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Daily Journal · Record Centennial Edition, Friday, Sept. 1, 1967 Old Schools Scorned Frills Cbmmon School was William Tassie, born and educated in Dublin, Ireland, who em igrated to Nelson Township in 1834. Just 21 when he took charge, young Tassie took his pedagogical ap And when, in 1834, Oakville prenticeship so seriously that Com mon School was form ed in a meeljnghouse located on the three years later he w as offer ed a better position in Hamil site that later accom m odated Old Central School and is now ton. Several years later, he be being transformed into our cam e headmaster at Gore Gram Centennial Centre, the 3 R ' s m ar School at Galt, where he had to share the structure with won distinction as a leading educator. religion. Oakville was well on its way to becom ing a thriving port be fore the pioneer town fathers finally got around to thinking about facilities for education. BOARDS AND BENCHES NEW STRUCTURE The O A K V I L L E Y M C A - YWCA is is is is Y O U N G "* 1 0 th B ir th d a y th is y e e r G R O W IN G " over 1000 e n r o lle d C O M M IT T E D to h e lp in g y o u th g ro w In b o d y , s p ir it a n d m in d C O N S T R U C T IN G R ebecca S tre e t - a new b u ild in g « n Desks in that first school conWhen Common School attend isted o f slanted boards suspend ance clim bed to 140 by 1850, ed from side and back walls on Trafalgar Township set out to hinges. And when church serv raise some $1,500 for a new, ices were held, these desks were m ore expansive building. And Swung down flush with the w allj presently a two-storey b r i c k to make room for m ore benches building was erected im mediate fo r worshippers. ly to the north of the old m eet M ore than two hours each day inghouse -- the start of the Old w ere devoted to penmanship, Central School that served the which was regarded almost as town for 100 years. a craft in that era, and teach Original enrolment was 190 ers were kept busy trimming quill pens, ruling sheets of pap pupils, but in the beginning only er, and carefully preparing mas one teacher was employed. He ter cop y for students to copy. received the princely stipend of The desks w ere used for pen 100 English pounds per year. and improved, is Oakville-Trafal" out" , manship only. During other les- And school was never gar High School. aons the pupils sat on long bench as classes continued through 12 months every year. es facing the m aster' s desk, each SECOND SCHOOL oquiped with a slate and pencil. In 1854, when Central got an The three grades of pupils were addition and V em er was named About 1920, a second public taught reading, writing and ari headmaster of what then be school, Brantwood, was built on thmetic. cam e Halton County G ram m ar Allan Street, and two years later School, he finally received in Westwood was erected on Wilson structional assistance -- a n d Street, to serve the west side of SPELLING BEE got a pay boost to 197 pounds, town. Both schools have since Probably the m ost interesting 10 shillings. He was succeeded, been enlarged. feature o f school life at that per in the older part of the building With the rapid expansion of iod was the spelling match. It at Oakville's com m on school, Oakville and Trafalgar in the w as usually attended by a num by Daniel Benjamin Chisholm, past two decades, m any new ber of the pupils' parents, who a native of Scotland. Chisholm schools have been built. There brought refreshments with them. was not related to the town's are now four high schools and When the words in the spelling founder, had previously taught m ore than 20 public schools in book had all been exhausted, a school in both Streetsville and the present town. dictionary o r a Bible might be Milton. The history o f the town's first used. Sometimes a spelling match separate school, St. M ary's, goes would be followed by a fight am back m ore than a century. It PUBLIC LIBRARY ong the pupils. was established by Father Jere By 1874, the gram m er school miah Ryan, pastor or St. And FIREWOOD, TOO! And the com m on school had a rew 's Rom an Catholic Church, com bined enrolment of 300 and in 1860, in a fram e building at the Discipline was a keynote of five teachers. So another addit- rear of the church, and its first those early school sessions, and was