Search Term Record
Metadata
Name |
Mudtown (Owen Sound) |
Details |
Ronald Stares recalled that "Mudtown" was down by the present-day Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre location, and northwards. It was also known as "Little Africa", but Mudtown was called such "because when it rained it would wash the mud from the hill and cliffs onto the ground below". Edwin Stow wrote to the museum in 2018 and said: " I grew up in Mudtown. It wasn't just the Northcliffe portion. That was the top of Mudtown across from Keenan's Foundry. Mudtown extended down from the corner of 18th St and 3rd Ave to the fork in the road where County Rd 15 splits and goes up the hill or towards Leith. The neighbourhood was where mostly poor people lived." There were a few factories and shops in the area (e.g. Keenan's Woodenware, Russel Bros., McQuay Tannery, Empire Stove & Furnace Co. Ltd. (prior to 1917 it was known as the Canadian Heating & Ventilating Co.). Further back, in the late 19th-century, Polson's shipyard was in the area (later the site of Russel Bros.), and the name "Polsonville" was sometimes used. The Canadian Pacific Railway line was in the area. In the 1930s, some of the Mudtown area was also known as "Northcliffe" (the Northcliffe Mission building was located at 1825 3rd Ave. East, Owen Sound, circa 1932.) The Ottie J. Morton family lived in the Mudtown area. Ottie Morton raised ducks, and sometimes they would swim in the big puddle in the roadway, necessitating someone to shoo them out of the way when driving there. Neletia Pedersen (nee Morton) grew up in Mudtown, and recalled that it was a great place for kid's games and playing baseball, as there were lots of open spaces. Kate McLaren established the "Mudtown Pottery" in the former Northcliffe mission church building. Her pottery is sold circa 2018 at the Owen Sound Farmer's Market and at the Artist's Co-op at Owen Sound. In 2018, the former railway station on the east side, which had been vacant for a long time, was opened again as "Mudtown Station", a restaurant and brew pub business. - - - - - - Memories of Ronald F. Stares, newspaper clipping, "Memories of city paint a much different picture than you see today", The Sun Times, Thurs. May 1, 2008, p. A5 |
