By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer
He lit up our lives.
Mayor David Barr, Sarnia’s 27th Mayor, headed the Council that installed 100 electric street lamps in the Municipality.
Barr, a prominent local watchmaker and jeweler, was elected Mayor in 1905 after serving several years as an Alderman.
He soon proved to be an active and progressive Chief Magistrate.
During his first term Council rebuilt and expanded the Municipal waterworks system so it could meet the demands of a growing Town. At least partly as a result of that, Sarnia’s population grew in short order from 9,000 people to almost 10,000.
Council also paved and widened Christina Street that year. In addition, it was heavily involved in the installation of new sewers and sidewalks.
The Mayor created some controversy by signing a petition urging Parliament to allow married women who owned property to vote. There were predictions that female voters would select grossly incompetent Councillors but Barr’s decision to sign the petition doesn’t appear to have hurt him at the ballot box.
In fact, he was returned to office in 1906 and immediately set out to expand the Police
Department. Five new constables were hired and the Chief was ordered to make sure at least one policeman patrolled residential districts at night. Prior to that, both officers on the night shift spent all their time guarding commercial districts.
The move was widely applauded but it was with his street light program that Mayor Barr really made his mark.
He convinced Council to begin a program of installing electric lamps all over the Municipality, starting with 100 in 1906. The program, he was convinced, would do more to ensure safety than extra police patrols.
Mayor Barr, who served on the Parks Board for years, also presided over the Council that bought $200.00 worth of benches and fountains for local parks. It was a lot of money in those days but the Mayor was a firm believer in upgrading parks.
He left Council at the end of 1906 and died three years later, in December, 1909, at age 62.
His funeral was one of the biggest ever seen in Sarnia.
David Barr, whose son James went on to become Sarnia 43rd Chief Magistrate, is buried in Lakeview Cemetery.