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.
There was more than one Ross Block, and more than one Ross Street.
The better-known Ross Block is the one on Dunlop Street. Chances are you may have even been in the building that resides there, sipping a coffee and overlooking the main street or Memorial Square.
However, in the 1870s, there were many Ross Blocks. There was a Ross’s Block just west of Bayfield Street and across from the Wellington Hotel. The mysterious W.C. Ross had blocks on sections of Toronto Street, High Street, Small Street (now Parkside Drive) and John Street (now Maple Avenue).
And then there’s the J. Ross Block. It was named after John Ross, who in the early 1850s owned a sizable amount of property within this block. The J. Ross Block ran from Innisfil Street down to Kempenfelt Bay and from Vespra Street over to Ross Street. Ross Street, also named after John Ross, is what we call Brock Street today.
Ross was a lumber merchant and saw mill proprietor. His Bayview Saw Mill was built in the 1860s at the end of Ross (Brock Street) next to the railroad tracks, only about 40 feet from the shore of Kempenfelt Bay. By the early 1870s, Ross had mills at Allandale Station, where his lumber, shingles and lath were always on sale.
In 1910, the Town of Barrie put an end to the chaos. Ross Street, one of the oldest streets in Barrie, the one running in front of what was then Royal Victoria Hospital, kept the name “Ross.”
Ross Street in the east end of town was renamed Johnson Street. Ross Street, named after John J. Ross, lumber merchant, was renamed Brock Street in honour of Gen. Isaac Brock, president and administrator of Upper Canada, who was killed in the Battle of Queenston Heights in 1812, three days after being knighted as Sir Isaac Brock.
The historic Brock Park neighbourhood was perfectly situated for families and workers. Nearby was the Prince of Wales school and the Barrie Collegiate Institute, and employers in the area included the tannery, Barrie Carriage Company, the railway in Allandale and General Electric.
Many of the homes of the generations who lived and worked in Brock Park – and the old Ross Block – are still standing today.
