Blog Archives - THE GEORGETOWN VAULT

THE GEORGETOWN VAULT

Mill Street

1/31/2019

Old Roxy theatre
There was a disco in that building for a while. Dry ice, flashing lights, the real thing. Anyone else remember that?
it was the Roxy bar for a little bit back in the early/ mid 80s
Also the Gregory I think..
Yes, it was Roxys...Went there all the time.
It was a 2nd home in the 80's! So much fun
I rented an apartment there, top left window!
- I too rented that apartment, then moved across the hall. Sometime around ‘78 or ‘79. Blast from the past!
The bowling alley was there too, next door I think. I was never in it but heard about it. Never hung out at the roxy
- you can see the bowling sign just above the Gremlin
- I used to work there setting pins in the Bowling Alley!
- My brother Al worked there I remember going with there all the time when I was young
- I used to bowl there too! Thanks for changing my pins Glenn! 😝
- That town changed my life in such a positive way. Even those who were mean to me I love all the people I met here. Georgetown will forever be in my heart, sounds corny but it’s facts!
Is that my orange gremlin?
Where is the other half of that car?
The Roxey
Early 70's, keep em coming 😊
Love the car ·
My sister owned an orange Gremlin around then, friends lived in the apartments....could be?. ☺
Geoff is that your Gremlin?
The 'ol bowling alley before it became Muscle Works.
Great times , we made up our own teams back then .
My sister, Elaine, worked there.
I also worked for Al & Ross Norton setting up pins lol great times with good friend
Nice Gremli
WE lived in the app. above the bowing ally the [1960 .] the sub shop was a pizza place called FATSOS I think it was the first one in town ??
- Hey, when you lived there was the Roxy still standing??
- no WE LOOKED OUT OUR WINDOW TO THE EMPTY SEATS
- Yes and a tree growing up in the aisle. I saw it also. Don White had an apartment there as well.
- YES he did so did CALVIN KING
- Not too many people remember the Roxy anymore, huh?
- that IS FOR SHURE
- Is this where the parking lot is now, just down the road from the McGibbon
no.. the building is still there.. beside the Salvation Army store..It's painted all white/cream now
Thanks!
My Dad helped put out the fire in the Roxy
I just came out of the Roxy watching a movie! So sad to have it burn down
I remember a place I think it was called Howies in that place before it was The Roxy in the 80s
Hi the first place to open after the Roxy Theatre was Jakes Disco, unfortunately it opened the night Disco died ! Howie Oram and I opened up again under the name Howies in 1981, long story short, Howie bought me out after 6 months and then went bankrupt in a few months. The owner of the building (Al Pilutti) and I reopened under the Name "The Roxy" in 1982, was a great "Rock & Roll" bar until 1986 when Al closed it down and converted the downstairs into offices.
Ya , I forgot about Jakes, likely cause I was never there LOL, but do remember going to Howie’s a few times.
Me too . Had been to the Roxy just before the firecrackers(I think) burned it down
yes it was a fine dining restaurant up stairs and a bar down...I worked both in 1981
I loved working at the Roxy then. Had a blast. 😁
Me too !!
I remember a place I think it was called Howies in that place before it was The Roxy in the 80s
I remember that building burn down, I believe it was a large firecracker that cause the fire at the Roxy. I used to be a pin-boy at the bowling ally in the basement beside the Roxy.
It was a big loss when it burned down. Spent many a Saturday afternoon at the movie
Does anyone have pics of the Roxy?? I have only seen it burned out
Used to go to the Roxy often around 83'-84', when it was a bar and dance place. Mike Reid was the DJ back then.....I didn't know about the fire......too bad
- The fire was in the foxy movie theatre. Before my time. Probably yours too.
- II do believe the ROXY in the late 50s it was before we were married[1960] I would say maybe 57--58
- The fire was in the late 50,s early 60,s that I can remember
- The fire was 1958, I remember raiding the candy bar after all the firemen left 🤣
We moved in 1960 in Jan. and it was burnt out then maybe 1958 when it burned
- So sixty years then...
- Do you know how old the theatre was when it burned?? And what was playing at the time? Lol..
- WE HEARD THAT IT WAS . B,A,N,G the story said the fire started because of a FIRE CRACKER ////WOWS
- the Building was built in 1919 by MacKenzie and Son for the Gregory Family. the original name was the "Gregory Theatre". That was what we called the dining room above the Roxy in the 80's
- Thanks . G'town history! Awesome! Is this Main street
- No it is Mill Street by the Old Post Office across from Silver Creek Towers
- Thank you!
Is that "The Soup Pot" in the front right corner? Great soups and pies!
- The Goblet ! Paula Granton and Fern Wolf
- I loved The Soup Pot, I often had lunch there.
- It was called The Goblet
- It was The Soup Pot when I went there.
- It was the goblet when my Aunt Fern owned it

