St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada’s Niagara Region in Southern Ontario. It is 51 kilometers (32 miles) south of Toronto across Lake Ontario, and is 19 kilometers (12 miles) inland from the international boundary with the United States along the Niagara River. It is the northern entrance of the Welland Canal. St. Catharines carries the official nickname “The Garden City” due to its 1,000 acres of parks, gardens and trails.
Before this area was settled several Indian trails intersected here at a ford in Twelve Mile Creek. They were improved by early settlers and a church was erected at the crossroads by 1798. A tavern soon followed and a settlement began to grow. After the War of 1812, the community expanded largely through the efforts of William Hamilton Merritt. He was the chief promoter of the first Welland Canal built in 1824-33. The canal made St. Catharines a center for water transportation, and provided abundant water power for industry. Factories and mills were established and St. Catharines became a leading flour-milling and shipbuilding center.
Dr.
Lucius Oille was born in 1830 and was one of St. Catharines most prominent
citizens. He served as a member of council for several years before becoming
mayor in 1878. He was the second mayor of the city and first chairman of the
waterworks. Oille was a physician and owned the first x-ray machine in St.
Catharine. He was involved in dozens of city projects, such as the organization
of the Niagara Central Railway and the city’s first streetcar system. In 1878
Dr. Oille donated a fountain in front of the courthouse at the corner of King
and James Street to the citizens of St. Catharines. He wanted to provide water
to citizens who were shopping in the market square or had come downtown to
work. Tin drinking cups were attached to the fountain by a chain so that people
could use them to drink. Dr. Oille even thought of the animals as the fountain
has a small basin at the bottom specifically for them. This gift marked the
establishment of the city’s waterworks system in 1875-1876. Dr. Lucius Oille
died on August 15, 1903.
15 Church Street – 1½ storey frontispiece entrance – Heritage Building27 Church Street – Italianate – 2½ storey bay windows, fretwork, dormer26-30 Church Street – Gothic Revival, verge board trim and finials on gables31 Church Street – cornice brackets, dentil molding, keystones and voussoirs, free standing and engaged columns, sidelights and transom windows around door104 Church Street – decorative entrance, shutters on windows106-108 Church Street – Second Empire style, mansard roof, dormers with window hoods101 King Street – former Court House – Georgian style – 1848-1849 – The visible James and King Street facades are of channeled Queenston ashlars while the concealed west and north walls are constructed with a course rubble limestone and brick, respectively. The front façade has a tower with a three-faced striking clock and is topped by an octagonal cupola. The clock continues to chime with the assistance of the original weights which extend from the clock tower to the first floor. The entrance to the building is carved in stone like the town hall in Perugia, Italy. It features upright balustrades which conform to the slope of the stairway. The supporting columns under the copings on each side are individually carved to fit its specific location. The northeast wing cut-stone addition to the original structure was built in 1865 to accommodate the County offices and courthouse.164 King Street – three storey tower with voussoirs and keystones; cornice brackets183 King Street – Mill Memorial Home was built in 1868 for James Mills, a founding member of the YMCA. The structure is a two and one half storey brick home built with Italianate design influences. It features a central tower and decorative roof line brackets. The tower has a mansard roof and semi-circular dormers. There are oval windows set between two courses of white brick which are located below the boxed cornice, decorative frieze and brackets of the roof line. The main floor windows are segmental with plain trim and a continuous stone sill. The upper windows are set in semi-circular frames. The main doorway has a fan transom and a paneled door. The large veranda, supported by sets of wooden columns, stretches across the entire front façade; it is a later addition to the house.81 Lake Street – The Armoury was constructed in 1905 and was designed to serve as the regimental headquarters of the local militia and continues to function as a drill hall. It was from The Armoury that local militia units left to go overseas in 1914 and 1939, and for peacekeeping duties. The bulky, rectangular shape of the armoury is relieved by an irregular roof line and the stylistic diversity of its two basic constituencies. The expansive gable roof and the rhythmic course of arched windows marking the drill hall contrast with the crenelated towers, jutting chimneys, and rigorous fenestration patterns of the street elevations. The use of consistent materials and continuous horizontal elements unifies the overall composition. Quarry faced stonework is juxtaposed with fields of flat brickwork which accentuate the visual links afforded by the massive foundations, string courses and copings. The interplay of colors and textures inherent on the masonry is an essential feature.Lake Street – wraparound veranda, bay window127-129 Lake Street – dormers, finials and verge board on gables, beveled dentil molding, voussoirs and keystones72 Lake Street – dormers, cornice brackets, string course, voussoirs and keystones, two-storey bay window, rectangular bay window on side, bric-a-brac on veranda, sidelights and transom76 Lake Street – Italianate style, verge board trim on gables, voussoirs and keystones, bay windows, transom windows1 Montebello Place – Queen Anne style – varied roof line, turret, wraparound veranda on two levels, Palladian windows in gables, dormers10 Norris Place – 1874 – Norris Place in St. Catharines, Ontario is named after Captain James Norris who was a sea captain, businessman, Mayor of St Catharines and Member of Parliament. James Norris, one of the successful business men and leading manufacturers of St. Catharines, was born in Argyleshire, Scotland, in February 1820. At age fourteen, immigrated with his family to Upper Canada. When he was nineteen or twenty years of age, he came to St. Catharines, sailing on the lakes and Welland Canal in the season of navigation.9 Norris Place – Mr. Norris owned this place. Decorative entrance, octagonal veranda135 Ontario Street – fretwork, two storey bay windows, pediment
