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D ali; Journal - Record Centennial Edition, Friday, Sept. 1, 1967 Built In 1828 By Town's Founder Clubhouse Preserves Piece Of The Past The Oakville Club, at 60 year* old no youngster itself, has the distinction of occupying one of the town's oldest buildings. Founded in 1907 by W. S. D av is, A. S. Chisholm and Jam es Ryrie, Sr., the club acquired the next year the grain warehouse built by Col. William Chisholm in 1928, the year after he found ed the town. The building contained, huge, rough-hewn beams, one of which was m ore than a foot square and over 60 feet long. Instead of nails, round oak pins w ere used to join the uprights and cross beam s, and the pine floor on the m ain level was two inches thick. In the 1920's, when arm y offic ers returning from duty in India were popularizing the gam e of badminton, the club m erged with a badmintion group to which m any of its m em bers belonged, and m oved a wartim e hangar from west of town to beside the clubhouse. house, built by George Chalmers in 1846. Some o f the stone from the old foundation was used in the club fireplace. DRAMA FACILITIES Further alterations were m ade In 1932, when part of the loft floor was to m out in order to provide m ore room fo r dram a activities. In 1948 the easterly portion o f the clubhouse was rem odelled to im prove the kitchen, offices and lounge, and the warm-air system was replaced by steam heat. Since then the river basin has been dredged to admit yachts, the docking facilities im proved, ' and a swimming pool with lunch eon gallery built north of the main building. One of the most popular sum m er activities is tennis, played on courts to the east of the building. Dances are held week ly. A feature of bygone years w as the Dominion D ay regatta, but this was discontinued in the 1920's because of pollution of the river in front of the club house. Joining the two structures, find fitting the hangar for badminton by m oving roof trusses and add ing locker room facilities, was carried out by George and Moorhouse, architects. Col. Walter Moorhouse has been a m em ber o f the club for m any years. Excavation of the bank at the southeast co m e r of the badmint on hall site uncovered the found ation of another old grain ware E A R L Y MAIL When the Davis Block was e r ected in 1903, between Thomas and George Streets, the town post office m oved into this struc ture, with Louis Cote as post master. O A K V IL L E C L U B B U IL D IN G W A S G R A IN W A R E H O U S E Badminton hall is converted airplane hangar Cholera Epidemics Plagued Young Town Like m ost other centres in the young pro vince of Upper Canada, Oakville in the first few decades of its existence w as an un healthy place to live. Epidem ics o f cholera and other diseases, m ostly carried to the colony on immigrant " coffin ships" -- timber ships whose own ers found it m ore profitable to sail them back from Europen stuffed with immigrants Instead of ballast -- hit the New World at regular intervals, and Oakville escaped few of them. Most serious w ere the epidem ics of Asi atic cholera which spread over most o f the western world in 1832 and 1834. The 1832 epidemic first spread from Eu rope to Britain, and then to Canada aboard the immigrant ships. A quarantine station was hastily estab lished on Grosse Lake in the St. Lawrence near Quebec, but because immigrants were required to stay there only three days it did little to stop the influx o f disease-carriers. The settlers cam e Inland along the St. Law rence and Lake Ontario, and so the river and lake ports, like Oakville w ere the first to feel the brunt o f each new wave of disease. A board o f health was set up in Oakville and other centres by com m and o f governor general Colboume when the 1832 epidemic hit Upper Canda. Oakville' s Board consisted of Col. William Chisholm, M errick Thomas, William Butts, William O'Reilly and William Uptegrave. Dr. Daniel Black, who had recently set up practice in Nelson Township, was ap pointed health Inspector of all ships enter ing Oakville and Burlington Bays. He was dead o f cholera the following August. In the diary of a man who, along with two companions, was offered a jo b in Oak ville by Col. Chisholm we find the follow ing entry: "B u t we heard it was a v ery un healthy place, m any having died there . . . w e therefore determined on declining and to go further in the country." A dap o f general thanksgiving was de clared for the British E m pire when it was thought the epidem ic had been wiped out in the winter of 1832-33, but in the sum m er of 1834 it reappeared. It was during that summer, In which 25 cases of cholera developed in a few weeks, that Oakville got its first hospital, built on the west side of The Sixteen and placed in the charge o f a young Scots doctor nam ed John Urquhart. One o f the main reasons for the uncheck ed spread of disease was the prim itive state of the m edical profession. A young man wanting to becom e a doctor had only to ap prentice himself to a physician for tw o or three years, and then declare him self open for business. Things Change Over The Y ears... BUT NOT SERVICE Good service is the main thing people have come to know and expect from service stations. Why not drop in and give us the privilege of serving you. MATERIALS We would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation to the people of Oakville and district who patronized our service station. We look forward to seeing you at 49 Lakeshore Road, W. LIMITED CONSTRUCTION DIVISION NELSON CRUSHED STONE DIVISION · · T u n e-u p s Mufflers · · Lubrication Brake Jobs KING BUILDING MATERIALS DIVISION OAKVI LLE HAMILTON SERVI CE TORONTO 844-1111 4 9 Lakeshore Road, West A FLINTKOTE SUBSIDIARY