Main Street

1/31/2019

love it thank you
I watched the building in the top centre burn to the ground in the sixties. It was on the corner of Cross St. and Highway #7. I forget what that building was......
- Townhall / firehall.
- Right! Thought that was ironic. A fire hall burning...
- St. John's had a steeple.
THAT looks like it is a orange parade
You can just see the side of the old Holy Cross church in the upper right corner.
Main St. looked better back in the day. All the Old Buildings without paint or bill boards on them.
It looks like main street and cross are still hard pack dirt when the picture was taken. The sidewalk looks to be a boardwalk (wood). So, while I agree that the brick buildings look great without all the clutter, after a few days of solid rain I think the situation would just be wall to wall muck. :)
Probably put boards across the road when that happened for people to walk on. Or they just got muddy.
THE down -town dont bother me we hardly go down there any more all the stuff we want is up this way
I could go downtown and do most of my Christmas shopping at one time. Not now. Don't come to Town often anyways.
Looks like a parade of some kind.
- could be an Orange Parade.. We use to have them
- Yes we did. That would be a No No in this time.
- Glorious 12th of July
- I take it thats the Main Street
Looks better back in the day,I think.
Remember the old fire hall. Steeple on St. John's before my time though.

Georgetown Dairy

1/31/2019

Michele Norton wow! where was this located?
Around where the Kentucky chicken was I hear mr mrs. clearance Bain ran it .
- dont know when the dairy moved to Maple and 7 was their in 56 building is still there dentist office and around the back where horses went is a lawyers office
It was downtown on main street.. The Dairy was where The cross street apartments are now - The entrance to the parking lot beside Goodfellas - The bell tower in the back ground was the old town hall/fire department.
- it sat where the Canada Trust building is now. Because it was the former Rail Station, it had to be on flat ground for the trains.
This is the Norton Building, built by Al Norton, still owned by Ross & Terry Norton, to my knowledge.
at 1 time was this building not the police station ? in the late 50s?
- I'm not sure.. I know there was one on Mill street where the doctor offices are now
- early 60 s in building beside Golden Fish and Chip . Police Chief Bud Lowe ..
- other side of the street ;)
- Do you remember if the Georgetown Hydro and Water office was at the back of the same building?
- no only remember it down by the old post office across from Steens
- Town Hall was across the street between Wigo TV ,Golden Fish and Chips, Comfi Furniture and the TD bank. The cop shop was at the back of our town hall.
- AT one time the emmerson brothers [JONNY & JIMMY ] had a tool & die shop in the back of it
- what’s they large building on the hill looks like a church
- it is the old town hall. It burned down not long after I took that picture
- The bell is now in front of the fire station 10 side road and 8th line.
- I believe the building you are referring to was the municipal building, the Town Hall was on Guelph St. across from the old fire hall. I remember going to many events there back in the 50’s.
Anyone have the old sign...?
It was also the Chrisian Reform Church for a while too.
My first field trip from Chapel Street school was to the Dairy. Ice Cream at the end of the trip.
The tracks and Radial Railway station were right there back in the 20s
remember this building went down to get milk for my mother a few times
We renovated the Dairy for The Christian Reformed Church. It was beautiful inside.
What year did it burn down?
Did not know it burned down Richard. When we lived in Cadaro's Apts we would play at the side of the building. At one time they kept a horse behind it. Cadaro's Building burned down.
Would this be where Canada Trust was?
Yes
I think the building on right was where Mrs. Livingstone sold her baked goods.
- Yes & the Taxi. Can not remember who owned it. Stu Simpson was a driver.
- I think ABC Taxi, owned By Rick Braisbys Dad.
- Kent Robinson that taxi stand was owned by Jack Morrow, his first venture in the taxi business, I can remember being there with my brother who was friends with Jack, it was a regular hangout for the "boys".
- Thought maybe that is who owned it but not sure. Thanks Bob.
- Livingstones bakery was in the next building to the south!!
- Thought so...thanks
Best chocolate milk ever.
