DO YOU REMEMBER – 24

All encompassing view of North Sydney

Hey do you remember old North Sydney back in the 30s, 40, 50 and 60s? North Sydney was a very busy spot with fishing fleets from Newfoundland, Portugal, and the United States often in the harbour. A very large fish plant and the ferry to/from Newfoundland. As well we had the Vooght Brothers department store when it was once a popular spot in North Sydney “Back in the 1870s and 80s North Sydney was the fourth largest port in Canada. Only Halifax, Quebec City and Montreal, exceeded it in total tonnage handled. It also had the largest department store east of Montreal, with the first elevator in Atlantic Canada.”

Turn Right Ahead – North Sydney

(Rannie Gillis local author, writer for the Cape Breton Post and noted Celtic Historian has permitted me to put this article in my Blog for the interest of you all. CAPER)

This statement, in last week’s column, led to several emails and telephone calls asking for more information on this particular department store, when it was in existence, and who owned it. But first, I must correct part of the above statement. In the 1870s and 80s North Sydney did not have the largest department store east of Montreal, that did not come until the early years of the 20th century, and it was known as the Vooght Brothers.

Vooght Brothers Department Store – North Sydney

However, in 1870 there was a Vooght store in North Sydney, which had opened in 1862. It was built by John Vooght, who had emigrated to Canada from England, while only a young man. It was only a small store, but when he was joined in 1873 by two brothers, Tom and James, the three decided to build a large general store on the corner of Commercial and Court streets. At that time it was the largest commercial building on Cape Breton Island.

Because of the town’s status as the fourth largest port in Canada, their business prospered and did very well. However, when it was destroyed by fire in 1902, the brothers decided to build a larger four-storey building on the same site, now the location of the Bank of Nova Scotia. Constructed of brick and stone it was not only the largest department store east of Montreal, it also had two elevators, the first in the Maritime provinces.

I vividly remember riding on those two elevators back when I was in high school, with Peter and David Miller, whose father had a business (Herald Stationers) in the former Vooght building. The passenger elevator was enclosed, but the freight elevator had open sides, and you could plainly see the walls of the elevator shaft as you made your way between the four floors.

I have several interesting photographs of the new store. One, from 1902, shows the massive building under construction, and you can just make out the scaffolding around the exterior of the building, as well as the large water tower on top of the building. This tower was required in order to provide enough water pressure for the bathrooms on the upper floors.

Piers – North Sydney

The Vooght brothers also operated a substantial wholesale business, with their own wharf and two warehouses located on the waterfront, directly across from their new super store. By 1914 they employed a total of 33 staff, made up of 19 women and 14 men.

Another photograph, from 1914, shows the entire staff lined up on the sidewalk in front of the huge store. You can see the name Vooght Brothers carved above the main door, and the brass hitching rail at waist level along the front of the building. This rail, which was at least six inches in diametre, was used to tie up your horse and wagon, when you came to town to shop. This rail remained in place until a few years before the building was demolished in 1982.

Newfoundland Ferry Loading

Would you believe there were 5,000 pairs of shoes in the Vooght Brothers shoe department?

I have a fascinating photograph that was taken in 1914 of the shoe department at the Vooght Brothers store in downtown North Sydney. Located at the far right of the ground floor, on the corner of Commercial and Court streets, this department usually contained at least 5,000 pairs of shoes. (In 1929 this section of the store became the town’s official outlet for the Nova Scotia Liquor Commission.)

The shoe department extended from the front windows to the back wall of this very large building. In this black and white picture, taken from the front of the store, shoe boxes are neatly stacked on wooden shelves that run the full length of the building. On both sides of the department the shelves were at least nine or 10 feet high, and contain hundreds of shoe boxes stacked in layers, one on top of the other.

On the left side of the picture, glass display cases showcase the latest styles in footwear, for both women and men, while the courteous staff made sure that the shoes or boots were properly fitted. This often involved accurate measurements of the contours of an individual’s foot, something which is rather hard to come by in today’s large and impersonal department stores.

