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WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 1976, PAGE 7 Historical Whitby by arian Winter McCrimmon House This large brick house on the west side of Centre Street between Trent and Pitt Streets is surrounded by modern homes today but )ue it stood alone in the centre of the the block as part of a large estate. It was built in the summer of 1905 for Neil McCrimmon, who served as Ontario County Senior Judge from 1900 to 1911. Judge McCrimmon was born June 23, 1858 at Vankleek Hill in Glengarry County near Presc'ott, and began his working life as a lumber man on the Upper Ottawa River in the 1870s. He led an adventurous life as a young man, spending three years in Wyoming and Utah Territories as an agent for a stage coach company, before returning to Toronto in 1882 to enter Osgoode Hall law school. From 1882 to 1884 Mr. McCrimmon studied law at St. Thomas and Ridgetown, and was called to the Bar in 1887. For nine months he practised in St. Thomas before moving to Toronto. In St. Thomas his partner was his cousin, Angus McCrimmon who later became Crown Attorney of Elgin County. In Toronto, Mr. McCrimmon was a partner in the firm of Macdonald, Maclntosh, and McCrimmon until 1900, when he was appointed as a judge for Ontario County, and moved to Whitby. The McCrimmon family was active in community affairs, Mr. McCrimmon being 'President of the Young Men's Liberal Club in Toronto in 1890-91 and President of the Canadian Club of Whitby in 1904. Mrs. McCrimmon was elected president of the local branch of the National Cou ncil of Women in 1902. The McCrimmons had two daughters, Margaret and Helen. Judge McCrinmon had a promising career, but it was cut short by a "lingering illness" which afflicted him during the latter part of his terni as county judge. He died at Whitby on June 12, 1911 at the age of 53.. After Judge McCrimmon's death, - his house was purchased by Theodore King, vice president of the King Brother Tannery, one of Whitby's three leading industries. The King Brothers Tannery was established about 1863 and was located on the site of the present Whitby Plaza, bounded by Brock, Gilbert, Green and Dunlop Streets. Theodore King was known as "Tede" King, and his brother Joseph, president of the company, lived in a large estate on Green Street, now boarded up and in ruins. "Tede" King lived in the old McCrimmon house until the tannery closed in 1953, and then moved to Toronto. After he sold the house it was divided into apartments. The fate of the McCrimmon home is an example of how changing economic conditions affect society. In 1905 Mr. McCrimmon was a reasonably wealthy county judge who could afford to purchase two thirds of a block and build a large house in the centre of it. Mr. King, who was a prosperous businessman, could also afford to keep up such a large home and own extensive property, but by the 1950s, when the house was sold, there were few people who could afford to keep up such a piece of property. The house, like many of the old estates of Whitby, was converted into apartments, and the land around it was sold for building lots, so that today, the old house in the centre of the block, is surrounded by four modern homes built in the last 25 years on lots divided up from the original estate. It is unfortunate that the original McCrimmon house is hidden from view by modern development and its beauty cannot be fully appreciated by those of the present generation. by Norm Mealinq I have a lot of small items to deal with this week, so, without further introduction, here goes. The final community association dance of this season is being held on Saturday, June 26th, at Heydenshore Pavilion. Billed as a Spring Fling, the evening will feature music courtesy of D.K. the D.J., and a hot Chinese food meal. Tickets are $9.00 per couple, and are available from any of the-Executive. The annual Family Fun Day is scheduled for Saturday, June I2th, at Central Park. The last two years' fun days were a great success, but a lot of work is required. If you can give a hand, call Karen Kerr at 668-2244. While I'm at it, rumour has it that T.V.'s Uncle Bobby will be on hand for the day. The next general meeting of the W.L.C.A. is scheduled for Thursday, June 17th. The time and location haven't been settled so I can't a;nounce that today. But mark down the date, and plan on being there. May 26th, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the West Lynde Public School, the Ladies Auxiliary of the 5th Whitby "B" Cub Pack is holding a bazaar. The proceeds of the night will go to support the pack's activities during Diamond Jubilee week in June. If you have anything to donate to the bazaar, give Fay Drew a call at 668-9915. Don't forget the Miss Brook~lin Spring Fair contest. If you are between the ages of 16 and 21, you are invited to enter. Information and entry forms are available from Councillor Bob Carson at 655-3662. The contest will be held on June 3rd at the Brooklin Arena, so, if you are interested, why not plan on attending. We were sorry to learn that Liz was moving, and was, therefore, going to have to give up writing Brooklin Bylines. We always found her column well worth reading, and most informative on what's going on in Brooklin. We wish her well, and we look forward to reading Brooklin Bylines courtesy of the new columnist, Val. Well, that's it for this week, folks. See you in a week's time with more Words from West Lynde. Hi folks, all is not yet lost so far as our Police Station is concerned. There will be at least one more kick at the kitty and that will be at the Regipnal meeting on May 26th. In the interval before the meeting, I would hope that ail of you will carefully assess the situation. Town wide, the people have said 'WE CARE'. In some way the Region has managed to hit a sensitive nerve in every Whitby citizen. It is our Police Station regardless of location, plumbing facilities level of service or whatever. We, the People of Whitby, would lose a little more of our identity if it were to be closed. We are proud of our Town, and our Town includes all of the present services along with the Police Station. Last week, I said 'this is only the beginning', so dear folks, don't .give up, our job is still far from being completed. Regardless of how far our Council is prepared to carry the issue, stay in there and support them ail the SPRING FENCING IDEAS 1 x 6 CLEAR REDWOOD 18c LIN FT DURALS LATEX PAINT $499 gal. DURALS DECKING STAINS REDWOOD WALNUT $539 gal- MITCHELL BROTHERS Building Supplies Ltd. Brooklin. 655-4991 CEDAR way. They need us now! Next month is the twinning with Longueuil. It sounds like an exciting weekend and I would urge all of you who can to participate. The schedule so far is:- June 25 (morning) leave Thornton Railway depot for the trip to Longueuil. Thirty five rooms have already been reserved for the three-day event. Plans are currently underway for a tour of the Olympic site on Saturday and the Town of Longueuil has a variety of activities planned for your entertainment. Several residents of the Corridor have already indicated their interest in the weekend excursion. Sunday will be the return train trip to Thornton Station and home. We will keep you up to date on details as they become available. Ail interested persons, please call Bill Wallace before the end of May and he will confirrn your reservations. This is a fun week-end, so think positively and ----GO. The Association executive made representation to the Administrative Committee on Wednesday afternoon May 5th, in favour of retaining the Official Plan's 25% lot coverage. This matter affects all future development within the entire Town of Whitby and will be before Council for its decision in the near future. We do not know as yet, if our Council is even considering a change. We feel that the residents of the Town are quite happy with this restraining clause. Time will tell. At this time, I would like to thank the Garrard Rd. Lacrosse Association for kindly forwarding their monthly newsletter to me. I will try to report your activities in this column as well as the Corridor Area Monthly news- letter. That's all for this'week, please call 725-8967 with all the latest news items. We need your support. Mary McEachern. GLOBAL LEASING % OFF SAny weekday rental With this coupon 305 o.is . re ... e y McMANUS & STRONACH WHITBY MALL 576-4431