The Beautiful Town: The United Empire Loyalists

A large part of Belleville’s heritage is the Loyalists. During the American Revolution many Americans sided with the British and when they lost the war many found their way into Canada. The Loyalist tradition is incredibly strong in places like Belleville. The Loyalist traditions are remembered in Belleville in many different ways. For instance, the local college is Loyalist College. A main road is Wallbridge-Loyalist Road. In many ways, the Loyalist presence is still felt by the residents of Belleville.

Loyalist College Logo
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

Captain John Meyers was originally a tenet farmer located in Albany, New York. He sided with the British when war broke out and reported to the British commander in 1777, located in Montreal. Throughout the American Revolutionary War Meyers was an American spying for the British.

Meyer's Mill
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

At the end of the war John Meyers moved his family to Canada and finally settled in the Quinte region in 1787. Meyer’s is celebrated in Belleville as the founder of the city. The novel Meyer’s Creek is based on his family and names several Belleville landmarks. Additionally, places like Meyer’s Pier are named after John Meyers.

Meyer's Mill Plaque
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

John Meyers built a mill in approximately 1792 that was designated as a heritage site in 1978. The mill now sits in a park taken care of by the Lions Club and the mill is now the headquarters of the Quinte Construction Association.

Lions Club Marker
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

John Meyers is celebrated as the founding father of the city. Meyers contributions also go beyond the local level. Meyers helped to fight alongside the British with the United Empire Loyalists, which also helped to bring English settlers into Canada. As the founding father of the city and as the builder of the mill Captain John Meyers led to the founding and future development of the city.

Lions Club Park
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

The Loyalists represent a loyalty to the mother country and a resistance to the American fighters during the American Revolutionary War. For the residents of Belleville the Loyalists represent a large part of the city’s history – it was founded because of the Loyalists. As a result, the Loyalist tradition is represented in its heritage sites, its schools, and its roads. The city of Belleville chooses to remember the Loyalists in these ways. It connects Belleville to a national story as well as to the very beginnings of the city. This is why the city of Belleville chooses to place such an emphasis on the United Empire of the Loyalists.

                                                                                        

The Beautiful Town: National Stories

It is more than just local stories and people that contribute to Belleville’s heritage. National people and institutions have had a key role in Belleville’s history and the national story is celebrated at the local level. Belleville’s train station has been designated at the federal level and marks the importance of the station both to Belleville and the country. Susanna Moodie, a famous Canadian author, also had ties to the community and two sites with connections to her have received designation from the city. Additionally, Sir Mackenzie Bowell, a local businessman who became Prime Minister has had his house designated by the city.

Belleville Train Station
Photo Credit: Google Images

The Belleville train station was part of the Grand Trunk Railway. Located at 220 Station Street the site was designated by the Federal States & Monument Board on Canada Day in 1982. During the construction of the railway Belleville became a surveying and contracting centre and in 1855 the town was named a divisional point.

The city then became the headquarters from the Rideau District for the Canadian National Railway. The station is under protection by federal law, particularly the Railways Station Protection Act. The Act ensures that a rail company cannot damage the heritage of a railway station by removal, demolition, or altering the station without government approval.

The Act helped to develop the city by making it a central point of the railway, just as the railway helped to develop the nation. As stated in the booklet handed out during the plaque ceremony the station “is an enduring monument to early Canadian railway enterprise”.

Susanna Moodie
Photo Credit: Google Images

The railway and the Belleville station were representations of Canadian institutions located at the local level. Belleville also had important Canadians with connections to the city. Susanna Moodie was one of them.

11 Charlotte Street
Photo Credit: Belleville Heritage Properties

The house located at 11 Charlotte Street was built for Archibald Ponton in 1857 and rented to a local dry goods merchant until 1874 when he was ready to move in. The house was designated on September 10^th, 1990, ten years after the construction of Susanna Moodie Elementary School. The house was visited by Susanna Moodie and her husband and mentioned in their correspondence.