In the centre of the photo a woman sits in a chair, modestly lifting her long skirt just above her ankles, while a saleswoman helps her try on a new pair of shoes.

The ground floor of the Vooght Brothers store was open in concept, with 16 massive doric-style pillars supporting the considerable weight of the three upper floors. A large number of tall windows on each floor provided most of the illumination, augmented by a few gas lamps. Electric lights were installed as soon as they were available, and the building was probably the first in the Maritime provinces to have a sprinkler system.

The five departments on the ground floor were separated from one another by eight-foot high wooden dividers. These included: shoe department; men’s and women’s clothing; groceries and chinaware; notions (hair ribbons, handkerchiefs, hat pins, etc.); and the quaintly named gentlemen’s furnishings, with socks, ties, and a wide selection of fancy umbrellas.

Back in 1914 there were no individual cash registers in the Vooght Brothers store. Instead, located above each sales counter, at a height of about seven feet, a system of wires ran off toward the back of the store. Bills of sale, and monetary payments, were placed in little metal boxes which were then carried along these wire tracks to the mezzanine located at the back of the first floor. Here, in this elevated gallery, cashiers made change and sent the transaction back to the customer.

Also located at the rear of the ground floor was the accounting department, where trained accountants kept track of all business transactions associated with the successful operation of the Vooght Brother’s store. This involved accounts receivable and payable, as well as salaries, taxes, and other legitimate company expenses. In the beginning, before the age of mechanical calculators, this involved largely handwritten entries. It was tiresome and mind-numbing work, usually at a salary not much greater than that of an ordinary clerk.

The second floor also contained a second lady’s clothing department, strictly off limits to men, which offered a wide selection of dresses, gowns, swimsuits, and female undergarments. There was also a millinery department, displaying women’s hats of every size and description, many of which were made on site.

Fishing Boats at Rest – North Sydney Harbour

On the third floor, frequented by working-class men, the glass display cases and racks of business suits found in the men’s first floor department were replaced with simple wooden tables piled high with durable and relatively inexpensive work clothes. Tradesmen, along with sailors, fishermen, coal miners and stevedores, came here to purchase what they needed for their various occupations. Large open boxes of work boots and shoes were also available.

The third floor also contained a large selection of carpets and rugs from Canada, the United States and Europe. Each year, in addition to North American jaunts, one of the Vooght brothers would travel to Europe to check on the latest clothing and furniture items available from European producers. At these trade shows they would place large orders for merchandise and clothing to ensure a steady supply of up-to-date items and fashions for the family business.

Indian Beach – North Sydney

The fourth floor of this massive building held furniture, baby carriages and cradles and appliances of all types, as well as pianos and other musical instruments. These often heavy items were transported to the ground floor by means of an open-sided freight elevator. The Vooght Brothers also had two warehouses on the waterfront, where schooners and other coastal vessels would pick up cargo for delivery to all parts of the Maritimes and Newfoundland.

I have on file a photo of the Vooght Brother’s building dated 1972, with signs displaying business names that many of us can easily remember: Grant’s Jewelers; Herald Stationers; Simpsons-Sears; and the Nova Scotia Liquor Commission. By this time the brickwork on the upper floors had started to deteriorate and a special gutter had been placed between the first and second floors to catch any falling bricks or debris.

By 1972 two of these firms had been in business for 100 years, although each started at a different location in the downtown area. Grant’s Jewelers first opened in 1871, while Herald Stationers started out in 1872 as the North Sydney Herald, a community newspaper. This paper was bought in 1935 by Charlie Miller, a graduate of Dalhousie Law School, and he moved it into the Vooght Building in 1947. Herald Stationers continued as a stationery store and print shop until the mid-1970s. Simpsons-Sears arrived in the 1960s, and the town’s liquor store had been located in the far right corner of the building since 1929.

