|
The First Baptist Church
that now stands at 255 Woolwich Streets was made possible primarily
through the generosity of Charles Raymond, noted local industrialist who
founded and operated the Raymond Sewing Machine Company. Charles Raymond
deeded two lots on Woolwich Street for the construction of the
building. The Church was designed by Henry Langley, a Toronto based
architect well known for his church designs (he also designed St. George's
Church). It was built between 1872 and 1875. |
St. Andrew's Church
boasts the first organized religious congregation in Guelph although
the building itself is slightly younger than Guelph's oldest standing
church, the Norfolk Street United Church (completed in 1856).
Construction of St. Andrew's Church began in 1857 and was completed the
following year with the first meeting of the Presbytery in the Church
occurring on September 20, 1858. The Church was designed by William Hay. |
St. George's Church can
boast having had a Church for almost as long as Guelph has existed. Only
five years after the founding of Guelph, construction began on the first
St. George's Church, a wooden structure that was located in St. George's
Square. Completed in 1834, this small wooden Church was the second built
in Guelph (after the first St. Andrew's). The wooden church was replaced
on the same site in 1851 by a larger second Church built of stone. With
the completion of the present day Church on Woolwich Street in 1873, the
congregation found a permanent place of worship. |
|
The Wellington Hotel.
The triangular Wellington building, built in the Louis Phillipe
style of architecture stands on the corners of Upper Wyndham and Woolwich
Streets and has a distinctly Parisian look. The site for this building
was acquired by the Wellington Hotel Company from James Massie in 1876.
Originally, the triangular lot housed a lumber yard and a small carpentry
shop. The building was first opened for business as the Wellington Hotel
on August 23, 1878. Today, the Wellington houses two government offices,
a restaurant, and an office for the Canadian Mental Health Association. |
Central Public School
still stands today on the site where it has stood for 125 years. The
present structure , however, is less imposing than the original Central
School building and makes far less of a statement on the Guelph City
skyline! The old Central School which was built in 1877 stood until 1986
when it was demolished to make way for this new building. The bell from
the old school was preserved and mounted in front of the new building,
visible here just to the left of the main entrance door. |
Guelph Collegiate
Vocational Institution (GCVI) was, for many years, the only high
school in the City of Guelph. It origins can be traced back to the
Wellington District Grammar School that was established on the site in
1854. When the railroad arrived in Guelph in 1854, it came
dangerously close to the grammar school then in existence. For safety
reasons, it was decided to move the school to a four acre lot on Paisley
that had been purchased by the District Council of the District of
Wellington in 1847. Although buildings have been added, removed, and
significantly renovated, GCVI has stood on this land until the present.
|
