By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer
Tradesmen who find work repairing the many ships that berth in Sarnia each winter can thank Mayor Bill Henderson for their jobs.
That’s because the Community’s 31st Chief Magistrate talked the Federal Government into creating a winter harbor here in 1911.
Born in Scotland in 1871, Henderson was a medical Doctor who settled in Canada as a young man.
He served as an Alderman for several years before defeating former Mayor Fred Watson for the Town’s top political post.
During his one year at the helm, the Federal Government agreed to dredge Sarnia Bay and to create a harbor so ships could berth here once ice began forming in the Great Lakes.
Ottawa took the action after Town Council promised to extend Exmouth Street and put in a new road along the east side of the proposed harbor. It also agreed to extend watermains and street lights to the new facility.
It was also during Mayor Henderson’s term that Council stepped up a program aimed at replacing wooden sidewalks with cement footpaths.
On top of that, he led a successful fight against Bell Canada, which wanted to increase long distance phone rates from Sarnia to Detroit. Under Bell’s plan, the cost of such a call would have gone from 40 cents for three minutes to 50 cents.
Council objected to the idea and sent a lawyer to Toronto to argue its case at a special hearing. The government ruled in Sarnia’s favour.
Mayor Henderson, who lived at 142 Davis Street, was a man with a strong sense of duty to both the Community and his adopted Country.