I was much surprised when I learned that the first brewery in Lindsay was located at the north end of what used to be Horn Brother's Woolen Mills on William St. North.
A gentleman by the name of Cornell used to brew beer at that location said Guy Mills. "Eventually the brewery then moved to the corner of King and Lindsay St. North, with the entrance being off Lindsay St., and was operated by John O'Reilly. Eventually he changed things around and one would enter from King St. which then became the front of the building," said Mills.
I recalled that when I was as a boy my late father would pick up a six pack for 99 cents and that included the six-cent deposit on the bottles. We kids used to bottle collect from various spots where we knew, what we called "the hobos", did their drinking. Off we would go with our collection to the "Empty Bottle Depot" on King St. directly across from what used to be Wesley Walden's Feed Mill and take them to Joe Hennessey, who was employed by O'Reilly to tend to the empties and issue the refunds. Bad luck was awaiting us because we were informed by Joe that you had to be 21 year of age to cash in empties. That didn't deter us though; we just waited until some kindly gent would come along and cash them in for us.
The next move the Brewers Retail Store made was to Kent St. East where war veteran Harold "Blondie" Gilkinson was appointed manager.
With the ever increasing population of Lindsay and surrounding area your scribe fails to understand why the Brewers Retail Store on Kent St. East couldn't have remained open when the newer store (where one can't buy a good cold beer) opened. Sometimes so-called progress can be a step backwards!
A man by the name of "Jimmy" Shannon was the proprietor of the first Liquor Store in Lindsay and did so until the Liquor Control Board of Ontario was formed. This store was located where the TD Bank's extension now stands. The position of Lindsay's first liquor store manager was with the appointment of one time Lindsay Daily Post Editor by the name of Tom Begley.
The liquor store's next move was to its present location.
