If These Walls Could Talk - St. Catharines
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A little tour through history in St. Catharines. Just a handful of examples of historic homes that are still standing today. As ever, I sometimes wonder, if these walls could talk...
The cache is not at the posted coordinates. You must first visit these beautiful, historic homes. At each house you will be able to find the required information from your car or the sidewalk in some instances. Each clue will help you find coordinates to the final which is a short hike away. You'll be looking for a classic ammo can :o)
The posted coordinates are at the John Ball house. You do not need any clues from here but it is a hidden gem to say the least. Do yourself a favor and check it out while on your tour!
Happy cachin' :ox
JOHN BALL HOUSE
51 Mountain Street
The original stone portion of this house has a two-storey, five bay aspect facing the driveway. The main facade is of split face ashlar coursing with cut stone quoins. The sidewalls are of a more random coursing and all stone is chiefly local. All the windows have solid stone sills; some with solid stone lintels and others with a flat arch of the same local stone. The land on which the building is located was originally a Crown Grant to George Ball in 1796. The property was sold to the Public Works Department in 1843 and was then turned over to the Welland Canal Loan Company. During this period, the building was used as the home of the lockmaster, overseeing the work of 17 locktenders.
HERITAGE HOUSE
29 Edmund Street
"Heritage House" consists of the original two-storey brick structure, rectangular in plan, with a two-storey rear addition. The house displays a blend of mid-nineteenth vernacular styles; the gabled roof with decorative brackets reflect the Italianate style while the front gables with their distinctive pointed windows hint at the Gothic Revival tradition. Originally known as the "Thompson House", it was originally owned by William and Sarah Thompson. William was a music teacher at Ridley Collage from 1900-1940, and gave many students a solid foundation of musical knowledge.
GREENWOOD - O'LOUGHLIN RESIDENCES
127-129 Ontario Street (at College St.)
Caroline Mack built the semi-detached house at 127 and lived there until 1904. The house constructed in 1874. The architect chose elements from all of the most popular architectural styles to create a unique design. The entrance mouldings are distinctly Classical with projecting cornice, frieze and columns. Additional classical features include the dormer windows, parapet along the roofline and gabled projections. The gingerbread moulding along the gable edges, however, has been taken from Gothic Revival architecture. The roof style, called mansard, is a common feature of the French Regime Style. The windows have curved tops, typical of the Italianate style. A skylight was cut into the roof that was aligned with openings in the floors allowing light to reach the ground floor. The interior also featured a curved staircase and two marble fireplaces, one on each floor. The Greenwoods lived in the building for five years but the O'Loughlin family stayed on for fifty years. The house appears to have been vacant after the death of Kathleen O'Loughlin in 1975 and before Gordon Stewart commenced renovations in 1977.
JAMES NORRIS HOME
9 Norris (at Cherry)
This home was originally built for Godfrey Waud. In 1876 Captain James Norris, owner of various mills and ships, married into the Waud family, and the home passed into his possession. Captain James Norris; a sea captain, businessman former mayor of St. Catharines, and Member of Parliament. Norris also donated extensively to the local hospital. The house remained in the Norris family for over one hundred years. Built sometime before 1852, the house was designed in the Classical Revival style as shown by its elaborately trimmed eaves, rectangular windows with heavy sills, lintels and gabled roof. Queen Anne details have been added including the rounded veranda that wraps around the west side of the house and elaborately trimmed bay window to the east. A stone coach step with the Norris name is located by the street. When we were out looking at the home we ran into the owner who says he has a portrait of the former owner in the entranceway as a tribute to its heritage.
HAWKEN HOME
9 Centre Street
Built in 1904-05.James and Isabella Hawken jointly operated the Dominion Electric Company. Dominion rewired used incadescent light bulbs for the Packard Electric Company, until they got out of the reconditioning business in 1907. Dominion, renamed The Dominion Tugsten Lamp Factory after the death of James in 1918, took over that end of the business and stayed with it until the mid-1920's. Isabella Hawken was a female pioneer in business, both as a foreman at the Packard Electric Company and later as the owner of her own electrical company.
RODMAN HALL
109 St. Paul Avenue
Rodman Hall was built by Thomas Rodman Merritt who was born in Mayville, New York in 1824 and died in St. Catharines in 1906. He was the fourth son of the Honourable William Hamilton Merritt (1793-1862) who built the first Welland Canal. He was the grandson of Thomas Merritt, a United Empire Loyalist, who fled from the United States in 1796, settled in the Niagara district, and bought land on the east bank of Twelve Mile Creek slightly south of the Queen Elizabeth Way. The Merritts lived here until the death of T.R. Merritt in 1906. Upon his death, Rodman Hall was inherited by his only son, also named Thomas Rodman Merritt. In 1959, Rodman Hall was purchased by the St. Catharines and District Arts Council and opened as an art gallery the following year. Wings were added to the building in 1961 and 1975. The Arts Centre was turned over to the management of Brock University in 2003.
BROWN JUPPIEN HOUSE
1317 Pelham Road
This structure represents one of the few remaining earliest dwellings of this area, and is a fine example of a Loyalist Georgian House executed in local stone. The general structural characteristics and surviving details date if from the first quarter of the nineteenth century, and much of the original plan survived. It is believed that the house was occupied by Merritts Dragoons during the war of 1812.
THE PUZZLE...
N43 07.ABC
W079 13.DEF
A = The third digit in the year the James Norris home was restored (on the plaque at the front door).
B = The number of green garage doors at 127 Ontario (on College Street).
C = The third digit in the year on the stone archway at Rodman Hall.
D = The number of sides on the shape of the window over the garage door at Heritage House.
E = The fire hydrant accross the street from the Hawken Home is two colors. Count the number of letters in the color of its base.
F = DOUBLE the number of chimneys that can be seen from the road on the Brown Juppien House.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Purpxfhz vf guvegl sbhe