constructed at a cost teachers w ere Sisters o f St. Jos regulations governing teachers of $4,000, and the work included eph, mem bers o f a religious or w ere extrem ely demanding. A a frontal tower that provided a der that had recently com e to teacher was required to " take room to house the public lib Canada from the United States. a parental as well as pedagogic When the school opened in 1860 rary. Seven years later, still al care over all pupils placed another addition costing $2,700 there w ere two sisters teaching under his tuition," and his dut-* com pleted the Old Central School the 107 pupils. The num ber of les even included responsibility that educated many generations pupils had increased to 127 two o f requiring each school subyears later, but average atten of Oakville-ites. acriber to provide his full share dance had dropped to between Central Public School, was In 80 and 90 by 1870. F or some o f firewood " cut to stove length use until 1959, when it was re years, until leaving Oakville in and properly piled." The o r i g i n a l copy of the placed by New Central School on 1890, three o f the sisters ga ve in school's rules and regulations, Balsam Drive, the nam e perpetu struction in m usic, drawing, sew BS drawn up by Justus Wil- ated at the request of the stud ing, and other subjects to child lia m V " o M oY the first trustees, ents. The town's civic centre is ren 0f all' denom inations in a being built on the old site m a y be seen In till? QW * house that is now 150 King St., O ffice Museum. Included in After the passing o f the School which was used as a convent. this display is the school' s first Law Improvem ent A ct in 1871, A new building for St. M ary' s desk, and the first m aster' s the nam e of the gram m ar school school was erected about 1930, quarterly report, covering t h e was changed to high school. and has since been enlarged. period from D ecem ber 12, 1836, About 1910 a separate high school Within the past few years, six was built on Reynolds Street. m ore separate schools have been to M arch 12, 1837. First schoolm aster at the This school, now greatly enlarged built in the present town. is LOCALLY AUTONOMOUS - a . O a k v ille e n te rp ris e In a c tio n to s e rv o O a k v ille is A M E M B E R OF OAKVILLE'S UNITED APPEAL WHY NOT JOIN THE " Y" C EN TR A L SCHOOL SERVED TO W N 110 Y E A R S T e m p o r a r y lo catio n -- 105 D u n n S t. New Civic Centre being built on old site 845-341 7 YOUR VARIETY STORE 19th Century Style One hundred years ago. Canadians certainly received personalized service from the v a r i e t y "store" merchandiser. He brought his wares right to the customer's doorstep, t h r o u g h all kinds of weather, via horse and wagon. Standard items on display were needles, thread, coal scut tles, mops, buckets, brooms, cookware, bolts of cloth and of course, the usual array of patent medicines. Considering the problems he had, he did a pretty good job of serving his customers. YOUR VARIETY STORE 20th Century Style Fowers add Sunshine to everyday living . . . S tr ik e a d e c o ra tiv e n o te in y o u r h o m e w ith o n e o f o u r lo v e ly flo r a l a rra n g e m e n ts . C u t flo w e rs , corsages, flo w e rin g p la n ts , a r tis tic a lly d e s ig n e d to s u it y o u r ta s te a n d b u d g e t. C o m e in soon. * Wedding Specialists * Funeral Arrangements Hospital Deliveries Daily Deliveries fo your area Visit our greenhouses now CASH AND CARRY SPECIALS EVERY SATURDAY Times have changed since 1867 and it's impractical for today's modern merchant to go to his cus tomer, but Kresge's still specializes in personalized service -- a trait taught to us by the old-tim# peddler. We're always delighted when you visit our store at Hopedale Plaza and look over our wide range of fresh new merchandise. And we try to show our pleasure through friendly, court eous service. We've added a few improvements over the old way of shopping for variety mer chandise. Like aisles and aisles of items to choose from -- more clerks, brighter, more spacious surroundings. These are the enjoyable results of progress and, during Centennial Year we'd like to pay homage to the early peddler who set the stage for our modern store. Come visit us soon. CLARKSON G R EEN H O U SES 814 Southdown Road 822-0992 ONTARIO CLARKSON r