 

 

Rannie Gillis – Author and Historian

Rannie Gillis is an author and avid Celtic historian whose column appears every week in the Cape Breton Post. He can by reached by email at ranniegillis@ns.sympatico.ca.

ORANGEDALE – CAPE BRETON

Orangedale

Orangedale Rail Road Station

(I selected Orangedale for inclusion in the Blog because as a youngster I was forever hearing about the place and its association with the Rail Road. Then years later when I was taking the train I would often step off onto the platform there just to see it and the surrounding country side. I was always impressed with place and its people. CAPER)

 

 

This profile of the Orangedale district includes a number of communities, both inland and in sheltered coves on the Bras d’Or Lakes. Orangedale East is located almost 10 km from the 105 turnoff at Iron Mines. This secondary (paved) road leads on around the peninsula (61 0 long/45.57 0 lat) to South Side Whycocomagh Bay, Whycocomagh Portage, Alba, West Alba, and Gillis Cove. The paved road ends at the tracks in Orangedale which is located in a sheltered cove at the western end of the North Basin. A dead end dirt road continues from Orangedale to Stoney Point.

The main paved road from Orangedale crosses south to Seal Cove and Eden, the

pavement ending at Crowdis’ Bridge over the River Denys. The dirt road then passes through River Denys, one branch turning east to about 3 km past Valley Mills where it becomes paved again following around the North Mountain peninsula to South Side Basin of River Denys.

Around the tip of the peninsula is the Malagawatch Reserve, 1000 acres of land held by the Mi’kmaq. There are some year round residents on this Reserve; there are also a number of summer residents who come from different Mi’kmaq Reserves. The inland areas of the district include, from north to south: Blues Mills (named for Dugald Blue), Ashfield (named for Ash trees), Big Marsh, River Denys Centre, and South Side River Denys. Upper River Denys is located on the west side of Route 105 alongside the Bornish Hills Nature Reserve.

 

 Orangedale on the Bras d’Or Lake

very early awareness of the areas is indicated by the place name River Denys, named for either Nicholas Denis in the French colonial period, or Mi’kmaq Chief Denny (in turn, named for Nicholas Denis). The historic Aboriginal presence was additionally marked by Whycocomagh Portage which Indians were known to use as an overland path between waterways.

 

The first permanent European settlement in the Orangedale district was mainly by Highland Scottish in the early 19th century, although some of the land grants were as late as the 1860s and 1870s. The expertly recorded Orangedale and Gillis Cove Cemetery, located about two km from the Orangedale Presbyterian Church, indicates the strong ethnic patterns of the earlier residents. The rare deviations from the Scottish trend include the names Surette, Veinott, Delaney, and (possibly) McIver. Outmigration

strongly affected the district as early as the late 19th century. We see a declining population in the statistics since that period, and also the loss of schools and the amalgamation of denominational parishes. The present population of the area included in this profile is about 500. Please note that exact population figures are impossible to ascertain from census data.

 

Part of the Orangedale Rail Road Museum

It is clear that the majority of the people in the Orangedale district have historically held with the Presbyterian religious tradition; but Gillis Cove has been historically Roman Catholic. There were a number of Presbyterian and Free (Church of Scotland) Churches in the area, the first one a Free Church Missionary built in 1828. Now adherents attend either the Presbyterian or United churches in Orangedale or Whycocomagh.

 

This district has traditionally relied on primary resources for its economic base. While farming was the first means of sustenance and livelihood, lumbering was known in the early period as well. In fact, C.M. Bethune in First Presbyterian Church in Cape Breton notes that River Denys is noted for the quality of pine along its courses.

The villages in the Orangedale district, such as River Denys, Valley Mills and Blues

Mills historically had churches, mills, schools, way stations, and stores with a variety of food, hardware and dry good items. The most significant village, Orangedale, had the most important railway station between Port Hawkesbury and Grand Narrows. In 1922 it had several lively stores, an important post office, good hotel, a comfortable public hall (probably the Orangemen’s

Hall for which the village is named) along with stone quarry, a brick manufacturing enterprise, all of which served the surrounding agricultural area.

