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At the North corner of Main and Dufferin Streets (now corner of Weston & Lawrence) there was a large hotel called the Eagle House in front of which was a wooden verandah with rocking chairs where patrons could sit and keep an eye on the activities of their neighbors. An extremely good dinner was served on Sundays, so good that many neighbouring families would prefer to have dinner there than go to the bother of cooking at home. David Rowntree's shop opposite on the West was trian- gular in shape with a couple of steps to go down to the entrance. Bridgeman, the butcher had his shop next to Rowntree's on the Weston Road side and the side walk was laid with brick. The dwelling quarters over Bridge- man's projected over the side- walk which was a great boon if you were caught in a shower. There was a very fine Town Hall (for its age) in which was hung a large bell that was rung every morning at 7 A.M. to wake everybody up and again at 6 P.M. to tell everyone it was time to go home for supper. It was also rung for fires. The last time I recall hearing the bell rung was when a number of citizens congre- gated at the Town Hall to celebrate the end of World War II and rang the bell with joy and happiness. One of the greatest changes here is the present lack of build- ing lots for single dwelling houses and the rapid growth of the pop- ulation. There is very little land available now and even the land around the C.P.R. station with its pretty flower gardens surrounded by a hedge of small fir trees has been sold and replaced by single dwelling bungalows. On the East Bank of the river was quite a large piece of land called the Fair Grounds with a pedestrian swing bridge crossing the river at the South end of the grounds. The yearly Fall Fair was held there and it was used for many other outside activities including trotting races, lacrosse games, hockey and an occasional cricket game as well as exercising the horsed kept at the livery stables just opposite on Dufferin Street and owned by Mr. Mobbs, who also ran the blacksmith's shop on South Station Street. The Fair Grounds have now practically disappeared and the land now occupied partly by the Weston Arena, Swimming Pool and H.M.C.S. Illustrious, the Naval Cadets H.Q. in Weston. Weston Tennis Club have their courts there and every year on the 24th of May. the Weston Lions put on a Fireworks Display. One of the events of the year in the Town Hall was Nomination Meeting Night when the Mayor and Council were nominated. It was always a most lively affair. No punches were pulled and nobody took any offence at the hard things that were said or the most uncomplimentary remarks made about a candidate's lack of ability. , On the 11th of June 1941 a young oak tree was brought over by ship from Windsor Forest and with due ceremony planted in the Town Park. It is a remarkably fine bushy tree today and can shelter many people under its branches on a rainy day. An imposing Cenotaph has been erected at the entrance to the Park off King Crescent. In 1935 the C.P.R. ran a commuter train to Toronto. It wasn't much of an affair just one carriage and an engine. In the morning going down to Toronto the engine was in front pulling and coming back pushing. The service was no doubt for the benefit and convenience of the many railroad men who lived here. We took the train -- walked to Dufferin Street (which used to be called Eagle Avenue) and crossed the bridge, which was a somewhat old iron one. The bridge was badly damaged during Hurricane Hazel on the 15th October 1954 and later replaced by a handsome concrete bridge and the road renamed Lawrence Avenue. A little time after I arrived in Canada, Lou Farr, who was in the same office as I was, said he was going to Weston to look over a piece of land he was thinking of buying on the other side of the Humber River and would I care to come. the CENTENNIAL page 16 Everything seems to have changed so much since I moved to Weston with my family in 1935 that unless I put down onto paper an account of some of these changes over the years they will be forgotten. . Town of Weston 40 Years Ago It is the desire of some of the outside part of the present school section to be relieved from paying taxes to the village school and to form a new school section. At Saturday's Town Hall meeting, we noticed Mr. J. Linton, chairman and Mr. Jos. Johnston, sec 'y of the School Board, Mr. Henry Welsh, Reeve Bull, Council- lor Kaake. In front of the High School was the football field which was partly cut up into allotments during the last war and used by people around for growing vegetables. A streetcar used to run down Main Street to the Junction where you had to change if you wanted to go down to the shopping district of Toronto. The street car to the Junction was a somewhat rickety affair, in which there was a coal stove to warm the car in winter. There was a box of coal in the car which had to be put on the stove. Behind Chapman's Garage on Dufferin Street opposite the Fair Grounds was a very large barn used as a car workshop, in winter the windows were left open and water poured on the floor which froze making a skating rink where many minor hockey teams would play. As soon as the Second World War started the Weston. Civil Guard was organized under Major G.H. Wilkes and a little later was known as the A.R.P. under Captain M.J. Lepingwell and a thorough course of Air Raid Police training was started. The entire area was divided up into Sections with proper highly trained Wardens, all of them holding the St. J ohn's Ambulance Corps Certificate and with a supply of fire fighting equipment and other supplies such as shovels, buckets etc. Over 500 men and women took the full course of A.R.P. lectures which were held weekly in Memorial School. Written by the late M.J. Lepingwell, age 88, Dec. 18/77 and donated by his daughter, Barbara Leewis The arbitrators are Mr. Henry Duncan for the township, Mr. J. Cruickshank for the village, Mr. Fotheringham, chairman and Mr. Clerk Leighton, secretary. Mr. Johnston impressed his views upon the Board - which afterwards met in secret session. refusing the presence of the press to take notes. We understood no decision was come to, a little more expense being added through not having proper information at hand to form a decision. The probability is the outside portion will be separated from the village as regards to school purposes. Reprinted from The Weston Times, Sept. 12, 1890 issue Arbitration Railways continued from page 15. important railway system in eastern Canada and remained so for many years. In 1870 a group of Toronto merchants planned to put into action the idea of a narrow gauge track of 3'6". Up until that time a standard gauge of 5'6" was used. The Grand Trunk allowed the group's company, The Toronto Grey and Bruce Railway Co. to put in an extra rail along the Grand Trunk right of way. On Tuesday, October the fifth 1869, Weston was honoured with the presence of royalty. Prince Arthur of Connaught, later Duke of Connaught and war-time Governor-General of Canada performed the turning of the first sod of the Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway. The ceremony took place beside the tracks at Oak St. Virtually all of Weston and many of Toronto's elite turned out to witness the ceremony and join in the celebrations after- wards. In 1884 the Toronto Grey and Bruce Railway was leased to the Canadian Pacific Railway. The coming of the first World War affected the railways severely. By 1917 both the Grand Trunk and the Canadian Northern were bankrupt. In the midst of a war, the government found itself help- ing both railways financially. Thus, due to amalgamation, the two railways running through Weston today are publically owned through. the Canadian National and the Canadian Pacific Railways. The Grand Trunk Railway Station, above, later became the Canadian National Railway property when the Grand Trunk company went bankrupt in 1917. This photo was taken prior to the take-over. A board walk extended from King St. to John St. and right along the frontage of the Canadian Pacific Railway's station, located near John St. Citizens tried to save this venerable building a few years ago, but to no avail. w, iitt, Pt.tii