Rousseau Children in front of their home (former home of Dr. Warren), c.1940-1944

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Creator

Unknown, Photographer

Media Type

Image

Item Type

Photographs

Description

A black and white photographic print of Marcella Rousseau, John Rousseau and Phyllis Forrester in front of the Rousseau family home - the former residence of Dr. Frank Warren. This photo was taken in winter and in the background at left are the All Saints' Parish Hall, built in 1870 and demolished in 1980 and the Whitby Separate School built in 1926.

Notes

This house was located at 114 Byron Street North (on the block bounded by Byron, Dundas, and Centre Streets). It was built before 1850 and is believed to have been the residence of Peter Perry. It was later the residence of Peter Perry's son, Robert, who added an Italianate brick tower to the front of the house in 1857. From 1892 to 1920 it was the home of Dr. Frank Warren. From 1938 to 1945, Louis Rousseau (1896-1962) lived in this house. The tower was removed around 1960 and the building was converted into apartments. It was demolished in 1987.

Whitby’s house numbering system was provided by Rev. Dr. James Roy Van Wyck (1877-1941), a retired Presbyterian minister. Van Wyck provided this service to the town, free of charge, during the Great Depression. By the summer of 1935, Whitby had a population of about 4,000 people and a house numbering system was needed. Prior to 1935, residences and businesses were listed in the telephone book with the street on which they were located. As well, there was no need for a house numbering system since all mail was picked up by local residents from the town post office. Under Van Wyck’s system, each block was numbered by a hundred. For instance, the first block south of Dundas on Brock Street was the 100 block; the second, the 200 block, and so on. Buildings on the west side of the street were given even numbers, while buildings on the east side were given odd numbers. On streets running east and west, even numbers were given on the north side while odd numbers were provided on the south. Van Wyck was careful to assign numbers for vacant lots between existing homes. Assigned house and business address numbers were published in the Whitby Gazette and Chronicle and a postcard was mailed to each residence in 1935 with the assigned house number and asking residents to please place this assigned number at their front door. Brooklin was given a house numbering system in the late 1960s or early 1970s, while Ashburn, Myrtle and Myrtle Station received a house numbering system in the 1980s or 1990s.

Date of Original

c.1940-1944

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