Rail Road Signal Lamps used by Brakemen

 

Civic and Social/Cultural Amenities

The roads, indicated above, are in generally poor condition, with the unpaved roads being is better condition than the paved. The wood construction wharf which was rebuilt in the 1980s, is operated by the Orangedale Improvement Association. The wharf normally serves about 8 boats, but as many as 15 boats have been observed in the cove. There is a concrete small craft ramp into the Bras d’Or lakes from the edge of the Orangedale village.

Bus service to points west (usually Halifax) is provided by Acadian Lines or the shuttle from Sydney which can be boarded from Whycocomagh.

 The village of Orangedale has a central water supply which comes from a sink hole system is operated by the Orangedale Water Society and has 55 subscribers, both residential and commercial. The society is currently attempting to find other sources of better quality water for the community. Outside the village, the water source is private wells. Sewage treatment is by

private septics, except for the Lakeview Seniors Complex which has a larger system.

There is weekly garbage pickup for the Big Brook landfill; there is weekly blue bag recycling pickup for the depot in Port Hawkesbury. Some choose to deliver recyclables directly to the depot.

Orangedale Harbour

Fire protection for the Orangedale area is provided from the Volunteer Fire Departmentat Valley Mills. The Department has 17 volunteers, 4 active trucks (tanker, pumper, utility vehicle, first response van) and one 1941 truck for parades. The maximum distance travelled by the fire department is about 35 km.. The fire insurance rate is based on distance from the fire station: up to 8 km is rated protected.

 

The municipal area tax rate is 1.09/$100 for residential and resource (land not used for

commercial purposes); the commercial rate is 1.85/$100. The area rate for fire protection is 0.10/$100 (Valley Mills Fire Department).

Telephone service is provided by MTT. There is cell coverage in the area. Internet

service is dialup.

There is no CAP Site in the area. There is no cable television, but satellite

dishes are common. Electrical energy is supplied by Nova Scotia Power.

The Orangedale School closed in the early 1990s, and now students in elementary and

middle grades travel to Whycocomagh, while high school students go to Mabou. University and vocational students travel to whatever university or community college serves their needs.

Health services are available at Baddeck, Inverness or at the Whycocomagh Clinic.

Specialists are in these places on a periodic basis. Lab services are at Baddeck or Inverness.

 

Good Sized Smelts

 

Social services such as housing, home care or welfare are based in Port Hood or Port

Hawkesbury.

Orangedale has a Presbyterian Church and a United Church. Roman Catholics attend

Mass at the church on the Whycocomagh Reserve. There is a Gospel Hall at Blues Mills.

Probably the most important social/cultural landmark in Orangedale today is the

Orangedale Station Museum, organized and operated by the Orangedale Railway Museum Society. The station was part of the Inter-colonial Railway service begun in 1886. Jim St. Clair’s research shows that the station was built of stacked timbers, reminiscent of the older untrimmed log construction. The second storey was restored as the station agent’s living quarters. The building contains a waiting room, display and archival areas, and a small model railway. Outside the building are several examples of rolling stock, a diesel locomotive, a rail snow plow, and a

caboose. The museum is the result of the committed work of a community group who prevailed upon Canadian National not to destroy the historic landmark, and who then proceeded, with some expert assistance, to turn the old station into one of the best museums in Nova Scotia.

L’Arche at Point Grace, located near a lake just across from the Orangedale Railway

Museum, has a workshop and two community houses. There is a L’Arche craft and secondhand clothing outlet on the Orangedale Road to Whycocomagh.

