Hymers: The First Sixty Years (Papers and Records, 1975)
Hymers – the first sixty years is a local-history reminiscence by Annie Turk in Papers and Records, Volume III (1975), pages 19–21. Written in November 1951, it records the settlement of Hymers in Gillies Township, west of Fort William, from 1887 to the early 1950s.[1]
What it covers
The piece covers the arrival of the Hymers family and other settlers, the railway siding that gave the place its name, the shift from lumbering to dairy, hay, poultry and orchard farming, and the first store, church and schools.[2]
Key Thunder Bay facts
- George Hymers, born in 1862, arrived in May 1889 and was appointed land guide when the township was surveyed in 1898; the siding was called Murdock Siding, then Hymers Crossing, and in 1900 Hymers.[3]
- The Whitefish Valley Agricultural Association held its first fall fair in 1912.[4]
- The first store was built in 1900 by Alex Brown Sr.; the first school opened in 1901 with Elizabeth Roberts as teacher.[4]
- The Hymers United Church was built in 1902 on land donated by George Hymers, intended as a Methodist church but ending up Presbyterian, and was dedicated on 26 June 1904.[4]
- The Sitch family were the district's orchardists and nursery-men.[4]
References
- ↑ Annie Turk, "Hymers – the first sixty years", Papers and Records, vol. III (Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, 1975), pp. 19–21. Archived: datum.locker.
- ↑ Annie Turk, "Hymers – the first sixty years", Papers and Records, vol. III (Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, 1975), pp. 19–20. Archived: datum.locker.
- ↑ Annie Turk, "Hymers – the first sixty years", Papers and Records, vol. III (Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, 1975), p. 19. Archived: datum.locker.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Annie Turk, "Hymers – the first sixty years", Papers and Records, vol. III (Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, 1975), p. 20. Archived: datum.locker.