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.
Grammar School Boarding House — 126 Blake St.
Until 1839, the Grammar School was known as the District School. A humble room in the basement of the Court House served as a classroom for the “sons of gentlemen."
The first headmaster of the school, Frederic Gore, arranged boarding for out-of-town students in two Mary Street area homes, one of them being the Pearson House.
The Crown allocated nine lots on Blake Street between Barrie and Shanty Bay. The Grammar School was built on the northwest corner of Blake and Rodney streets and Headmaster Gore built a home for himself as well, across the street on the northeast side of Rodney and Blake streets. He promptly moved into his Regency style home, along with his boarders.
The Gore House, believed to have been built by John Pearson, may have also been used by Gore for classes while the Grammar School was being finished.
In 1863, it became the home of Sheriff Benjamin Walker Smith. Smith was many things: railway director, land speculator, insurance agent, founding member of many organizations such as the Temperance Union, Mechanics Institute, Barrie Building Society and local Bible Society, as well as a Reformer.
But Smith is likely best remembered for saving the lives of John A. Macdonald and other VIPs when their steamer, the Ploughboy, ran into trouble during a storm on Georgian Bay in 1859.
We presume school enrolment was growing, as sometime between 1849 and 1856, Gore built a new boarding house – our feature home – to handle the overflow of students.
Apparently the initials of one student who boarded in an upstairs room in 1858, M. Gaviller, inscribed into the window, have survived. The M.G. still visible today. That student, Maurice Gaviller, went on to design several important buildings in Barrie.
In 1856, as a result of a disagreement with the school trustees, Frederic Gore resigned (some records say he was dismissed) as the headmaster of the Grammar School. The issue is believed to have been between Gore and Rev. S.B. Ardagh. Rev. W.F. Checkley succeeded Gore as headmaster.
The home at 126 Blake was later converted to a residence for headmasters Checkley and Spotton, who followed Gore.
While Checkley was headmaster, the Grammar School saw an expansion in 1859 and another boarding house was built on the south side of Blake Street, almost opposite the school.
The new boarding house was destroyed by fire in 1864, and it’s believed that Checkley had yet another boarding house built that same year, an Italianate-style home, which was thought to have burned as well, several years later in 1886.
The gracious Georgian home at 126 Blake, once a headmaster’s residence and boarding house for students, was designated a historic property by the City of Barrie in October 1978.
