By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer In 1996, when Sarnia Councillors debated whether to regulate sexually explicit movies, some of them may have thought they were breaking new ground. But in reality they were only carrying on a tradition started 87 years earlier by Mayor David Milne. In fact, [...]
By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer George Proctor would likely have gone down in history as a great Sarnian even if he'd never been elected Mayor. That's because in addition to being the Community’s 28th Chief Magistrate, he was a successful builder, the first President of the Sarnia Humane [...]
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 [...]
By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer His forte was attracting new industry. That best sums up the story of Thomas Cook, who served as Sarnia's Mayor in 1903 and 19O4 and as the City's 41st Chief Magistrate in 1923. Born in the Huron County community in Varna on March [...]
By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer William Logie's claim to fame is that he was Mayor of Sarnia when Council decided to build the Community's first Public Library. In a way it was fitting, because our 25th Chief Magistrate was something of a book worm. Born in Hensall, Ontario, [...]
By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer Fred Watson may have been too nice a man to be a great Mayor. The Community's 24th Chief Magistrate was popular with voters but, once in office, he had a difficult time dealing with an unruly group of Aldermen. In fact, according to [...]
by Paul Morden for the Sarnia Observer (2009) Quilts have a lot to say, says Bob Tremain, curator at the Lambton Heritage Museum. Galleries at the county museum, located on Highway 21 near the Pinery, are covered in them these days. One gallery is filled with the county museum's summer [...]
by Jean Turnbull Elford writing in Upper Canada’s last Frontier (1982) Lambton had three railway lines when the question of bonusing the Erie and Huron arose. This line was to extend north from Erieau on Lake Erie to Sarnia. As well as giving local service, it was to be a [...]
by Jean Turnbull Elford writing in Upper Canada’s Last Frontier (1982) The opening of a line between Port Huron and Chicago in 1879 brought a great increase in traffic to both the Great Western and the Grand Trunk. Three years later, the two lines amalgamated under the Grand Trunk name [...]
Story courtesy of the Lambton County Archives (2015) The popular Tashmoo, also known as the “Glass Hack,” was a beloved ship that provided passenger service between Detroit, Port Huron and Sarnia. The speedy paddle wheeler took countless Lambton residents on pleasant excursions down the St. Clair River between 1901 and [...]