Additionally, the house at 110 Bridge Street West was originally owned by Moodie’s son Alexander Dunbar Moodie. In 1865 Alexander drew up plans for the site but the following year it was sold to Christie Smith, the daughter of a prominent local innkeeper, and her husband who was a clerk for a law firm of the railway. The home has not altered on the exterior except for the possibility of the verandah.

110 Bridge Street West
Photo Credit: Belleville Heritage Properties

Both sites associated with Moodie are not extraordinary architectural examples, but are designated because of their connections to the author who detailed life as a settler.

Sir Mackenzie Bowell
Photo Credit: Google Images

The house owned by Sir Mackenzie Bowell is mistakenly listed on the Belleville heritage website as being located at 240 William Street. It is correctly located at 194 William Street. Sir Mackenzie Bowell was born in Suffolk England in December in 1833. At the age of eleven he worked at the local paper, the Intelligencer, as an apprentice and by 1850 Bowell had become the sole editor and owner of the paper.

240 William Street
Incorrectly Identified as Sir Mackenzie Bowell's House
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

As the editor and owner of the paper Sir Mackenzie Bowell dedicated himself to promoting the growth of the city and Hastings County. He helped organize the Belleville Board of Trade which would later become the Bellville Chamber of Commerce.

194 William Street
Sir Mackenzie Bowell's House
Phto Credit: Anne Duffy

He became a Conservative Member of Parliament that served in the House of Commons from 1867 – 1892. In 1878 he became the Minister of Customs and was eventually appointed to the Senate. At the age of 70 Sir Mackenzie Bowell became the country’s fifth Prime Minister.

Sir Mackenzie Bowell Heritage Plaque
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

As Prime Minister he faced many difficulties and had trouble keeping his party together. After two years in office his Cabinet walked out on him and forced him to resign from office. After his resignation Sir Mackenzie Bowell played only a small role in government and returned to Belleville.

By celebrating local connections to larger stories Belleville can locate its place in national history. Canada’s history is well known and Belleville can link its own history to these larger stories that all Canadians know. Belleville has connections to the railway that linked the country together and key figures at the beginning of the country.

The Beautiful Town: Business Heritage

Downtown Belleville holds most of the designated heritage sites. Close to City Hall are the sites that are directly connected to Belleville’s business community. Located behind and backing into City Hall is Market Square. The second site is the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) located just down the street from City Hall at 237 Front Street. Belleville also chose to recognize key players in Belleville’s industries, including John Bell’s contribution to the business sector.

Market Square
Photo Credit: Cheryl Duffy

Market Square was designated as a reminder of the importance agriculture has had in the development of Belleville. It was originally located west but was moved by the 1840s and most vendors followed. Many of private market buildings were built around the square and City Hall was built during 1872 – 1873 to serve as the town hall and a market building. The first floor of City Hall was an indoor extension of Market Square.

Market Square
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

Market Square serves as a farmer’s market to this day with vendors selling fruits and vegetables as well as things like maple syrup and maple candies. There are strict rules about what vendors can sell at this market, especially about local produce. The Market Square still serves as a reminder about Belleville’s connection to the agricultural industry.

CIBC Heritage Plaque
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

CIBC is located just steps from City Hall. It’s a large stone bank created in the Victorian-Italianate style (mentioned previously in the architectural entry). The bank celebrated its centennial along with the City of Belleville. It has retained its original structure but has built additions onto it. It is recognized as a heritage site because of its architectural significance but also because of it was Belleville’s first established bank. The bank has contributed to the growth of Belleville as a financial institution and has kept its original architectural significance.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

Both the CIBC and Market Square have served the city of Belleville since its inception and continue to do so. They provide links to the past as well as continue to serve as the heart of Belleville’s industry. Banking and agriculture are crucial to the continued growth of the city and its heritage designations provide the residents of Belleville with reminders of how the city has grown and what it has become now.