The bell on the top of the old town hall behind the dairy is now in front of the Fire Station at 10 side road and 8th line.
I cant place this at all
Me either
The Old Dairy ?
Where was this & when did it burn down?
I vaguely remember getting a taxi with my mom when we shopped downtown. I recall a wood walkway at the front. Am guessing late 50’s.... I would have been around 4. Somehow I remember it being next to Silvers Department Store.
- I just remembered something when I read Silvers Department Store. My mother was friends with Thelma Nash, Jerry Nash’s mother. We were about 5 years old, and for some reason all dressed up. It had been raining that day so the slanting front of Silvers was still wet. Jerry & I started sliding down the slope from the front door. We were told many, many times to stop, which, of course we didn’t, both of us fell at the same time, covered in dirt & rain! We both got spanked!
- I now recall Jerry’s name was spelled Gerry.
- A group of guys borrowed the milk wagon one Halloween and tried rolling it down Main St. hill. 1960 or so.😳
- And would you have been one of those “group of guys”? 🤓
I remember the dairy but I've been away so long I can't remember where it was
remember the dairy but I've been away so long I can't remember where it was
did not move into town until 1965.
I remember when it was a dairy in the mid 50’s . We had our milk delivered by horse and dairy wagon. The stable was in the basement at the rear of the building. It was later converted into the Georgetown Christian Reformed Church.
I remember the horse being in an open stable behind the Dairy. Would visit it every day.
I lived close by on Main St north and spent many hours in the bushes along Back St And in the yard next to the dairy.
Lived in Cadaro's Apts . Very near next door to the Dairy. Used to play in the bush behind Main St. with the stream running through it.
That was before they made the parking lot by filling it in with garbage the whole parking lot was a dump at one time lol
As a church, we had our Youth gatherings in the stable.
- Was it still open Clara or had they closed it in probably.
  - It was closed in and made it into a decent meeting room. The inside of the Dairy was totally remodeled and it was a beautiful church. The meeting rooms were at the front. I miss that building.
  - I remember every Saturday morning about 7:00 am in the 50's running out on street to feed the Milkman's horses sugar cubes.
Is this the dairy that Mr. Tyers owned?

Dominion Seed House

1/31/2019

We lived on Normandy Blvd, and my Mother would walk across the street to work. She would watch out the window to see us walk to school.
It is great to see all of these old photos. It would be nice if you could take the same picture today from the same spot.
so remember this land mark in Georgetown
Love these pictures Bonnie.
Miss that view.
The other iconic building, mushrooms and seeds
Brings back happy memories
- Yes, your younger sister and I spent many summer days walking up to the cemetery and enjoying the shady trees on "the plot" and we could look across and see DSH. (We had to rent one of the DSH warehouses to store the things pre-auctions). Wonder how many auctions Alf has done so far 👆🏻. 😄
Such Beautiful Flowers grew in those fields.
Yes I remember this , but the garden is just beautiful now. Soon it will be beautifully lit up for Xmas. Thank you to all the volunteers.
Dominion seed house owned by William Bradley
I have a piece of the seed house itself framed
What year was this taken
1980
Wow Seeing this picture sure brings back memories of those years.
Yes, as some one said - the gardens are still beautiful. Thank you. I volunteer weekly at the garden and enjoy keeping a memory of Georgetown alive. You can be part of this by volunteering to be a Friend of the Old Seedhouse Garden. Please see our website for information.
Remember sitting at gas station at the top of Normandy, with 7-8 others, under darkness, cross hgwy 7, roll under the fence, run up to apple trees, fill up your t-shirt, back under fence, to gas station and sit and eat them
- i was telling that same story yesterday Johnny, they thought i made it up, good ole boys from the blvd
Remember that place well.
My first part time job.
My dad from Newfoundland ordered his seeds from there
my husband had family members that worked there.
Remember it well
We have two pkgs. of flower seeds still in the pkg from Dominion Seed House. They were given out at the GDHS Reunion way back in the day.
Remember it well
Worked there for a little while back in 61

