UNKNOWN IMAGE: Misidentified Image Donated During Burford Digitization Day

This is completely wrong and presisely why I would like you to allow me to verify the Burford items you post. This is not even taken in Burford and most definately not in front of the Burford Armoury. I have many photos of the Armoury ans all the architectur in Burford and these buildings in the background are not located in Burford nor were there any of this architectural style near the armoury!

Regards Clayton J. Barker

Dear Mr. Barker, Thank you for posting your comment. This item was provided to us during a digitization event. Any information posted here was provided by the donor.

Due to the questions you have brought up, we have adjusted the description to reflect this discussion.

Should you wish to contribute historical photos of the Burford Armoury to this collection, we would be most happy to include them.

Regards, Christine MacArthur Reference & E-Resource Librarian

Note: the multi-mast hydro pole in the background (on the right)is totally out of place for one thing and previous to 1915 the power supply and telephone wire poles were very limited in Burford and such multi-masted pole would not exist beyond the main business section of the village. This photo is clearly taken in a much larger community than Burford.

If this is a view of the front of the Armoury then the pole would be located on what was formerly William Street which would have never had such pole nor a need to as there was only one house on thatn street since it only extended one block north to Dufferin Street which was only a dirt track with a hand-ful of shantys on it.

Regards Clayton J. Barker

Clues: Not the lodge or "Chapter" of the fraternity is number "39".

Also, the sidewalk shown here is much wider than any sidewalk near the Burford Armoury ever was this is definately a main street of a larger community. This may be taken in the U.S., there were no fraternal organizations that toted candy-striped walking sticks and white (or light-coloured) ribbon bow-ties in Burford. However, there was an organization in the U.S. that was known to have such canes. The following is according to Wikipedia online:

“Kappa Alpha Psi (KAΨ) is a collegiate Greek-letter fraternity with a predominantly African American membership. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never limited membership based on color, creed or national origin. The fraternity has over 150,000 members with 700 undergraduate and alumni chapters in every state of the United States, and international chapters....The fraternity is the first predominantly African American Greek-letter society founded west of the Appalachian Mountains still in existence, and is known for its "cane stepping" in NPHC organized step shows.”

Also note the oddly shaped, very heavy, tethering block perhaps made of concrete, located at the edge of the sidewalk in front of the men at the left foreground: Burford Armoury didn't have such tethering devices and when they did, sometime after 1910, they were simple white-painted posts lined up along the side street, not in front of the armoury.

Regards Clayton J. Barker Burford Township Historian / Archivist

Another clue: There may be a church building or a building with a steeple-like nave section (perhaps of Norman Architecture)that can be seen on the far right background. Burford's Methodist Church was located a block north of the Burford Armoury untill 1902 (in other words,several years before the Armoury had ever been built)when it was moved to the present site of the Burford United Church.

Regards Clayton J. Barker Burford Township Historian / Archivist

As someone who lived for many years two doors away from the Burford Armouries, and the daughter of the late Mel Robertson, long-time Burford historian, I agree with Clayton Barker that this photo was definitely not taken there. I doubt that it was even taken in Burford, and would recommend that it be removed from this website pending further research.

Thank you to all our posters for these wonderful comments--it seems that the donor of this item has a bit of a mystery on her hands!

Metadata for this item has been altered accordingly. This image shall remain intact, however, because deleting the image would also delete this discussion of its authenticity. It is the Library's policy to preserve all conversations about this collection.

Happy New Year!

Several of the crowd shown in this picture appear to be of African descent or African-mixed cultural background. I don’t believe there is any reason why this clue or fact cannot be posted here. Clearly there will be many researchers of genealogy wanting to search their African heritage!!

Regards Clayton J. Barker Burford Township Historian / Archivist