John Bell was a significant player in Belleville’s business sector. Bell built his home in 1855in the Italianate-Victorian tradition or “Tuscan Villa”. Bell was the solicitor for the Grand Trunk Railway and built his home around the time Belleville built its rail station. During his time as solicitor the Belleville rail station gained in importance and Belleville became a key point along the Grand Trunk Railway.

Bell-Riggs House
Photo Credit: Belleville Heritage Properties

Belleville designated his house as a key architectural site but Bell’s contribution to Belleville’s development is also worth noting. Bell, in his role with the railway, helped to develop Belleville’s industry by making the city a key point along the line.

The Beautiful Town: Unmade Sites

Belleville’s heritage includes places that have been torn down and changed over time. Members of the community have held different levels of attachment to these places over time. These changed places have played large parts in Belleville’s history and its architectural heritage. Three sites embody this best. By looking at Belleville Collegiate and Vocational Institute (BCI), the Cablevue Façade, and Kinsmen Park these changes will be made evident.

Belleville Collegiate and Vocational Institute
Before Demolition
Photo Credit: Belleville Heritage Properties

Belleville Collegiate and Vocational Institute is Hasting’s County oldest school. It was built on land originally planned for Mississauga Reserve and in 1816 it was surveyed by the town again and set aside for a grammar school. Over the next eighty-seven years four different schools stood on the lot and in 1927 BCI was built.

BCI became the first school in Ontario to offer night classes and was the only secondary school in Belleville for twenty-five years. This made BCI Hasting’s County oldest secondary school. The school was designated as a heritage site on October 20, 1997 and then de-designated December 13, 2004.

Despite large community opposition the building was torn down and a sports field has been erected. On the one side of the fence is stonework from the school. Sites have been created for alumni including one called BCI4ever which was created for alumni and the schools 75^th anniversary.

BCI Monument
Erected by Alumni Association
Photo Credit: BCI4ever

BCI is an example of a site that held huge importance for the residents of Belleville and was historically significant. However, it was torn down despite these factors. Unsubstantiated rumors claim that the site was supposed to hold a cultural centre. Regardless of this, the site is now a sports field and is extremely close to St. Michael’s grammar school and Nicholson Catholic College (a secondary school).

224 John Street
After Demolition
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

The second site is the Cablevue Façade. Originally it was part of the Intelligencer/Cablevue building. The building was used by the Belleville Intelligencer, the local paper. The building was originally supposed to be torn down so that those at City Hall would have a clear view to the Moira River. Instead, the Roman arches were deemed to be architecturally significant and the building was torn down but the arches remained and were placed directly across the street from City Hall. The view to the water is now obstructed by the façade, and the arches are all that remain.

Cablevue Façade
Roman Arches
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

Kinsmen Park is located at 151 Dundas East. It has a playground and a public pool for Belleville’s school children. The land was bought by the Methodist Episcopal Church from “John Canniff the Elder” and was then consecrated in March of 1828 and was one of Belleville’s first cemeteries. This cemetery holds some of Belleville’s first settlers.

Kinsmen Park
Playground & Splash Pad
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

Kinsmen Park recognizes the contributions made by the earliest settlers of Belleville and provides numerous services as a park to the residents of Belleville. On the grounds is a pool that is open for public swims. During the summer months the park operates a splash pad and day programs for school age children.

Kinsmen Park
Day Camp
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

These sites have played large roles in the development of Belleville. BCI was one of the first schools as well as the first secondary school. Many of Belleville’s residents grew up in and were taught at BCI. It provided services like night school and was a large part of the community for many years. Its deconstruction was opposed by many in the community. The Cablevue/Intelligencer building was the location of the local paper for many years, giving the community its news. While the paper still remains, the building is now gone and the Intelligencer is printed elsewhere. Kinsmen Park houses those who settled the town. The people buried in Kinsmen Park have helped to build the Belleville that is known to its residents today. Additionally the Kinsmen Club, that operates the park, has provided many services for the residents of Belleville. 

