Local History

Tour Avondale Cemetery

Stratford’s tranquil Avondale cemetery opened in 1871. It was reported in the Beacon of December 2, 1870 that several members of town council had met with Mr. J.G. Kirk, the provincial land surveyor. The meeting was to review the land and provide general instructions to make a plan for the layout of the proposed cemetery. The cemetery continues to be operated by the City of Stratford`s Community Services Department, which maintains its park-like setting with many trees and flower beds for all to enjoy. The original cemetery was laid out with winding roadways and circular garden areas, some of which are still recognizable today. Some of the older areas have been replanted to reflect what they may have looked like in the nineteenth century.

The Catholic cemetery area was developed in 1883 when the London Diocese purchased land adjacent to the public cemetery. It was later sold to the City for a nominal fee on the understanding that the religious nature of the area would be maintained. Catholic areas are designated by Saints’ names.

Over the years, several small mausoleums or vaults have been built as family burial sites. The large one near John Street was built privately during the 1920s by the Canadian Mausoleum Company. It is now part of the public cemetery.

Click on the two links below to access a self-directed tour through Avondale.as welll as a map This brochure provides a route for viewing some of the interesting monuments in the older areas of the cemetery. While intended as a walking tour, most of the sites described are visible from the paved roadways.

Avondale Cemetery, A Heritage Walk Tour Guide.pdf

Avondale Cemetery Tour Map.pdf

From Little Thames to Stratford

Officially, the settlement of Stratford did not occur until Canada Company surveyor, William “Tiger” Dunlop, surveyed the Huron Road in 1828 and 1829 and staked it with markers in December and January of those years respectively. 

The Canada Company was formed in 1824 and was given about a million acres of land to settle in this area by the Upper Canada Government.  The district was known as the Huron Tract which included Stratford and most of Perth County. 

It was not until 1832 that the real settlement of Stratford began. Canada Company Director, Thomas Mercer Jones, gave a picture of William Shakespeare to William Sargint, the owner of the Shakespeare Hotel. This first hotel became the focal point of many community activities as well as an important location for weary travelers on the Huron Road.  A stone now marks the site where this structure was located. 

Jones then named Stratford and the creek, which had been known as Little Thames because of its link to the larger Thames River, was named the Avon River.  Development continued with the arrival of John Corrie Wilson Daly, the first Canada Company agent.  He oversaw the completion of the first dam, grist and saw mills, as well as a distillery and a store. 

Robina and Katharine Lizars, daughters of Judge Lizars, referred to Daly as the “little potentate” because he assumed the positions of the first Mayor and magistrate, and he built the first permanent residence on the site of what is now the Perth County Court House. Daly was prominent throughout the political history of the town.  

In 1834 a town plan was created by surveyor John MacDonald.  The point where the four townships came together was situated in the middle of Stratford and allowed MacDonald to create five lines which became the major streets of Stratford.  Three of the main roads were named after the lakes that the roads traveled to.  In 1835 the Post Office was established, and the first school began about the same time. 

Perth County separated from the Huron District, which comprised Perth, Huron and Bruce Counties, in 1853.  A condition of this separation required that Stratford would become the county seat with a county court house, jail and registry office located in the county’s capital.

In 1854 Stratford was incorporated as a village and in1859 it became a town.  Following the town incorporation, Stratford was divided into five wards- Avon, Falstaff, Hamlet, Romeo and Shakespeare.  These were named for, and reinforced, the Shakespearean connection.  Each ward eventually had its own school with the same name as the ward. 

Stratford held a Shakespearean tercentenary celebration in “Shakespeare Place” in 1864 to celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday.  An oak tree was planted as part of the festivities but was later removed when the old Post Office building was constructed in that location.  Currently the site is now the home of the Perth Regiment memorial.  The Perth Regiment was formed in 1866 to fight the Fenian invaders and was disbanded in 1964.

The railroad was an important and lucrative industry in Stratford.  It started in 1856 when the Buffalo and Lake Huron line, and the Grand Trunk Railway line, established themselves in Stratford.  In 1871, a locomotive repair shop was also added with major expansion in 1889 and 1906.  In 1923 the Grand Trunk Railway, which had already amalgamated with the Buffalo and Lake Huron Railway, was renamed the Canadian National Railway.  The railway remained an important element in Stratford’s development until 1964 when the shops closed. 

During the 1880s Stratford separated from Perth County and was incorporated as a city in 1885.  In 1886 the first major furniture factory, owned by George McLagan, began another industrial boom in Stratford. The furniture industry became an important element to Stratford’s economic and population growth.  In 1933 a general strike of furniture workers and chicken pluckers resulted in the implementation of the War Measures Act.  Tanks and army reserves were called in but fortunately not used.  The play “King Whistle” by James Reaney talks about the strike.

In 1904 the Parks Board was officially established even though parks had been prominent throughout Stratford, beginning in 1871 with the opening of Avondale Cemetery.  Frederick J. Todd, believed to be the first Dominion landscape architect, was hired to professionally design the area known as Upper Queen’s Park.  This horticultural design included the land where the former Normal School, now named the Discovery Centre, was erected in 1908.

From 1905-1912 the Parks Board and the citizens of Stratford fought the Canadian Pacific Railway when it made several unsuccessful attempts to develop tracks by the river.  This pride in the park system continued when in 1918 the first swans were donated and in 1936 the Shakespearean Gardens were opened following the diligent effort and planning of R. Thomas Orr, one of the original Parks Board members.

In 1953 the Stratford Shakespearean Festival began and its permanent home was constructed in 1957 in Upper Queen’s Park.  Built in the style of a tent, architect Robert Fairfield won the Massey Gold Medal for Architecture in 1958 for his innovative design.  The Festival is an important feature of the park system and is ideally located beside the former Normal School.