Mountainview Road

1/31/2019

Was what that dealership on the right ? Mason motors ?
Isn't that Andrew Murray Motors
I don't think it's Masson. It's hard to make out but it looks like a Chevrolet Oldsmobile dealer.
That was the chev dealer before it was Andrew Murray wasn't?
that was Murray Motors.......Pete Masson was on the hwy beside Standard Products.
That's right Mike u bought a car there back in the day I remember now
Bought my Jimmy at Massons from Peter Delio
Is it possible this is actually Mountainview, with Murray Motors on the right and Dominion Seed House grounds on the left?
- Wow I was right! Well there's a first time for everything. 😂
- TThis would be mountain view road no
- I agree
This is Mountainview and the Seed House property on the other side
I remember when it was just 2 lanes....Damn, I'm old
With nice old trees
I remember just 2 lanes with ditches on both sides. Ya it’s Andrew Murray Motors, Mason was on Guelph St where Gtown Chrysler is now..
Nice
I remember.
Yep - nothing there but the seed house gardens
Those were the day's.
I remember that well
I miss the way it was!
I remember when it was two lanes in this area
i remember that time
I remember! Hungry Hollow was the best!
Loved the town back then.
- Getting a little too big and busy for me now.
- I remember when Mountainview looked like this. Anybody know approx. what year this was?
- Remember it well
I use to work at bumper to bumper
I don't miss those white outs along this road in the winter.
- I'd rather deal with the white outs than all the residential building and the increased traffic.
Remember it well!!!
What year was this?
- - sorry I don't know
  - Dave, you used to actually work at Murray Motors at one time, you of all people should recognize this as Mountainview Rd. North.
  - most likely taken from about the corner of Todd road looking north
Great imaginative name, although no mountain
Looks like RUBBER ROAD

Halloween

1/31/2019

Chariot Races

1/31/2019

I think it was charoit race
Was the principal a “Rebel”?
It was the chariot races
Is there still this much school spirit?....or did the Rebels do it best?
Actually, this was a slide that I submitted some time ago. My mom took it. It was the chariot race and I am slightly off camera in Ben Bur. In the foreground pulling are Gary Glover and Michael Macdonald.
Incidentally, this was May of 1969.

GDHS Football

1/31/2019

Maybe 1954 - 56 somewhere. Dave Hart, Pete Hart, Sandy McKenzie, Tom Dobbie Don Anderson?
By the time I attended they had banned playing football. I started in 1973 grade nine
why banned ???
I think they had a fatality
Rebels once, rebels twice, holy jumping ..........😎
Hubby played in the 60's, Son played in the 80"s. Never heard of it being banned. Maybe someone out there would know more about this.
- Never heard of a Ban
- Do you think this is out at the park?Car in back is from the 40's.
  - I “think” it’s behind the school. That property was a farm until it was developed
  - THE farm was own by some TOAST man
  - tost's farm I delivered them the toronto star . Was between high school and wrigglesworth school
  - The barn and farm property was owned by Jack and May Tost, Jack sold land for Wrigglesworth school, Georgetown High school as well as Holy Cross Catholic school!!
    - His Mother was Barbara Tost Kennedy, Father, George Kennedy, founder of Georgetown.
    - After selling pieces of the land to the schools and post office, the Government expropriated the rest of my Grandparents's land to expand G.D.H.S. Sad, as of course, they were grossly undercompensated and ended up in the tiny bungalow directly across from their beautiful old property.
DID not know him but knew his son DALE
YES help him build a home on the 6th line
- Thanks for your help! Growing up in that home, on that land, was Heaven!!
- Dale used to work at Bucks meat store
  - Fun fact: While working there, Dad was charged with the task of rallying the Downtown businesses to adopt the "closed on Monday's" policy that is still in place today!
  - Love hearing the stories...Pretty sure I used one of those helmets in Grade 9.....198