The Beautiful Town: Belleville's Architecture

After a summer of exploring Belleville's heritage, I have found architecture to be a large component of Belleville's heritage. There’s a wide selection of architectural styles including Victorian, Gothic, and various versions of the Victorian and Italianate style. While these buildings are excellent examples of architectural style they also include local stories and glimpses into the past.


The most obvious examples of Gothic architecture in Belleville are City Hall (Late Victorian Gothic) and Church of St. Michael the Archangel.


These buildings are architecturally important. Their styles are well known to those who do not study architecture but they are also important to Belleville as a whole.

City Hall
Late Victorian Gothic
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

Belleville's City Hall was built first as an extension of the farmer's market. The first floor was used as a market and there were multiple entrances which have been made into fake windows. The offices were on the second floor. The building was made so large, despite initially only needing the first two because Belleville was in need of a town clock and a fire bell. City Hall met these needs.


In 1837 a stone church replaced the small wooden church originally placed on the lot to meet the needs of an expanding congregation. By 1886 the stone church was now inadequate for a rapidly growing Belleville. Construction began in August of that year; however after a devastating fire in December of 1904 the church was burnt to the ground. There was little to no insurance on the building and there was doubt that the church could be rebuilt.

Church of St. Michael the Archangel
Gothic
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

The church, as pictured above, was opened on October 15, 1905. Its large steeple and its location at the top of East Hill allowed it to be easily seen by residents of Belleville from any point.


The best example of the Victorian style is Glanmore House, located at 257 Bridge Street East. Glanmore House is a national historic site. It includes a museum that allows visitors to not just see the house but also various artefacts and historical information about the time period and previous owners of the house. City Hall has files on exactly how they needed to restore the mansion. The architecture of the house is quite impressive and its mansard style roof is a defining feature of the house.

Glanmore House, A National Historical Site
Victorian
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

Inside the house has been decorated and filled with various Victorian age artefacts and show visitors how people lived at this time. The house has a bathroom that includes a wooden toilet and wooden bathtub (as pictured below).

Glanmore House, Bathroom
Victorian
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

Sites like Glanmore House in Belleville’s heritage serve in two different ways. Glanmore House provides the city with an early example of architecture. Its roof and styling provide an excellent example of Victorian style and the museum inside provides historical information to the residents of Belleville. It teaches visitors how houses were set up and used. It provides a personal look to history – it allows visitors to Glanmore to see how people lived during the Victorian era, they can see how houses have changed and technology have changed. These physical ways of learning can teach visitors things that can’t be taught as effectively through reading.




Various versions of the Victorian architectural style are present in Belleville. One of the most fascinating is 10 Patterson Street. Its style is called Eclectic High Victorian. It is a long row of townhouses with blue doors that sit above the downtown core of Belleville. They were built in 1876 by a famous local clothier by the name of Isaac Graham whose ancestors are still present in Belleville. These houses are quite unique and while the story behind them is not as dramatic as that of the Church of St. Michael of the Archangel, it is still an interesting building belonging to the city of Belleville.

10 Patterson Street
Eclectic High Victorian
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

In Belleville there are many sites that are the combined architectural style of Victorian-Italianate. However, the Bohemian Penguin is an Italianate building but is instead combined with the Second Empire styling from the 1860s and 1870s. Its main floor is the only remaining cast iron floor left in the city. It was previously the Knights of Columbus Hall. It then became a restaurant and the top floors were used as a lounge/bar. Presently the main floor is a bridal store with the top floors still being the Bohemian Penguin’s lounge and catering company.

The Bohemian Penguin
Italianate, Second Empire
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy

Despite being part of the city’s history through its use as a Hall and local business, it was first designated in January of 1980, de-designated in July 1980, and re-designated in 2004. The site remains designated today.

The Bohemian Penguin
Belleville Heritage Plaque
Photo Credit: Anne Duffy