As will be seen in a full page advertisement elsewhere In this issue of the paper, Mr. Mel Lockhart has opened a new service station, Snack bar and grocery store at the far end of Ottawa Street. Here he will sell White Rose gasoline and lubricants. For a good many years, Mr. Lockhart ran the same kind of business in a much more modest establishment at the end of the street just outside the town limits.
His new building is quite large, of cement block construction and accommodates a garage, the snack bar and store, a modern kitchen on the ground floor rear and overhead a very fine apartment. The new filling station has all the latest improvements, including a mechanical hoist for greasing cars. This will be the first establishment of its kind to greet people driving into town on highway 44, the short route from Ottawa.
And by the inverse process, it will be the last on their way out. Highway 44 is now under reconstruction and will be finished this fall, though the black top will probably not be applied until next year when the surface settles. The traffic over this road always has been very heavy and will be heavier still after the link from Almonte to the union with highway 17 at Carp has been modernized.
In addition to conducting a service station, Mr. Lockhart proposes to do garage work and will have a mechanic for that purpose. The appointments of the snack bar are very modern as is everything else about the establishment. The kitchen, where food will be prepared, is one of the streamlined kind where everything moves along as if on an assembly line. The apartment upstairs is one of the finest in Almonte, with lots of light and a couple of picture windows.
I’m not sure if this is in Almonte but I have a couple of photos which shows a White Rose Service Station in the background. The photo on the left has my uncle, Mervin Tosh, & my father, Hartley Tosh in it. The photo on the right has my mother, Anne Tosh, in it.
Lori ArmourMy Dad, Ron Armour owned and operated Armour’s Gulf. When he purchased the business in 1959 it was a BA station. I used to work there pumping gas.
Bill LemayJill Seymour when it was gulf their moto was we hurry service they had a size 22 running shoe in the garage
Jill SeymourKinda like meet me at the lime kiln. Which was the entrance to Levines scrap yard on Napoleon Street. I suppose there was a kiln there at one time but I never thought about it then. You have a name, you see a thing, that’s what it is
Gary LeachA great hang out, nothing but fun, miss those times with the boys.
Kelley CramptonHere’s a cute one….When my son was in grade 1 or 2 he decided he didn’t want to go to school one afternoon. As he passed the Gulf station he crawled under one of the cars parked off to the side and stayed there the rest of the day, until he saw other kids heading home after school. He then crawled out and walked the few feet back to his grandmother’s house. The guys at the station told us about it and said they kept an eye on him all afternoon to be sure he was ok.
Alexandra FolkardKelley Crampton omg how did he stay there all day? Why have I never heard of this? Why was he alone going to school so young? Lol good thing the car didn’t move.
Amie Neil-MunroKelley Crampton I remember that happening but I don’t remember leaving him there. I should have been with him, I wonder where I was.There was another day when we all skipped school together and no one ever found out
Jeff LevesqueSome background collected from Ron’s wife Sue – Ron was my Father-In-Law. As Lori mentioned, the service station purchased in 1959 and ran as the BA until 1969 when Gulf Oil acquired BA. This photo was posted last week (below) – Ron is far right.
Throughout the years, Ron ran the service station and along with Sue, raised 5 daughters who some of them played a part in working at the station at some point pumping gas. Ron also had a tow truck and pulled many out of the ditches in the area.
Many young people in the town were employed throughout the years and I’m sure they could all tell some stories.
Later on, Ron started selling used cars from the station lot and later partnered with Barry Devereux of Luxury Motorhomes and rented motorhomes from the station which would also be used to take the family on their annual trip to Disney World.
Later on, Ron’s Nephew Paul Dulmage (former CP Mayor) partnered with Ron on the used car side with the Armour Dulmage name.
Spurring some health issues, Ron sold the station to Bob Chapman around 1980. After an unsuccessful go, Ron took back the station and later sold the property to Tim Horton’s. Around this time, Ron entered Real estate to work with his Wife Sue to owned the Century 21 franchise in CP from 1978-2003.Ron passed away in 2016 and Sue still active with family, friends and golf.
Mary Anne HarrisonAbsolutely. Wayne was the best. Paul let me charge my gas and come in and settle up when I got paid. Mr Brown was great too. There was another older gentleman named Bob who was super friendly as well. Can’t remember his last name.
