Postcards of Cornwall
By 1901, it was apparent that destitute children in Cornwall, particularly those under age 12, needed a place to stay until a permanent home could be found for them. The Nazareth Orphanage was founded by the Religious Hospitalers of St. Joseph in Cornwall and opened in two small frame houses on Mulberry Lane. The arrangements were far from ideal but it was a beginning.
In 1909, The Greenwood House on York Street became the orphanage and in 1928, Highland Manor (RH side of photo) the home of Mrs. John McMartin was donated by her, as a memorial to her late husband. She also donated the funds with which to heat the orphanage.
Highland Manor was located at the corner of Second and Sydney Streets where the Library is situated today.
The Cornwall Legion, Branch 297, was also a McMartin home.
—Clive Marin Collection
Same postcard as the previous one without the colorizing.
—Lily Worrall Collection
Memory Shared: "The fence uprights were roundish-green cast-iron pillars and the cross bars were iron pipe. Children walking by the Nazareth Orphanage never “dared” to climb on this fence in case they were caught and taken inside. That would have been the end of them for sure!" —by Ray Amell
—Robert Kitchener Collection
At lunch time on Friday, May 4, 1950, the fire alarm sounded in the Orphanage.
Five preschool children were being fed in the dining room. The house was quickly cleared by the Sisters and the children were safely outside when the Fire Department arrived. Mrs. Stuart McDougall, a neighbor, took the five little ones into her home. Representatives of the Children's Aid Society arrived to pick up the older children who had been in school and took them to the Salvation Army Citadel until their relatives could come for them. The cause of the fire remains unknown, but it was thought to have been due to faulty electrical wiring.
—Clive Marin Collection
If you check the previous card you will see on the orphanage a square-roofed drive-in carriage porch (porte-cochère) on the East side (Sydney Street side).
This card (above) looks north, up Sydney Street, from the corner of Second Street (the orphanage porch being visible on the left.)
—Clive Marin Collection
Orphanage on left, looking east along Second Street. Sydney Street is barely a lane between two trees. Following the fire, the orphanage site was expropriated so that the "new" Post Office could be built on that site. In 1994 the building was renovated to serve as the Cornwall Public Library.
—Lily Worrall Collection
This is not a postcard. It is a photograph. But it is so exciting, I had to share it with you. Lyall Manson suggested it should be called “Where’s Waldo” because there is so much activity in the scene.
It was Friday, May 4, 1950, shortly after lunch when fire was discovered in the orphanage. Crowds began to gather to watch the excitement as smoke poured from the roof. Men are carrying furniture out of the orphanage onto the lawn (at left). School children (along the fence) and a few adults stand transfixed as they watch the firemen climb onto (what must must have been) a very hot metal roof.
On the far right, (Sydney Street) two ladies stand chatting - hardly giving the fire a glance.
Notice the parking meter at the rear of the car, it probably cost one penny for one hour’s parking.
Sadly this fine building would be consumed by fire and lost to Cornwall’s landscape. No lives were lost and there were no injuries.
—Lily Worrall Collection
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