Following the closing of the CNR shops and with the decline of the furniture factory trade, Stratford’s industry after the 1960‘s became more diversified with many auto related businesses.  Also of importance is the Tourism Industry and its economic benefits to Stratford and surrounding area.

Stratford celebrated the 150^th  or sesquicentennial anniversary of the founding of the settlement in 1982. 

A three million dollar addition to the Festival Theatre was added in 1985.  It allowed all facilities, including artist and administrative personnel to be located in one of the largest backstage areas in North America. 

Festival founder, Tom Patterson, was honoured in 1991 when the Third Stage theatre was dedicated and renamed after him. 

In 1993 the Stratford Festival was named the Canadian attraction or event of the year by the Canadian Travel and Tourism Council.

The Festival Theatre underwent major renovations during their Act III campaign in 1997.  This involved adding the larger seats, reducing seating capacity from 2,200 seats to 1,824, plus other facility improvements.  The Theatre Store was moved from the former Normal School and located in the Theatre.  Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II opened the “new” Festival Theatre Act III on June 28^th,  1997.  A bronze sculpture symbolizing the re-enactment of the raising of the tent in 1953 was dedicated at this time. 

Civic pride was at its height in 1997 when Stratford became world champion in the Nations in Bloom contest.  As a result of this championship, Stratford was awarded the title of “World’s Most Beautiful City” for a city of its size.

Centennial celebrations for the anniversary of the City Hall were held on July 1, 1998 and an official cornerstone ceremony was held in November of the same year. 

In 2002 the Avon Theatre was renovated to include a new façade and larger lobby space.  The Stratford Festival Theatre celebrated its 50^th anniversary season in the same year and has become one of the largest employers in Stratford. 

Stratford benefits from a diversified economy related to manufacturing and tourism as well as service related businesses.                     

150 Years of Perth County

The year 2003 was the 150^th anniversary of the County of Perth.  It was on January 1, 1853, that the County was separated from the United Counties of Huron, Perth and Bruce (formerly the District of Huron) by proclamation of the Governor of the Province of Canada.

For three years before, the reeves of the provisional county had met to decide where, when and how to build a county court house and jail as required by the new Municipal Act before separation from Huron could occur. 

In the first year (1850), they had only one meeting which decided not to proceed.  Reeves from Hibbert and Logan Townships didn’t seem to mind going to Goderich for meetings, and those from some of the other townships didn’t want to spend the money. 

With new reeves elected in 1851, the vote was tied.  To everyone’s surprise, the Warden, Sebastian Fryfogel, broke the tie by voting in favour of  building a court house and jail at Stratford.  Local architect, Peter Ferguson was hired to design and build the first court house on William Street, with the jail immediately behind it facing Elizabeth Street.

The court house and jail were not quite finished in time to meet the requirements of the Act, but a special act passed late in 1852 allowed the Governor to proceed with the proclamation immediately without the usual waiting period.

The new County Council met for the first time in the Court Room of the new Court House on January 24, 1853, at 12 noon.  The council consisted of eight reeves and two deputy reeves representing all eleven townships.  The township of Mornington was still attached to Ellice, and the townships of Elma and Wallace were attached to Logan. Downie and Blanshard Townships had the most people and therefore were represented by two members.  However, none of the villages (Stratford, St. Marys, Mitchell and Shakespeare) were incorporated yet.  The total population of the county was about 18,000.  The first Warden of the new county was William Smith of Downie who had also been Warden of the provisional county in 1850 and 1852.

The creation of the new county also involved setting up a separate court system and a separate land registry for the county.  Consequently, the province appointed a county judge, a sheriff, a crown attorney, a clerk of the peace and a land registrar, as well as a warden for the jail.  Although these positions were provincial, the day-to-day accounts were actually administered by the local county administration in the early years.  All of these are still housed in the present County buildings complex (built on Huron and St. Andrew Streets in 1885-87),  except the sheriff’s office which was amalgamated with the court office on St. Patrick Street after the retirement of the last sheriff in the 1990s.  However, many of the court cases are still held at the Court House.

The creation of the county also led to the establishment of the Perth County Grammar School at Stratford (1853) (now Central Secondary School) and to the provincial (and later federal) riding of Perth (1854).  Divided into two ridings for many years (1867-1935), Perth has always remained the core of a riding at both levels ever since.

The development of the county proceeded very quickly, with the incorporation of Stratford (1854), St. Marys (1855), Mitchell (1857) and Listowel (1867) as villages. These took their own seats on county council.  However, the first two later separated from the County government – Stratford when it became a city in 1885 and St. Marys after it became a town in 1864.  In the 1870s, Listowel and Mitchell became towns within the county and were joined by the village of Milverton in 1881.

A radical change in the county structure was put in force in 1998 when the fourteen lower-tier municipalities were amalgamated into four new municipalities – the Town of North Perth, the Township of Perth East, the Township of Perth South and the Township of West Perth.  Downloading from the province has meant the addition of some more departments to the county level in the last few years as well – especially, land ambulance and provincial offences.  These have been added to the older departments of clerk-treasurer, roads and planning.  The social services department (now Ontario Works) was amalgamated with the same department in the City of Stratford as part of this process.

Stratford and St. Marys, although not represented on County Council, continued to contribute to, or co-operate with, certain county functions in various joint agencies, especially Spruce Lodge (formerly the County House of Refuge started in 1897) and the Perth District Health Unit (formed in 1966).

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© Stratford Perth Archives, 2002

Last modified February 26, 2010