockville’s earlier property developers.

ca.1934

For comparison, this later view shows part of the same area about 40 years later. Parking a car on the main street was becoming a problem most days. The “gasoline” sign was outside the new building of Beacock & Co., dealers in Cadillac, McLaughlin, Oldsmobile and Pontiac automobiles, which stood at the south-east corner of King & Kincaid Sts. Beyond that, one can see the sign of the Capital Theatre, previously known as the Brock Theatre.

On the north side are first, the sign of George Morrison’s cigar store and pool room, and at the far end, Diana Sweets Restaurant, run by Mike Leras, was formerly “Diana Sweets Confectionery Shop”.

June 1, 1941

Victory Loan Parade

Sources: The older photograph on the left was first published in the Christmas 1894 edition of “The Canadian Annual” a graphic magazine which featured “Beautiful Brockville, The City of the Thousand Islands” that year in a 41-page special section.

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Tags: Brockville, photograph, "King Street", Victory Parade, Stores, Commercial Businesses