Silver and Gold Magazine Winter 2019/2020 | Page 10
SENIORS MOMENTS
SHARE YOUR MEMORIES
– By Don Crossley
If you have memories, comments, and stories
you would like to share, please contact Don at:
[email protected]
You may also send your photos and letters
through Silver & Gold Magazine.
See page 5 for mailing address.
W hen I first arrived in Burlington in the fall of 1952, as
a sixteen-year-old, it was a much smaller community than
it is today.
To begin with, in those days the population of the Town of
Burlington was just over 5,000. The municipal boundaries
were Maple Avenue in the east, Guelph Line to the west, and
the old “Middle Road”, part of which became the route of
the Queen Elizabeth Way, to the north. Lake Ontario was,
of course, the southern boundary.
photo: Toronto Public Library TS-2-124-GO-299
Traffic travelling between Toronto and the Niagara region
had to cross the old lift bridge on the Beach Strip, and follow
that route almost to Stoney Creek; there was no Skyway Bridge
until 1958. The original lift bridge was damaged beyond repair
in 1952 in a collision with the lake freighter W.E. Fitzgerald.
A temporary bridge was erected, until the current one was
completed in 1962.
Of course, on a hot, sunny day, being stranded on the
Hamilton side of the bridge while a freighter went though,
wasn’t necessarily a bad thing; it was home to the Beach Strip
Amusement Park! Whole car-loads of hot, sweaty children,
could get their fill of ice cream, hot dogs, bumper cars and
Ferris wheels, while they waited for the bridge to come down.
Downtown Burlington c.1958
Robinson’s & Renner’s Drugs, 1959
photo: Hamilton Public Library
Brant Street was, of course, the “main drag”. The majority
of shops and other businesses were located on the stretch
from Lakeshore Road up to Caroline Street. Beyond that
– starting where the No Frills Plaza is today – a huge apple
orchard extended to cover most of the area between Brant
and Guelph Line. Thousands of homes stand today in the
area which was once the market garden of Ontario.
While I do not recall all of the businesses located on Brant,
I do remember the Royal Bank at the corner of Brant and
Lakeshore. That building, largely unchanged, still stands
there today.
Just up the street was Waumsley’s Book Store. Mr. Waulmsley
was Fire Chief at the time. When the siren sounded to summon
the volunteer firefighters, he would quickly close the store
and rush to the fire hall on Elizabeth Street, ready for the
arrival of his crew.
Next to his store was Mel Howden’s Shoe Store. It was very
popular with the children of the time. When they were trying
on new shoes, he would x-ray their foot inside the shoe to
make sure it fit properly.
Further up the street on that same east side was Dale’s
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