This is Heritage Week 2024 in Ontario and this is our annual Heritage issue of the Times. The focus this year is on two of our heritage institutions: the Kemptville Agricultural School (KAS), also known as Kemptville College, and Kemptville District Hospital (KDH). KAS is no longer around, but the new Kemptville Campus is carrying on a community role on the site of the old College. KDH is very much still with us, and is a central plank in the life of North Grenville. Lynne Clifford-Ward has produced a series of articles on the Hospital, how it came to be, and where it is going in the future. Part 1 of that series is in this issue.
We also publish in the Times the latest Newsletter of the North Grenville Historical Society (NGHS), another vital component in preserving and promoting our history. Maintaining the NG Archives, now located on the grounds of the Kemptville Campus, as well as the storefront site of the History Hub on Prescott Street in Kemptville, the NGHS is the custodian of our documentary history and continues its program of public talks and displays.
We have also included some items from North Grenville of a hundred years ago. Insights into the municipal council of the day (same size as our current one!), the cost of living and the service for the dead make interesting reading, we hope!
Funerals and furniture – 1924
An interesting aspect of life in 1924: the funeral homes were also furniture manufacturers! These two advertisements were placed side by side in the newspaper, and to distinguish one from the other, Kidd & Dickenson pushed their beds, springs and mattresses, their florist and picture framing services, and their private ambulance. They had it all covered. McCaughey’s also had a florist service, and advertised their horse and motor drawn hearses.
Dominion Stores
Prices were good in 1924. Campbell’s soup just 15¢, 2 lbs of seedless raisins for just 25¢, and a 5lb pail of Buckwheat honey was only 63¢. Plus, there was a money back guarantee!
