rian Wintori Hs to0rie ai Whitby THE APPLE FACTORY In this second article in a series on early Whitby industries, we look at the town hall which ended its days as an apple evaporating works. Whitby's first town hall was a two storey, brick building constructed on the south west corner of Brock and Trent Streets, which served as the headquarters of the town's municipal government from 1855 to 1879, when the municipal offices were moved to the corner of Brock and Colborne Streets. After the old fown hall was abandoned, there is little record of its use until 1891 when it was being used by S.W. Lowell as an apple sauce factory. Operating in the sunmmer and fall, the factory employed 60 people working day and night at good wages (50 cents a day), paring, slicing, drying and packing apples. On the half-acre lot behind the building, where the military drill shed used to be, was an immense heap of apples of all Brooklin > Bylines I NEWS The Brooklin Horticultural Society will hold its first monthly meeting of 1979 on Wed. Jan. 24. This meeting will be at 8 p.m. at the Brooklin United Church Hall. Following the theme of "Let's Have Fun and Learn Together", the first meeting will be a "share your secrets night." Members of the Society will be speaking on their specific horticultural specialities. Visitors are welcome. The "Silent Auction" is coming. Keep February 5 open. ViEWS A large new ice rink has been built at Meadowerest Public School by the Brooklin and District Kinsmen Club. Special thanks go to the Brooklin Volunteer Firefighters for their time taken to flood the rink. This rink is for the enjoyment of all who wish to use it. Man burned when A Whitby nan suffered minor burns to his face and left hand Jan. 8, when motor oil he was heating on his stove caught fire. Kaz Kotynski, 112 Elizabeth Crescent was trea- ted at the Dr. J.O. Ruddy Hospital and released. The blaze was confined to thekitchen and caused about $10,000 damage.to the house and $15,000 damage to contents. The Whitby Fire Depart- ment reported that Mr. Kotynski was heating about 3 and 112 quarts of oil which he Susan Smith Brown's Drop Off (before 2 p.m. Sat.) heating motor oil wanted to pour into his car's engine, when the fire broke out about noon. ~>J. WMITBYFREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 1979,PAGE 7 factory's site after the fire. The $800 insurance on the factory was paid to the town, which owned the building, and the Whitby Vinegar Company, forfeited the rights they acquired from Mr. Lowell to the site. His agreement with the town was that the land would pass to hirn at the end of 10 years of business, but the fire came at the end of eight years. The Vinegar company applied for the $800 insurance to be restored to it, and began making plans to reopen the factory in 1902. Further records of the apple and vinegar factory are not available, but it is believed it was still in operation as late as 1919. The two storey brick building in which it was located was still standing in 1920. The apple factory disappeared some time in the 1920s, and in 1937, William Davidson built a brick house which still stands on the site. . Although in operation for only a few years, the apple evaporating works was one of Witby's major industries, if only on a seasonal basis. M o w DTHAPAR Denture Therapist 214 Dundas St. E., Wiitby 668-7797 iOU R S Mon. - Sat. & Evenings By Appointment Only' - - - - - - - - - - on ..6ý sorts and conditions, amounting to about i,000 bushels. An endless procession of farmers' wagons loaded with fruit from all parits of Scuth Ontario County, made its way to the apple factory each fall. By the end of 1891, shortly after the factory was established, Mr. Lowell decided to go into the manufacture of vinegar, sweet cider, and jelly as well as making apple sauce. By the fall of 1892, Mr. Lowell had installed a hydralic crusher for squeezing out hundreds of barrels of eider a day. In a few rminutet, tons of apples could be crushed into pulp and the -cider extracted by means of this machine. It:was said that eider by the wagon-load could be made with only a one-hour wait, during the busy fall season. Apples were also being evaporated for export to the north countries in Europe in large quantities. A second set of drying machines and another powerful steam generator were installed in 1892. The apple pumice was pressed so dry as to make good fuel for the two large boilers. For 1893, Mr. Lowell announced his intention to put in a chopping mill for gristing at the close of the cider season. Seventy people were employed à t the apple factory in 1892, and by the end of that season wages amountirg to $4,000 had been paid (remembering that the pay was only 50 cents a day per worker). Mr. Lowell reported that 32,000 bushels of apples were dried in 1892 and "enormous quantities" of eider were produced. There were three huge tanks full of cider ready to be turned into vinegar at the end of the season in December, 1892. In 1893, Mr. Lowell took to the road, selling his clarified vinegar, and was reported to be meeting with good success. Some time between 1898 and 1901. the apple factory was severly damaged by fire, but Mr. Lowell decided to undertake the reconstruction of the building. A bit of a legal battle developed over ownership of the One Parent Families expect Whitby charter M the near future The Whitby Chapter of the Meetings are held every One Parent Families Asso- Monday evening in the ciation of Canada met in the program room 0f the Whitby program room of the public Public Library at 8:30 p.m. library on Jan. 8 with over- To be eligible for member- whelming success. The turn- ship one must be a parent out was exceptional and al] and bewithout a marriage were more than pleased with partner by reason of death, the constitution and aims of divorce, separation or the One Parent Families unmarried parenthood.. The Association of Canada. custody of your children is The enthusiasm of those fot a requirement. who attended was consider- For further information able and the One Parent about'the local Chapter in Families Association of Whitby, caîl 668-4118. Canada should be granting a charter to the Whitby Chapter in the very near future. There are few pro- blems to be encountered in obtaining the required 15 members for the Whitby Chapter. For the upcoming meet- ings, préparations are being made for various speakers to lecture on a number of P u b i c i a N D a buil un un g centre 1