The recreation potential for the area is strong. The Smith Community Centre was built by the Orangedale Improvement Association and can hold up to 250 people. It is the community venue for weddings, dances, concerts, suppers, etc., and voting. Other halls include the fire hall at Valley Mills, and the church basement at the Orangedale United Church. Orangedale Improvement Association is currently considering the possibilities of expanding the potential of Camp Aite Breagh which presently accommodates 80 – 100 young people per week during the

summer months. There is sailing, fishing, and swimming in the Bras d’Or Lakes. There aremany unofficial@ snowmobile and ATV or walking/cross country trails in the area.

Industries and Commercial Services

Major employers in the Orangedale area are Stora Enso Forest Industries in Port Hawkesbury and Georgia Pacific Gypsum Mining in Sugar Camp and Melford. Forestry in private wood lots is also an important source of employment. This includes pulp cutting, some logging, and silviculture. The silviculture industry goes beyond simply cutting and delivery: safety, disease control, controlled cutting, reforestation, all under environmental guidelines, are recognized as essential for an sustainable forest industry. Farm abandonment in the area since the 1940s, resulting in even old growth forest, is one of the causes of forestry destruction, such

as the spruce beetle pest.

A Peaceful Setting – Orangedale, Cape Breton

Oyster farming is also a major resource employer. The full impact of the recent discovery of disease in the stocks has yet to be realized. Orangedale was once the centre for oyster farming on the Bras d’Or Lakes, and there was a research centre located at Gillis Cove. Most of the oyster farming and research is now being carried through the Mi’kmaq communities around the Bras d’Or Lakes. Lobster is fished commercially on a limited scale. A sand pit near the Orangedale village supplies sand for the cement plant at Auld’s Cove: trucks from several companies are constantly hauling the sand.

Aite Breagh, a summer camp for disadvantaged youth is operated by the YMCA in

Co-operation with Community Services. Student employment and maintenance jobs are available seasonally. There are plans to expand the facilities and the functions of Camp Aite Breagh. Other employment is found in the service industries, and trade and professional fields: hair dressing, institutional maintenance, home care, motor vehicle repair, computer sales and repair, teaching, nursing. A significant number of people in the area are retired. There are two commercial establishments in Orangedale: the Smith General Store carries almost everything from gas to groceries to appliances to furniture; the Orangedale Building Merchants has a significant stock of lumber and building supplies. The employment is the area is probably evenly divided between seasonal/trades/professional/service and Stora/Georgia Pacific.

A nice peaceful place to live – Orangedale,  Cape Breton

A recent economic investment in the area was the initiation of a marble quarry at

Kennedy’s Big Brook near River Denys in 2001. MacLeod Resources plan on extracting

different grades of marble for various purposes in a three stage venture. They expect to export the unpolished rare red marble that is found on this site. Processing of marble is hopefully anticipated as well.

Tourism facilities, except for the wharf in Orangedale serving recreational boats, are

mainly found in Whycocomagh. Orangedale’s hotel is long closed, and the hostel at Gillis Cove is no longer operating.

The urban centres which serve the Orangedale district are Whycocomagh (10km.) and

Port Hawkesbury (40 km.). Commercial services are also obtained at North Sydney and

Sydney. Banking is done at Whycocomagh, Baddeck or Port Hawkesbury from a variety of banks and credit unions.

(Here are a number of sources who researched and put this article together. Along with sources are addresses where additional information may be obtained. My thanks to all those who contributed. CAPER)

Sources: Randy MacDonald; John Eddy King; C.D. Blue Forestry Ltd,

http://www.ns.sympatico.ca/c.d.blue ; Nova Scotia Atlas, 5th Edition, Province of Nova Scotia. 2001;

Soil Survey of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia (1963); Orangedale and Gillis Cove Cemetery

recorded by R Fraser (1999), http://www.rootsweb.com/~nscpbret/cem ; C.B. Bethune, First

Presbyterian Church in Cape Breton from MacTalla (nd); L’Arche Cape Breton,

http://www.larchecapebreton.com ; MG 14, 46: MacAulay, AValley Mills 9189596;

