House Behind the Federal Bldg., Sarnia, ON

[johnny5]

The last house on Front St. north of Wellington stood between the Federal building and the St. Clair Hotel on the east side. Torn down to make way for office building.

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[ilmason]

This house was originally built beside the first Congregational Church as its parsonage. Both the church and parsonage were constructed by the Rev. John Nall in ca. 1838-40. His obituary in the "Sarnia Observer" of July 16, 1880 describes his work as a pioneer American Congregational minister of Sarnia and Plympton Township. (Thank you to the late George Smith, one of Sarnia's pre-eminent historians.)

[Steve]

Are you sure this house was built at the same time as the church?

Because 1) the style is not indicative of c. 1840 construction and 2) I have photos of Front St. showing the church, but not the house. On the north is a hotel (can't recall which hotel) and on the south is a modest 1 1/2 story frame house.

I have a later photo showing the house (and the future Riverport building to the south of it, but no steeple of the church. Not sure if the church is still there in this pic (with the steeple removed, perhaps?) because there are trees in the way.

[ilmason]

I agree with your assessment that the house pictured is not the one constructed as the parsonage for the Congregational Church in ca. 1840. The house pictured was probably constructed ca. 1885-90. I suspect that the original parsonage was probably located where the Pontiac (that is a Pontiac, isn't it?) is parked beside the iron fence. In the earliest published history of Central United Church entitled, "The Central Church, 1832-1919", it cites an entry from a William McGregor's diary: "Sun. Aug. 17, 1845 - went to Port Sarnia. Mr. Nall's Congregational Church was opened. Ministers officiating - Mr. Wastall, Mr. Clark, Mr. Broughton, Mr. Turner and Mr. Hay." The fact that so many clergymen were present and likely from different denominations (Mr. Turner was likely the Wesleyan Methodist minister, the Rev. Turner, after whom Turner Hall at Central United Church was named) indicates that this was the official opening of the church building. The parsonage would have been constructed in about the same period. In an article in the "Sarnia Observer" (Mar. 4, 1967, pg. 5), local historian George Smith notes that the Congregational Church had its steeple in place [from 1845] until Aug. 1873 when it was removed. The "modest 1 1/2 storey frame house" that you reference might very well be a good candidate for having been the parsonage of the Congregational Church.

[Steve]

Thanks for the info on the steeple of the Congregational church. I have several pics of downtown, showing the church, both with and without a steeple, so it will help to date them. Do you happen to have the date it was finally demolished, or moved?

[ilmason]

Sorry, I don't know the date when the church was razed. But, the early history of Central Methodist Church, "The Central Church, 1832-1919" includes brief histories of Sarnia's other churches. The history notes that the "[Congregational] Church of red brick was built in Sarnia, on the site of the present Salvation Army Citadel". The Congregationalists had sold their old church to the Salvation Army after the construction of the new Congregational Church in 1879 at the northeast corner of Wellington and Victoria Streets. The next research assignment will be to determine when Sarnia's first purpose-built Salvation Army Citadel was built in the period between 1882 and 1918. (The Salvation Army began its operations in Canada on June 1, 1882 in London, Ont.)

[ilmason]

Just located a brief news article in "The Sarnia Observer" in its issue of Sept. 29, 1903 (pg. 4) that the old Salvation Army barracks on Front Street was being torn down. The old barracks would have been the original Congregational Church which had been opened for worship on Aug. 17, 1845. No mention is made of the Congregational parsonage that had been constructed beside the original church. In "The Sarnia Observer" issue of Nov. 3, 1903, a news article reports that: "Work at foundation laying for the new Salvation Army building on Front Street is going ahead. No arrangement could be arrived at regarding a transfer of the property and the Army barracks will be built on the site of the old barracks, adjoining the new post office." This 1903 building was the first purpose-built barracks for the Sarnia Salvation Army. It was a two-storey building with Romanesque detailing such as large round-arched windows.

[Steve]

Mar 21, 2013 23:16:52 GMT -5 ilmason said:

Just located a brief news article in "The Sarnia Observer" in its issue of Sept. 29, 1903 (pg. 4) that the old Salvation Army barracks on Front Street was being torn down. The old barracks would have been the original Congregational Church which had been opened for worship on Aug. 17, 1845. No mention is made of the Congregational parsonage that had been constructed beside the original church. In "The Sarnia Observer" issue of Nov. 3, 1903, a news article reports that: "Work at foundation laying for the new Salvation Army building on Front Street is going ahead. No arrangement could be arrived at regarding a transfer of the property and the Army barracks will be built on the site of the old barracks, adjoining the new post office." This 1903 building was the first purpose-built barracks for the Sarnia Salvation Army. It was a two-storey building with Romanesque detailing such as large round-arched windows.

Your post is very timely!

I was just going through some scans of Sarnia scenes I found at the Lambton Archives a while ago. I have several showing the old post office, built in 1902. What was bugging me was 2 shots of the front (west) side that appeared to be taken right around the same time and shortly after the P.O. was completed. However, in one (a post card) you can see the old church (sans steeple) on the right of the frame and in the other, no church, but just the very edge of a large 2 story flat roofed brick building on the extreme right of the frame...

I couldn't for the life of me figure it out. I kept looking for tricks of perspective, "false attachments", and other optical illusions. But, you're post seems to clear it up... The shot with both the new P.O. and church was captured in a very narrow window of time where both existed together. And the other shot must show the new Salvation Army building.

I've attached the post office with church (and you can also just see the house that is likely the parsonage we've been talking about). The image is a crop from the post card that shows a larger area of waterfront. I'll attach the other image in the next post...

Attachments:

[Steve]

and here's the other photo showing what I'm guessing is the newly constructed Salvation Army building at extreme right...

Attachments:

[ilmason]

Remarkable! This image of the original Congregational Church in Sarnia may be the only one that exists. I think that your suggestion is very plausible that the 2 1/2 storey home to the south (right) of the old church could very well have been the "site" of the parsonage. If this is the case, that would mean that the original parsonage (built in the era ca. 1838-1848) would have been demolished and the new house built in the period ca. 1880-1885. The reason that I am suggesting this is that the Congregational Church must have experienced a revival of its strength, owing to the fact that it constructed its new larger church at the corner of Wellington and Victoria Streets in 1879. The "new" home south of the church probably replaced the original parsonage. Whether this home became the parsonage is open for question, owing to the fact that the pattern for residence for the minister/priest was in a home right beside the church (much like the North American pattern in the 19th and early 20th centuries, as examples, for the banker to live on the second floor of the bank and the industrialist to live across the street from the factory).

[Steve]

I have at least one more (partial) photo of the Congregational Church...

This is a crop from a photo taken from the top of the G.W.R. elevator that stood at the foot of what is today's Johnston St. It looks north, up Front St. The church steeple is seen front and centre and north of it is the adjacent Alexander House hotel. This photo dates to after 1867, as the steeple of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church is seen in the background.

Is the house in front (south) of the church the old parsonage? Or, is there another house between them, that's hidden by the trees?

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[ilmason]

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church (the cornerstone of which was laid on the day of Canada's birthday -- July 1, 1867) was completed and opened for worship on Sun. Oct. 25, 1867. The spire of the Congregational Church was removed in Aug. 1873. So, that gives a fairly tight time frame for determining the date of the photo above. In answer to the question re: the old home south of the church, I suspect that this is the original Congregational Church parsonage constructed for the Rev. James (John?; there is some discrepancy in regards to his first name) Nall in ca. 1838-1848. The grove of trees certainly does not help our investigation, but it does not "appear" that there would be another residence between the home south of the trees and the church itself.