Meadowglen Mushroom Factory

1/31/2019

Ah the memories of "turn the manure days".......everyone in town and beyond knew it!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes!
Mushroom factory
"Here Comes Ken!"
A very close friend of the family was tragically hurt in the plant
I was an adventurous child, the horror I feel to imagine my kids exploring the rubble of this place like i did YIKES!!...but I have to laugh and embrace, cherish and remember what my adventures and life lessons have taught me! Now that said children of mine you will Grounded harshly if you do foolish things like I have, "it's your ballgame" (Greg quote..love you Dad, just saying) ..I've gone thru what I have and its so so much!
YES! we totally climbed the walls and walked all along the track, also tobogganed on groundhog hill! great times!!!!
- OHHHH!!!!!! we were on arletta across from moore park plaza but a quick trip "down the hill" had us on Ontario st
- :) Groundhog hill was in cedarvale park right?
- nope, off the tracks up by the mushroom factory, you could see glenwilliams from the top to the hill
- Yes many fires up there

I grew up on John St and I was almost always outside exploring the world.

I worked there as a kid picking mushrooms lol
Wow the memories this picture brings back
Where is this pic taken? What is that street in the background?
Not a street. It’s a road on the factory property. Taken on mountain view.
Oh! Thanks. I’m curious to know what’s there now.
A ton of houses.
thanks, Bonnie. I’m always interested in what places looked like before ‘development’. Thanks for the info.
Most of the wooden buildings that were there before those concrete buildings appeared were levelled after a fire. Anyone living on John Street knew the smell of burning manure as well as the smell of the fresh stuff.
this is were grandpa worked
What is happening or holding up development of the Smith and Stone site? Is the land there contaminated? There would be asbestos from the kilns, heavy metals from the parts that made the switches and fuses. Anybody know?
- That’s what I heard but only rumours
- Apparently after ground testing. It’s highly contaminated
- Black lung was a killer for many S+S workers from the asbestos and the metals used to make the products they made.
- Silica was the one thing in that plant used in pottery light fixtures - it’s was everywhere when I worked there
- I remember those fixtures. Mom worked on them in the 40's.
- They were not my favourite to fettle (sp)
- One of the biggest contamination came from diesel fuel tanks that ran the boilers. These tanks were compromised and buried underground and diesel fuel would leach in the ground for years and they just kept refilling the tanks. They have had a pumping station installed for years trying to remove as much fuel from the ground as they can. The tanks have been removed for a while now but the ground, well you know.
- I can smell it just looking at this picture!
- Worked here for Christmas money 1978

