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. This is Part 2 in a series. To read Part 1, click here.
Frederick David Underhill was the man who brought the shoe company to Barrie.
Born on July 19, 1864, in Plymouth, Devon, England, Underhill and his family moved to Canada and were living in Pickering in 1871. Frederick, later residing in Markham in 1881, married Della Byer Reesor on March 14, 1888, when he was about 23 years old.
In 1889, he partnered with Thomas Sisman to open a shoe factory in Markham. Sisman had entered the shoemaker trade in 1851, when he was 12 years old, continuing in the business when he came to Canada in 1876.
Underhill & Sisman Shoe Manufacturing Company moved its business from Markham to Aurora in 1901. The Town of Aurora romanced the shoemakers with a bonus of $10,000 toward the land and buildings, free municipal taxes (excluding school taxes) and free water for 10 years, provided 70 local employees were hired.
Underhill and Sisman purchased the property at 34 and 38 Berczy St., in Aurora, and engaged local architect George Thomas Browning to build their shoe factory.
A second, two-storey factory was constructed the same year. The local newspaper reported in March 1902 that the factory, which employed almost 100 workers, was producing 600 pairs of shoes per day. An addition to the factory was built in 1903 for a broiler house.
Strategically, Underhill & Sisman was located directly across from the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railway line, and had its own spur to the factory. This would benefit the company enormously over the years for shipping boots and shoes across Canada.
It should be noted the Town of Markham did not give up the shoe company easily and took the Town of Aurora to court. Legal battles involving the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada ensued, and Aurora lost. The Town of Aurora continued to fight hard for the shoe company, presenting a special bill to the province of Ontario, legislation that was adopted in 1903. The shoe company’s relocation to Aurora was finally legit.
In 1910, Underhill moved to Barrie, leaving Sisman to run his own business in Aurora.
In 1912, Underhill was retrofitting the Spencer Industrials factory at 205 Dunlop St. E. to prepare for his new shoe company. Although Underhill and Sisman dissolved their partnership in 1912, Underhill retained the original factory on Berczy Street, north of Mosley Street, in Aurora, while Sisman expanded to a larger plant nearby at the corner of Berczy and Mosley streets (later demolished) and founded the T. Sisman Shoe Company in 1918.
The company was sold to Kinney Shoes, a subsidiary of the Woolworth store chain in 1966, maintaining its headquarters in Aurora until the factory closed in 1976.
Meanwhile, in Barrie, the Underhill Shoe Company was thriving. It was a family affair at Underhill’s, with sons Charles, Ross, Stanley and Blake working in the business their father, Frederick, had founded. Not only did they work together; by the 1930s, they lived near each other as well: on High Street, Toronto Street and Parkside Drive, in the historic Queen’s Park neighbourhood.
When Frederick finally closed his plant in Aurora in 1917, the workforce at Underhill’s in Barrie doubled. Life was good, but having a bayside factory came with its own set of perks or distractions, depending on your perspective. Blake Underhill’s granddaughter, Kathy, shares that her aunt expressed surprise the building didn’t tip over from all the men crowded at the windows to watch girls sunbathing along the waterfront beneath the factory.
Unlike many industries that came and went in the 1920s, the Underhill Shoe Company continued to grow and prosper, helping to establish Barrie’s industrial economic base while providing employment for many residents.
Frederick Underhill died in 1921 while in Hollywood, Calif. In 1958, Stanley Underhill announced the company was closing, but would continue to produce footwear in the Barrie facility until the sale of the factory was completed.
The old Spencer Industrials building would be repurposed once more. In the 1960s and ’70, mostly industrial businesses and services such as Simcoe Awning and Upholstery, J&R Reclaiming, Kinzie Swiss Miss Bakery, White Litho, Ev-Rock Permanent Wall Finishes and similar companies occupied Underhill’s old plant.
But in the early 1980s, the Old Shoe Factory, as it was officially called, was soon filled with trendy stores and boutiques, making the heritage building a shopping destination. Residents may recall visiting stores such as the Artifact Craft Gallery, Canadiana Curtains, the Little Shoppe, Fancy That, J.J. Jackson’s ladies wear, Rose Lyn Curtains, The Frog Prince toy shop, Genuine Creative Woodworking, and Top of the Town. It was a charming and distinctive use of the historic downtown factory.
The Old Shoe Factory’s revival did not last. Unlike the former Underhill & Sisman shoe company, which was added to the Aurora Register of Properties of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest in 2023, Barrie’s old shoe factory and its neighbour, Lakeview Dairy, were demolished in 1989 to make way for condominiums.
At that time, the vision for the property was to build a multi-level, Victorian-style building, designed to blend in with the existing neighbourhood. A mix of commercial, office and residential space, the ground-level area would resemble a late-19th/early-20th-century streetscape, with cobblestone walkways. At least that was the plan for 1990. The condominiums that were ultimately built, much, much later, are quite different in design.
Although all traces of the Old Shoe Factory have disappeared from the waterfront, there is an outstanding piece of architecture remaining of the Underhill legacy. In 1929, while honeymooning in Europe, Ross Underhill contracted a Toronto architect, known for his Forest Hill dwellings, to design and build the beautiful Tudor-influenced home at 60 High St. The style at the time was often referred to as a ‘stockbrokers’ Tudor’ as it was a common architectural design chosen by those in finance as an expression of success.
Ross’s nephew, Bryan, Blake’s son, later inherited the gracious home. Bryan’s wife, Nancy, maintained the backyard pond and cultivated beautiful gardens on the property, recovering the lovely flagstone walk that had been previously claimed by grass.
If possible, this magnificent ‘grand home’ is even more stunning today than ever. Its gleaming woodwork, art deco features and exquisite detailing throughout have been lovingly cared for, its elegance preserved, and yet it is a comfortable and luxurious heritage mansion.