MG 13, 14: MacAulay South Side River Denys, 1914; Bruce Fergusson, Placenames of Nova Scotia (1963);Orangedale Railway Museum, http://www.museum.gov.ns.ca ; Jim St. Clair, The Orangedale Station, http://www.invernessmunicipality.com.heritage/Orangedale _Station ; Orangedale Home Page, http://www.bretoned.ca/cbtoursm/orange ; ECBC, http://www.ecbc.ca ; Natural Resources Canada http://sts.gsc.nrcan.gc.ca ; Natural Resources Nova Scotia http://www.gov.ns.ca/NATR ; Nova Scotia

MARINE ATLANTIC MODERNIZES

Marine Atlantic main topic as transport minister holds roundtable session

(Julie Collins – Cape Breton Post)

From left ,Cape Breton North MLA Cecil Clarke and Rob Merrifield, federal minister of state for transport, wrap up a pre-budget session held in North Sydney Wednesday

NORTH SYDNEY — Rob Merrifield, federal minister of state for transport, was in North Sydney Wednesday to meet with business and community as part of pre-budget discussions.

Topics :

Marine Atlantic , Argentia , Stena Group of Companies , North Sydney , Port aux Basques , Ottawa

An area of concern for businesses and commercial operators over the past few years has been ferry service to Newfoundland.

“When the prime minister first asked me to come into cabinet, what he asked me to do was to come to Marine Atlantic to see what could be done. I was absolutely appalled when I saw the state of Marine Atlantic — it was on life support. Previous governments had just let it deteriorate to an unbelievable state.”

He added that the federal government has since put almost $1 billion into Marine Atlantic in onshore improvements and fleet renewal.

Ottawa has earmarked $30 million for a new terminal in North Sydney. The terminals in both Port aux Basques and Argentia are presently being refurbished.

“One of the concerns is the accessibility to the main street and we are working on trying to address the layout of the terminal.”

Referring to the two new vessels, Merrifield said they will add about 50-plus per cent in the belly capacity to Marine Atlantic.

“The problem was that fundamentals, such as lack of capacity, were not addressed and no one last summer thought they were going to be,” he said. “This summer is going to be a little different with the two new vessels.”

 In May the federal government and Marine Atlantic announced that the corporation had entered into an agreement with Stena Group of Companies to charter two vessels to replace the aging MV Caribou and MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood.

This was made possible through Ottawa’s investment of $521 million over the next five years to revitalize MAI, and renew its fleet and shore facilities at North Sydney and Port aux Basques and Argentia.

In consultation with the Atlantic Truckers Association earlier this week, Merrifield indicated the truckers would like to see the reservation system come back into play.

“That is something that I think will be assessed as we move into the next few months.”

Local businessman Emerson Allen said with the minister behind Marine Atlantic, it should bode well for the community.

“With the new vessels and the infrastructure, in all honesty everything looks good,” Allen said. “This is only a small part of his portfolio, but he (Merrifield) seems to be really well up on the problems and the opportunities for Marine Atlantic. It is the opportunities we are looking forward to, because they benefit everybody.”

 Peter Gillis, president of the International Longshoreman’s Association Local 1259, said unions representing Marine Atlantic workers definitely had major concerns.

 “The last year has been incredible, to see the changes that have come to Marine Atlantic through the federal money that has been allocated,” Gillis said. “We can see significant differences already. We are excited about getting these new vessels to the dock.”

Gillis said the new ramps in both North Sydney and Port aux Basques will allow two boats to load at the same time.

“It is staggering to see the difference in capacity; I really think it is going to make a significant difference.”

Baddeck lawyer and entrepreneur Dan Chaisson said Wednesday’s session was incredibly instructive.

“I felt a lot better about Cape Breton today than I felt for a while; there was a very good mix of people at the table.”

(jcollins@cbpost.com)

(Despite the naysayers, the Federal Tories have done more for the North Sydney – Newfoundland Ferry Service then any other Government to-date – CAPER)