Who was Henry? From the scrawled name etched haphazardly into the lone brick, I would guess that he was a bricklayer’s assistant. Possibly, Henry was the only word he was able to write. Like someone writing their name in wet sidewalk cement, I suspect that Henry wanted to leave a message that he had once been there, so he took a nail and carved his name into a brick as he placed it into a fire-scorched wall.
Henry has been waiting a very long time for someone to acknowledge his message.
The brick in question is part of the eastern wall of 39 Dunlop Street East. It can be found on the third-floor office space of the recently launched 5fold, a creative agency specializing in branding, advertising and websites.
Henry, whoever he was, would be rather astonished to find that his simple communique from 1875 lay waiting to be uncovered until now, and that its discoverers were a group of digital age designers and developers. A row of desks with the most current laptops available sit feet from Henry’s shout-out from the past.
This part of Barrie is one of the oldest. The business area from present day Meridian Square to Five Points, on the south side of Dunlop Street East, is known as the Glebe Block. Originally, it was land set aside for use by the Anglican Church but it was eventually sold off for commercial use.
We know that by at least the 1850s – possibly earlier – shops, taverns and services lined the streets of Barrie, all of them built from wood and most covered in a roughcast finish. We also know that each of these blocks fell to flames eventually and that the Glebe Block had its turn in June 1871.
A particularly detailed newspaper article in the Northern Advance of June 29, 1871, is an excellent record of the businesses that were operating in that block before fire destroyed all of them a few days earlier. In fact, the writer took care to list the ruined business places in the order in which they stood.
At that time, Mr. William Hunter was operating his tea, wine and spirits shop known as the Canton T Store on the site of present day 39 Dunlop Street East. These tough pioneering businessmen didn’t remain idle for long. Hunter simply moved his shop to temporary quarters on Collier Street just west of Mulcaster Street and started the process of rebuilding with brick.
As early as January of 1872, William Hunter placed newspaper ads inviting his customers to see him at his ‘’new and more commodious premises in his new brick block.”
By then, the Town had passed a bylaw that no more wooden business buildings were to be erected in the area bordered by Collier Street, Bayfield Street, Mulcaster Street and the bay. If they thought that brick structures were entirely fireproof, they were mistaken.
Four years to the day later, another destructive fire ravaged the business district, this time on the north side of Dunlop Street East directly across from the Canton T Store. As it swept away the last of the wooden shops on that side of the street, the blaze sent sparks and embers over to the Glebe Block and many buildings there received heavy damage as well.
The Canton T Store lost its roof and the third floor was severely marred and required a lot of rebuilding. This is likely where our Henry comes in. He presumably came to Hunter’s partly ruined building with a construction crew to make the repairs to the burned-out shell of the third floor, and so left his mark.
Over the years, Mr. Hunter came and went. He was followed by other shop keepers and, for many years in the mid 20th century, this spot was home to Simmons & Co., the fur and coat people. The second floor housed offices and at times it was made into apartments. The third floor was largely unused for anything but perhaps storage. In fact, as far as is currently known, no business has occupied that floor since perhaps the fire of 1875!
Marc Holmes from 5fold, equally as enthusiastic about local history as Paul Lynch, the building’s owner, contacted me last week as he pondered what this Henry brick could mean. He also wondered about two other bricks with the letter J carved into them. He alluded to some evidence of a past fire in his office space too.
I took a wander over to 39 Dunlop Street East on Friday and met up with Marc and his team. What a spot they have! 5fold takes up the entire eastern half of the third floor with views of Dunlop Street at the front and an unobstructed vista showing Kempenfelt Bay at the back. The walls are exposed 19th century brick, some portions sand blasted to look like the day they were installed, but the majority of the brickwork is still soot-blackened from the fire of 143 years ago!
The post fire repairs are very evident in some places. Clearly, in the northeast upper corner of the boardroom wall, a slice of clean looking brick suggests that it arrived after the fire. Amazingly, old photographs can be found that show that exact section of wall missing immediately after the fire. Other photographs, taken years later when the repairs were complete, depict that same but slightly altered portion of brickwork.
Modern building codes would no doubt demand that all damaged materials be torn down and replaced with new supplies after a fire like this but, in the 1870s, it seems minimal alterations were all that were required. Henry, and the other bricklayers who came to repair the walls, likely thought that the original structure was still solid enough. Apparently, they were right.
The floors are wonderful too. They are light coloured hardwood planks joined with hand made nails, and only lightly scorched in one area.
“Any ghosts?” I ask. I am always on the lookout for a good ghost story.
“No, just a bat who flies around now and then. We decided to call him Henry.”
Each week, the Barrie Historical Archive provides BarrieToday readers with a glimpse of the city’s past. This unique column features photos and stories from years gone by and is sure to appeal to the historian in each of us.
