Ready for a Game?

Do these two postcards make you feel like you are playing a "Spot The Differences" game?  The top one comes from a collection belonging to John and Verna Olenick from the Winnipeg Photo Company and the bottom is from the Prairie Towns website, likely the work of Boynton and Eaton.  We are fortunate that Reston street scenes were so well photographed and made into postcards to share with relatives back east or overseas. The trend faded out over the years when cameras were more widely privately owned. The postcards continue to turn up in boxes and albums and help me tell the stories of Historic Reston. 

Following along with the theme in the previous post,  buildings were known by the names of original or long time owners. The Cates Block at the far right above (with the coloured glass windows) and the Baldwin Block (with a second floor doorway to nowhere) to the north are the subject of my research today. The birds eye view below facing north shows the Cates Block with a red x and the Baldwin Block with yellow. 

The Cates block was built in 1882 and had a number of tenants including a store and living quarters for the first occupant, James Campbell.  It had upstairs apartments for single men and newcomers and in 1914 it held troops training for war.  Lew Berry ran a grocery store in this building in 1915-16.  Harness shops and later plumbers used the space as well.  The sign over the door at the far north side identifies that office belonged to the vet when these photos were taken in the teens.  Charles H.A. Stevenson was born in Scotland and came to Canada in 1882.  He married Lottie Clark in 1900 and they had a family of 3 girls and 2 boys.  He worked as a veterinary surgeon in the area until about 1920 when they moved to Dauphin area to take up farming. Stevenson died in Winnipeg in 1930.  

In 1918, Alexander Kippen Cates began remodeling for an office in the southwest corner.

"Kip" was born in Wakefield, Quebec in 1877. He came west with his family to homestead in Napinka in the late 1880's.  After attending University of Manitoba, Kip opened a law office in Reston in 1908 and continued until his sudden death in 1946. He and his wife Elizabeth McFetridge had 3 daughters and one son.  They were very involved citizens of the young town with interests in the United Church, the school board, curling, lawn tennis and the Masonic Lodge. In 1998, a University of Manitoba scholarship was started by their family which is offered each year at Reston School in the name of Kippen and Elizabeth Cates.  Two of the most well rounded students (academic, athletic and volunteer) are eligible to receive the income of the fund each year. Many locals continue to benefit from the generosity of the Cates family, over a century since he set up his law practice.

 

Ancestry user Brucet58 graciously gave me permission to use the picture of Kippen above from about 1890 and one below that shows both sides of a postcard that he has in his possession.  It was sent to his brother Rufus in Napinka to show the new house he and his bride had just purchased from the blacksmith, A. E. Majaury. Resident of this house for 60 years, Fletch Manning wrote about it and its history at 377 Fourth Street here in 2006 . 

July 10/10 Real picture postcard to R. Cates in Napinka Man- "I hope you have a glorious Twelfth.  We have been looking for Maggie and Clifford but have seen them not. Our house is on the reverse side. Kip"  (The 12th of July was a big celebratory day for the Masonic order and Maggie and Clifford were Rufus' wife and son.)  

The Cates office building was bought by lawyer Harry Forrest  in taking over his practice after Kippen's death in 1946 and was demolished in the mid 60’s to make room for the new Square Deal Co-op which is currently Hometown Lumber & Supply.  The law office moved to the Municipal Office and then to Reston Place Mall where the original heavy oak lawyer desk, chair and filing cabinet are still in use.

The Baldwin block further up the street was originally called the Fumerton Block until Thomas Baldwin bought it about 1915. David James Fumerton (1873-1958) and his wife Maggie had a hardware and furniture store as well as doing tin smithing.  Over its lifetime, the building was a hardware, clothing store, second hand store and a tin smith shop with apartments above that included a second floor door to not be opened in the dark! A connection of D.J. (perhaps his nephew) Lloyd Fumerton was the pharmacist in the Chapman Drug Store from 1918-1927 before moving to Treherne to do the same work with his son Douglas. 

How did you do with Spot the Differences? I noticed these 5 but let me know what else you see! 

• the dog on the step of the Cates Block vs another town dog walking behind the car 
• all closed  vs two open doors
• the sign for the Royal Restaurant on the Baldwin Block vs the flange double sided sign below Stevenson DVS sign on the Cates Block
• horses vs cars and men willing to be photographed 
• awnings down the street are pulled in vs out