Anna NitschkeIt was our preferred place to get gas…and as a kid so conveniently close to Peterson’s Ice cream
Diane L BrownMy Dad and Art’s Dad both ran this spot for a few years at different times. I use to pump gas for Dad…lol
Kelly KaneCold coke in the middle of the night from the outdoor machine!
Arlene OhlmanKelly Kane too funny that’s the first thing I thought of ice cold coke-In the glass bottles!!
Stephen McDougallWould go there with my Dad, Gerry would always open up the coke machine and give me a coke(coldest ones in town) .and would grab 2 molson golden for Dad and Gerry. Loved the old days in Almonte. lol
Gwen OneillYes a great place always cleaned windshield
Christine DalgityWhen my grandfather (Gerry Brown – Gerry’s Golden Eagle) owned it he taught me how to pump gas, I was about 5 or 6, lots of memories there
Nick LugsdinMy high school job. Fun job. Great boss!
Helen N LeviJo Ann Madden Donaldson your right Joanne – l haven’t had a cleaned windshield since Wayne Spinks worked at Paul Maynard Love him
Sheena StewartSure do! Both my uncles worked there and because we lived so far out of town if I had an after school activity I’d wait there to be picked up. Often got an ice cream out of the deal
Lisa Stanley Sheehansure do, only place my dad would get his gas and some good old conversations!!!!
Deborah Van Waard— This service station was owned by Jim McDonald and was called McDonald’s and the highway at the time was called “Christian Street”. In 1953 my father, Ed Winslow-Spragge purchased the business and I recall the folks that worked with Mom and Dad… Marion Munroe, Dolphie Elliot, Bordie Lieshman(sp?), and others that I may have forgotten. The little service station house was where Mom and Dad first lived when they moved here from Montreal with my two sisters, Susan and Joanne. I was born in 1955. In the store I recall the very cold soft drink water cooler, the big cooler room where meat was stored, a meat slicer that my sister Sue sliced her fingers on, the hard ice cream freezer where I scooped the odd cone for visiting customers. The two bay garage was always busy and Dolphie and Bordie worked on many a vehicle that came for maintenance! Marion was a lovely lady that we all loved and I vaguely remember the glasses that she wore – I think they were of the old cat’s eye variety! I don’t remember when we moved to the house next door, but at some point, as Jayne mentioned, the service station house was moved down the road and I believe Johnny Byrne (Peggy’s brother) and wife Harriet Fassbender lived there at some point. Mom and Dad always worked together in all their adventures, and eventually they sold the business to John Cochrane and his wife Margret. There are so many memories that are conjured up when I see old photos like this one!–Clippings of the Winslow-Spragge Name and the Local Garage
I’m confused. Almonte was incorporated in 1880 so what 150th celebration would have been in 1970?
Jocelyn Horton McKay They were taking it from when it was first given permission to be a municipality, I think is the correct story….It went through name changes including Shipman’s Mills. The 150 celebration was taken from that first date.
There are many opinions on this but it’s rough to change history.
The celebration was alot of fun and spurned Almonte homecoming days in the next few summers.
Dawn Jones so there was a go to guy back in the day. His name was John Dunn, a recognized historian even back then. He would have an influential say as to
dates about our town history. Especially concerning milestones.
But back then everything was done by committee… meaning the town fathers discussed and agreed. Fun facts about our infamous town.
Funny note. In grade 8 at GL Comba one of our subjects was Almonte history.
Mrs. Rintoul our teacher missed the Almonte train wreck by minutes because she was not feeling good and was tardy getting to the train station.
Don Raycroft yes we discussed this extensively over a year ago. I am a tad younger than you but I remember John Dunn..was a big fan of his collection of stories of history around Almonte. Also know Mrs Rintoul she taught my brother. Thank goodness for the town historians.
Jocelyn Horton McKay they must have been counting from the first settler in 1820. I think the 200th for Mississippi Mills will be celebrated in 2023 because the first settlers in Pakenham only arrived in 1823
Worked at the curly cone while I was a university student with my brother Terry, sister Christine and Connie Forrest. Would start in early May to clean it and get it opened by long weekend in May! Sweet (and often sticky times!!!) Good memories!!
My step Grandfather was Jim Macdonald, who had the store before my uncle John Cochran (who I was partly named after). Distant memories for me, but remember the pop shoppe bottles & soft ice cream
Sandy France Supertest was across from the Superior.
