A few Cornwall and SDG firsts

In today’s column, we continue our look at the top cities and regionals.

In June 1955, Arthur Youngs’ home became the first home moved from the power project area to the Youngsdale subdivision near Riverdale. Youngsdale Avenue runs parallel to Powerdam Drive between Princess Street and Dover Road. Youngs was a dedicated teacher with a 45-year career.

In early July 1958, various local and national premieres were held during the St. Lawrence Seaway & Power Project Inundation Days (I-Days). Canada had the honor of having the first ship through the new Snell and Eisenhower Locks, the only two locks on the Seaway on the American side of the border. The freighter Humberdoc, owned by Paterson Steamship Lines, was captained by Robert Cutt, a 29-year-old Ingleside resident.

Another Canadian also occurred during the I days when Prime Minister John Diefenbaker became the first Canadian head of state to turn on an Ontario generating unit at a provincial public utility. The first of a series of 60,000 KVA generators at Saunders Generating Station had already undergone rigorous testing. The PM effectively initiated the next phase of testing as the 16 generating units were systematically launched one by one over a period of time.

Evan Roys was a fifth generation United Empire Loyalist (UEL) whose family homestead was in the now lost village (hamlet) of Maple Grove. The family home was moved not once, but twice. The original family home was moved to facilitate the Cornwall Canal and his brick veneer house was moved in 1958 to make way for the power project. Roys told a news reporter that the homestead was the site of the first prayer meeting of the UELs who migrated from the Mohawk Valley to the area in 1783-84.

The Seaway era brought about many changes, including the overnight growth of Cornwall from just over a square mile to an area covering 31 square miles, which accentuated the need for more adequate urban infrastructure, including to meet the needs of recreational personnel. The city’s first recreation director, Bob Turner, began work here in July 1958 and received his permanent certificate in June 1961. At Bob’s former place of employment, the news reported that he became the first recreation director of color from the province.

A national policy first took place during a by-election in 1958; it was the first (and so far, the only) time that a father and a daughter were simultaneously MPs in Parliament. After her husband, Arza Clair Casselman, died, Grenville-Dundas elected the Conservative Jean Casselman to the House of Commons; joining her father Earl Rowe, longtime MP for Dufferin-Simcoe. She held the seat for ten years, being defeated in the redistributed riding of Grenville—Carleton. Casselman was the first woman to hold the position of Parliamentary Secretary in the Canadian government. And he served as Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland from 1979 to 1983.

Don Smith is Curator/Manager at the Cornwall Community Museum.