Fire central...
remember the smell on Ann Street when the wind was just right 🙂
I worked there it was the best job mushroom fights lol
Lived on Alexander Street for 40 years & always had mushroom spring up in the lawn and gardens plus the smell on some days would curl your hair!
There was a small house at the top of the hill ,the lady there ran a small daycare in the house
My first job as well..memory flashback..grab you head lamp, battery pack, and knife and off you go climbing into those beds. Good times..🙃
And dream of mushrooms 🍄 lol.
I found it very eerie reading some of the comments this morning about all the fires at the mushroom factory. I now live in the Meadowglen area , the old mushroom factory land. In the past 4 years we have had 2 big house fires and 1 car fire in our neighbourhood. So this picture and comments gave me the chills because I find that’s a lot of fires in 1 small area. 🔥 🔥 🔥
I grew up on Victoria Street. Sure was a stinky place!lol
I worked at the mushroom factory briefly one summer and hated every second of it!
I worked there for a while
I worked on building it
· Worked there 4.5 years.
I remember that, Larry!
I also remember hearing the fire sirens one night (one on the freight shed, too close, very eerie) and sitting up on my bed looking across to see the flames above the freight shed roof! Very scary when you're little.
- If you lived on John Street, seeing and hearing the fire trucks on their way to the mushroom plant in the middle of the night at least once a year was not new.
That is our dad “ here comes Ken”
- My Dad and I both worked with Kenny. My Dad drove truck there in the 70's, I worked there in the 80's. Your Dad was a lot of fun, good guy. Merry Mushroom would not be politically correct in today's climate. I drove the truck your dad drove after he left Meadowglen. One of several jobs I did while working at Meadowglen. Hard work at times but a lot of fun
- Me too! We smelled as ripe as the factory when we were done. My dad drove home with all the windows down, all year round, when he gave me a ride home from work lol
Work there when I was in high school!
Worked there when I was 12! Lol Great times!!
My dad and my uncle worked there when they first immigrated to Canada.
remember going there all the time when I worked for Flash taxi and Royal Pizza.
OH MAN! we lived on Arletta as kids (grew up there really) and in the mornings my Nanny (Helen Norton) would say "Smells ripe out there this morning, they must have turned the mushrooms!!" and it was RIPE! 🤢
My father built everything there other than the two original block grow houses. That was back in the 70s the cannery should be to the right of the photo.
My oldest son Jay worked there, first job.
The closest building is the bunk house. I remember George washing his socks in the laundry room wash tub while he was wearing them.
- was Rick the guy from England? Had the S10?
- Yes. He was actually from St. Catherine’s , he was a good guy but troubled. I think he took off to England. Long time ago. He flipped the s10 , rolled it over could completely and back into all fours going south on the 9th line - mountanview rd. That was before they filled it in, the hill going south bound was steep. He drove it back to Murray Motors and left it outside the shop. Pretty messed up , it was basically new and leased.
- Hungry hollow as we knew it back then.
- Where he flipped the truck. Hard to figure out how he did it going up the hill. I remember talking with Rick about it afterwards
- The odour...... Not so good.... Funghi!
- Horse manure- compost. A special mixture to build lasting memories. 😉
Our house on John St backed onto it
I remember trucking old topsoil out of there & new in.They would hire as many trucks as they could get to do the job fast.
The joys of being down-wind!
This was a great post although my memories are from the cannery I really enjoyed reading all the comments. Thanks for sharing!
I remember that place as a kid
Use to play Soccer their after mushroom plant closed...
On strike at S&S learning how to play euchre (sp) at the poetry door keeping trains out now when I play cards I smell 💩
- I remember that strike Cheryl. We were not very old. Remember doing nite shift in the tent. Bud Lowe brought us pie's up.
Smell was awful.
I served coffee and donuts at Mr. Donut to some of the guys that worked there...the money stunk lol
Mom worked there

