Since 1978, Prescott has celebrated its history and unique story as a town originally built on the forwarding trade from a small, elegant building known today as the Forwarders’ Museum and Visitor Information Centre. Historical pictures almost always contain clues we can overlook, and here are two that help us understand how important a focal... Continue Reading →
Prescott residents have taken Shakespeare and community involvement in theatre seriously for more than 150 years! The idea that volunteers or “amateurs” as they were called might join the players on stage to help create a larger spectacle or that plays involving community members might be presented as fundraisers (and crowd-pleasers) are local traditions that... Continue Reading →
Our plaques describe ROTHESAY’s years on the St. Lawrence River and her demise on September 12, 1889 – just west of downtown Prescott – but her full story includes service on the Saint John River, as well as a number of seasons on the Toronto-Niagara run. Back in 1980, ROTHESAY was featured by the Toronto... Continue Reading →
Lots of activity on the River today, as the Seaway gets ready for its March 20th opening. With so little ice on the St. Lawrence this winter, I started wondering if, in the 19th century, there were winters like the one we've just had. A warm winter could result in no ice harvest at all, or thin... Continue Reading →
With Canada 150 around the corner, I’d like to travel back to December 1867 and share a few thoughts about what life was like in Prescott…50 years or so after our Town was first settled. In 1867, Prescottonians worked on the railroads, in shipbuilding and forwarding, in hotels and inns, in one of 3 breweries... Continue Reading →
“At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them” These were the words that came first to Laurence Binyon in mid-September 1914, as he sat on a cliff top looking out to sea in North Cornwall (UK) composing his best known poem, For the Fallen. The now famous phrase... Continue Reading →
A short while ago, I discovered on The Postal History Corner a series of letters and postcards addressed to the Coates family in Prescott, with postmarks dating from 1885 to 1935. They tell an intriguing story about a prosperous turn-of-the century family running a family business, ordering some of the latest products and inventions, and... Continue Reading →
We were treated to a substantial display of fireworks in Prescott this Labour Day weekend. It was a warm, clear night with little activity except for some boaters on the St. Lawrence River and the sound of Ogdensburg’s own festivities. In a time when workers’ rights, and even workers’ benefits, are almost taken for granted,... Continue Reading →
“In great crises, it is woman’s special lot to soften our misfortune.” MRS. ANNIE LANGSTAFF (1914) A prophetic yearbook statement from Annie MacDonald Langstaff (1887-1975), who became the first woman to graduate from McGill’s Faculty of Law, in 1914. Little did she know then that she would become widely recognized for taking on the battle that would... Continue Reading →
In 1938, communities along the Canada-USA border looked for special ways to celebrate a century of peace between two friendly nations. Just 100 years prior - during a four-day period in November 1838 - British troops and local militia defeated an invasion force of 300 American "Hunters" and Canadian rebels. This victory, at the Battle... Continue Reading →
The Past Around Us 