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This ongoing series from Barrie Historical Archive curator Deb Exel shows old photos from the collection and one from the present day, as well as the story behind them.
Overlooking Court House Hill stands the majestic Belleview.
The house was built in the Berczy Block, a parcel of land owned by Charles Albert Berczy, son of pioneer and painter (artist) William von Moll Berczy. Berczy had helped John Graves Simcoe establish a settlement north of York (Toronto), which later became Markham, and is considered to be one of the co-founders of the City of Toronto.
It was William Berczy and other German settlers who were contracted in 1794 to clear a road from York to Lake Simcoe. The track that was opened, but not completed, by Berczy and his crew, would become Yonge Street.
The Berczy family moved to Montreal not long after. Son Charles Albert Berczy worked at the British Commissary General as a clerk and later as acting deputy assistant commissary general from 1814 to 1816. He moved back to Ontario in 1818, going into business with his brother William, selling tobacco in Amherstburg.
His public service life began in 1826 with his appointment as justice of the peace for the Essex area. When Charles was appointed Post Office surveyor and inspector of Toronto in 1835, he relocated to the city, where he went on to be the city’s post aster from 1838 until 1853. Following a career in civil service, his business positions included director of the Bank of Upper Canada, president of the Toronto Building Society, co-founder and shareholder of the Toronto, Simcoe and Lake Huron Union Railroad, as well as director and president of the Consumer Gas Light and Water Company.
The streets of the Berczy Block in Barrie were named for his children.
In 1875, after a fire destroyed the entire downtown block bounded by Clapperton, Collier, Owen and Dunlop streets, Jonathan Henderson built his magnificent brick hardware store on the northwest corner of Dunlop and Owen streets – the former site of Barrie’s first merchant, Sidney M. Sanford’s store. Henderson had been in the hardware business since at least the 1860s and had stores in both Barrie and Collingwood.
In 1877, Jonathan Henderson purchased his lot in the Berczy Block and constructed his beautiful Victorian home, Belleview. It was reported to have a view of the Blue Mountains in Collingwood, and the local paper remarked in 1891, that it was one of Barrie’s grandest houses.
About 1900, J. R. Hambly came to Barrie. Hambly and his wife Charlotte would actually be neighbours of Belleview, in the gracious home located at 83 Berczy St.
Hambly purchased Henderson’s hardware business in 1900. In 1903, Hambly went into partnership with T.H. Baker and the firm became Hambly and Baker. In 1904, they purchased the hardware store of Buchannan and Penston, next to the Barrie House (the current Queens Hotel). They completely remodelled the business, including adding an elevator and building a store house.
Their three-storey, well-lit store was organized by departments, with tinsmith and plumbing sections employing skilled mechanics. With bar iron, blacksmith supplies, lumberman and mill materials, metal shingles, siding, corrugated metal and the ‘new’ Ruberoid Roofing product, Hambly’s hardware business was a builder’s ‘go-to’ store. J.R. Hambly was also a director of the Barrie Carriage Company.
Henderson sold his stately home and moved to Collingwood.
In 1962, the Knights of Columbus purchased the handsome Belleview estate and have been guardians to the historic home ever since. There have been a few changes to the property over the years. The waterworks stand pipe, a familiar nearby landmark behind the home, was removed in 1984, and a hall addition to the Henderson house was built in 1991.
But through 60 years of ownership, the Knights of Columbus have continued to honour the history and legacy of their heritage building on the hill, Belleview.