GDHS

1/31/2019

It was like this in 1960.
Does anyone know exactly why the original old building was eventually torn down?
Was it not worth saving?
From what my Grandma had said there was a fire in the old building.
For some reason I can't figure out this pic. I thought i knew at first but did one of those sections get torn down before we attended in the 80s? I can't place the 2 story next to the lower building and that doorway....
Didn't look like this when I started in '65
Really?? This is GDHS??
I started there in 1973 and I don’t remember it looking anything like this!!
The stairs on the far right I can't make sense of. The elevation alone is throwing me off
Perhaps the back side?
Did the space between the two brick building become the courtyard we had?
- that certainly seems plausible. Wonder if the pic is from Guelph street....
- I am thinking the back....near the beach volleyball pit
- Could be - from the old old photos the old high school was further back on the hill. It is way behind the Anglican church.
From what I’ve seen of pictures of the original school. I think this is the front of it. There for taken from Guelph street. I think the front building is where the offices are now..... as to where the stairs are now in the school.
I don't recall the school looking that old architecturally, as in the building at the back.
Where’s our 1950s high schoolers. The angle is really bugging me now.
The road went around there.....when I went the white building bottom windows was the art classes....strange angle
The middle. Between the buildings is the court yard. The front offices now run along the back of these buildings. The road to the pool runs along the side of the front building. Would have been the smoking area in the 80s I think.
- Those windows on the left side became the teachers lounge. The boilers were in the front corner addition in the front wing that paralleled Guelph Street, along with the office when they added the two story front wing.
Mid 60's
I believe the angle is actually taken from the corner of what is now the track and football field. The key is the topography and the tree line in the back. The original brick building has either been incorporated into the current structure, or was removed altogether when the indoor pool was built. The area behind the fore structure is the rear parking lot I believe. Guelph street is to the right, behind a line of houses. St. Georges is basically straight ahead (slight right) behind the various school structures.
Not sure Sean. I’m going by the stairs. And the elevation. There’s no stairs back there.
The middle. Between the buildings is the court yard. The front offices now run along the back of these buildings. The road to the pool runs along the side of the front building. Would have been the smoking area in the 80s I think.
wish I could get street view from this angle.. but I think it was taken where the Arrow is..Pointing towards the upper right..that would mean the "front" of the old building is facing st. George's... Just checked an older pic i have in the vault.. the front of the original school faced the Church
Nope...the pic is taken from a vantage out of frame, but lower right corner. In your aerial pic above, the corner of the building in the lower right, is the corner of the building that sits on the higher elevation in your original older pic.
is this the front of the old school?
yes.. that's the front.. facing st. George's ..
Remember when the school was there, there was also a lake. Having the school face downtown overlooking the lake would suit the architects of the day.
Didn’t look like this in mid 70s
This is pre 1960
50's maybe - I have no memory of seeing the old school!
If it is...and it looks like it then it means that single story in the front was completely torn down. Which still wouldnt make sense. There would be way too much space between Guelph street and that 2 storey building.
The only question is, was the bldg the same front and back??
no it's still a single story...on that part anyway
If you go in the front doors now.. turn right towards the offices,, then go to the next hallway.. turn left.. down where the guidance offices.... That's the hallway in the single story part..
pretty much where the photographer is standing is where the tech hall is now..
So the old smoking area would be in this area also. This is the St George’s church side of the school?
Ok I found the picture that shows the old school from facing Wilber Lake and not Guelph St. This explains to me the photo location a lot better!!!

Yes. I left in 57 and school was as pictured. Moved back in 60 and old section was gone. I remember now. Senior moment.
I think Bonnie nailed it. It's just the the Tech Hall is not there yet.
I was there in 59-62 remember both the old and the new
The old was gone when I arrived in 1967. Old there with my siblings. Only the old when my dad and his siblings attended.
Is the photo taken where the gyms/auditorium were built?
Can not remember the Old School there when I went.
Shame the got rid of the old part , I would gather that is hard some neat features
I think I read somewhere there was no central heating in the old school. Each classroom had a pot-belly stove. The design was beautiful but could not be expanded to accommodate a growing town. Knocking things down was cheaper than finding ways to work with the old grand buildings. Thank goodness they sold the old post office instead of knocking it down to build a new one. If the site had more land, that is what they would have done there too!
Had a good look at the roof so I don’t think it was the pot belly stove in each room as the roof doesn’t seem to have a ton of chimneys
But I think it was just a case of function over form
I can remember construction happening about ‘64-66
We all remember the steps going down into the gym(s). When I started the library was across from the front office. By grade 11 we had a new library, the thing called a "cafetorium", gym 3 and a wing of classrooms above the shops
When did you attend GDHS? My apologies if you were there at the same time that I was (1967-1972), but your name doesn't ring a bell (mind you, the clapper on my bell is beginning to get clapped out).
1966-70 - I was just a bit ahead of you, that's why
I started at GHS in Fall 1959. Already the old Lennox-designed building had come down and been replaced, and there had been additions to what you see in this photo. As near as I can make out, the white windows at the far left faced the church and housed the home-ec classroom. The doors that you see in the middle with students standing outside … in 1959 they led into an east-west hallway that ran beside the gym and joined up with the two-story section at the right (it was a single gym, with a glass-brick wall on the south side). In other words, the original gym would have sat right where those kids are. The cafetorium was built onto the right-hand end of that two-story section – can’t remember the exact date, but it had been built by the time I left in 1964. Probably about 1962.
The Lennox building was replaced by a new section that had the shop classroom on the ground floor and science labs on the second floor. It was on the north-east corner of the school (i.e. the end closest to Kay’s)
Mom graduated grade 13 in the old school in 1940.
Attended from 1956 1958. I started in the old school but the extension was started No pot belly stoves. Lol
I remember shortened school days in gr. 9 while new section was under construction.