Historical Happenings
2 by Peggy Butterfield
March 2017
Uncle Tom ' s Cabin, New Brighton
About 1911, Uncle Tom ' s Cabin, a general store, was established on the south side of Bowhill Road in the, then, new community of North New Brighton. H. R. Wade built the store, and in the early days the store was the centre of the community, being a popular tea-rooms run by the proprietor and his wife and daughters.
The next owner was William Edward Leverett( 1874?-1943) who was commonly known as Uncle Tom. However, it is likely that the store derived its name from the title of Harriet Beecher Stowe ' s novel, Uncle Tom ' s cabin. Mrs Jillian Alice Leverett took over the store and the Post Office on 16 October 1917 and ran it with the help of her husband until November 1922, when the Chief Postmaster obtained approval to remove the Post Office to a new fancy-goods shop at 45 Bowhill Road, run by Mrs Caroline Agnes Peters and her daughter. Mrs Peters became Postmistress on 12 March 1923 at a salary of 32 pounds per annum. We have extensive photos and history of the local area at the museum, open every day from 1 to 3pm corner Hardy Street and Seaview Road.
Golden Oldie movies every Monday at 1.30pm, come early for a cuppa and a chat. $ 2 donation
Movies for March are- |
6 th Grand Hotel |
1932 |
Greta Garbo, 1hr 52mins, Melodrama |
13 th Jumbo |
1962 |
Doris Day, Jimmy Durante, 2hrs |
Musical |
20 th Key Largo |
1948 |
Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, 1hr 41min Thriller |
27 th Carmen Jones |
1954 |
Harry Belafonte, Dorothy Dandridge, 105m, Musical |