Store & Post Office at Palermo, L. Hager, General Merchant

Description
Media Type
Image
Text
Item Type
Photographs
Description
This general store was one of two at Palermo. Over the years, other proprieters and post masters/mistresses of this general store and post office besides Lawrence Hagar were James, Dobson, G.S. Wood, R.B. McGill, W.P. Sargent and Eva Nussey.

This photograph is undated but hydro wires are visible as is a "bell" sign on the pole which denoted the availability of a public telephone in the store. The local telephone switchboard exchange was in this store.

This store stood on the north-east corner of the Dundas Hwy and (what is now) Old Bronte Road. In 2013, the store is long gone but the house to the right of it still stands.
Notes
Palermo, founded as Hagartown (also written as "Hagarstown", is a former village in Trafalgar Township, Halton County, Ontario. The village was established in 1805 by Lawrence Hagar, a settler to Upper Canada from Pennsylvania at the intersection of Bronte Road and Hwy. 5, (Dundas Street). The village was named Hagartown until 1836 when it was renamed to Palermo in honour of Horatio Nelson, Lord of Palermo for the opening of the post office.

By the 1870s the village had two stores, a hotel, wagon shop, blacksmith shop, harness shop, brick school house, churches, a telegraph office and drill shed. The main businesses were run and owned by the Hagar family in the 1800's. The village was amalgamated with Oakville in 1962 along with Trafalgar Township, and other nearby villages.

Thanks from the Trafalgar Township Historical Society to the Burlington Historical Society for the donation of this photograph.

Early land registry records and Trafalgar census records from 1851, 1871, 1881 use the family surname spelling, "Hagar". However, the 1861 census and the family gravestones in the Palermo cemetery use the spelling "Hager". Discussion with family in 2016 shows that most family members use the spelling "Hager" with the exception of one descendent group who preferred the other. During our discussion, we also found records with the following spellings - likely as interpreted from the new immigrants by Customs officials - Hauger, Hegi, Hauge.
Inscriptions
L. Hagar, General Merchant ; Palermo Post Office.
Subject(s)
Personal Name(s)
Lawrence Hagar. Early land registry records and Trafalgar census records from 1851, 1871, 1881 use the family surname spelling, "Hagar". However, the 1861 census and the family gravestones in the Palermo cemetery use the spelling "Hager". Please research under both spellings.
Local identifier
TTJEW00212
Collection
Trafalgar Township Historical Society
Language of Item
English
Geographic Coverage
  • Ontario, Canada
    Latitude: 43.43341 Longitude: -79.78293
Donor
Gift from the Burlington Historical Society
Copyright Statement
Copyright status unknown. Responsibility for determining the copyright status and any use rests exclusively with the user.
Recommended Citation
Store & Post Office at Palermo, L. Hager, General Merchant
Contact
Trafalgar Township Historical Society
Email:michelle@tths.ca
Website:

Trafalgar Township Historical Society Sponsor: Jeff Knoll, Local & Regional Councillor for Oakville Ward 5 – Town of Oakville/Regional Municipality of Halton
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