Former Residence of Roderick Ross, June 2007

Description
Creator
Carl Ferencz, Photographer
Media Type
Image
Item Type
Photographs
Description
A black and white photograph of the former residence of Roderick Ross.
Notes
This brick house was built in the late 1850s or early 1860s at the south east corner of Colborne and Henry Streets for Roderick Ross (1815-1884). Roderick Ross was a Scottish ontractor After Roderick Ross's death, the house was occupied by his son, Hugh, a Whitby dry goods dealer. This house was located at 407 Colborne Street West in Whitby.

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
June 2007
Dimensions
Width: 3.5 cm
Height: 4 cm
Image Dimensions
Image Width: 3.5cm
Image Height: 4cm
Subject(s)
Local identifier
17-017-002
Language of Item
English
Geographic Coverage
  • Ontario, Canada
    Latitude: 43.88342 Longitude: -78.93287
Copyright Statement
This item is protected by the Canadian Copyright Act and is intended for one-time use only. Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). It is your responsibility for obtaining these permissions.
Contact
Whitby Public Library
Email:archives@whitbylibrary.ca
Website:
Agency street/mail address:

405 Dundas Street West, Whitby, Ontario L1N 6A1

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