The other Supertest
Sandy France At one time, I think it was a Cities Service gas station. Fulton’s Supertest was across the street. Supertest was also across from the Superior.
Michael SandyRun by Mr. Madden (Jerry I think) who stood for me on my Confirmation) Always a free coke when my Dad went in for a visit.
Jeri LunneyWhen I was in grade 9, someone stole my wallet. No money but lots of pictures! When the Supertest was being torn down, they found my wallet— years after it had been stolen. A man managed to find my dad and gave him my wallet with those precious pictures. I don’t know who he was but I thanked him via the Ottawa Citizen in Dave Brown’s column. Maybe he will read this & know how much I appreciated what he did.All those pictures are in a big frame hanging in my condo.
James R. McIsaac with the hair and sunglasses…Barker Ambulance–Carleton Place Canadian files from the Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum 70s
I never thought of closure for this building until they tore it down this week and I knew I had to document it. It was the last place you could pull up to the gas pumps and have someone fill your gas tank. Once upon a time, according to Lloyd Hughes, it was Mrs. Munroe’s grocery store. Remember when you used to put $.50 of gas in your car and cruise town at $.24.5 cents a gallon? It used to be the cheapest place to get gas, and handy being right in the centre of town back then.
1970s– The late Stuart “Stewie” White of Campbell Street.. Photos–Carleton Place Canadian files from the Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum 70s
(Photo thanks to Lorraine Nephin- Bruce Sadler’s vintage Canadian newspapers)
The property at 19 Moore St. in Carleton Place, the former Mr. Gas, was levelled on Tuesday, Sept. 19, making way for the construction of a microbrewery and brew pub. The pub’s patio will neighbour Carleton Place’s section of the proposed Ottawa Valley Recreation Trail. Tara Gesner/Metroland Photo and Text–Carleton Place-Almonte Canadian Gazette
Photo Todd Greer
Bryan ReingoldIt was nice to go there and have someone check your oil or fill up your windshield fluid reservoir. The last full service station I remember here. I had forgotten I had read they were tearing it down and somewhat shocked today when I went by and saw it gone.
Bill BrownI worked there for a time back in the day – full service jump to the pump!!
Caroline AndersonLoved the guy who first started the Mr. Gas there, and he had the one on the highway at Appleton Side road. I remember when I first had my own car I always went to either of his stations because he always took good care of me and my car. Those were the days when gas was 35 cents a litre.
Tom EdwardsI worked there for quite a while when I was going to high school. I worked for Bert Smith, Bob Chapman, Terry Graham . It was a great spot. Always busy. Bob Chapman had The Pop Shoppe in there for a while. I remember Bob had a contest one time that if when the pump filling your vehicle, shut off on it’s own at example, $5.55 or 4.44 etc, it gave you a free tank of gas. A lot of people bought gas trying to win the free tank.
This house always fascinated me. When I was a lad the Burgess home was owned by a Mr. Feltham (sic) who ran a rag business out of a former hotel on the west side of Moore Street in the area beside Interval house that was torn down in the 1950’s and replaced with a Cities Service gas station.–Ray Paquette
My memory of that lot where Sal’s Place is situated is much earlier when there was a large brick building that was owned by a Mr. Feltham (sic) who ran a “rags and cloth” business. He and his family lived in the large home east of the CPDMH which is currently an apartment block. He drove a large late ’40s or early ’50s Packard.
Behind the main building was a storage shed which we use to climb onto the roof to watch the trains on the track directly behind the lot.Ray Paquette
Dr Howard was also located in the back of that empty property near Wool Growers.
Dr. Howard, who claimed to have been descended from one of the original 13 Barons of England, was a big man, soft spoken, and used to relate to me about his turkey hunting trips in the U.S.A. He had a law suit with the Montreal Daily Star and lost. The Star published a pamphlet about him and distributed it to the householders of Carleton Place.
Howard McLinton’s Gas Station. Was it was up at the end of High Street on the left as you are going toward Highway 7. Now it is a private home — Looking for memories please?
We have all heard of old schoolhouses and churches losing their ‘clientele’ over time and being given a new lease on life as residences. Would you believe that an old service station could be as charmed?
Before the Highway 7 bypass was built, truckers and vacationers alike would have to come down Bridge Street and High Street, making McLinton’s service station and snack bar a popular spot to stop for pie and ice cream.
David Lemuel ‘Lemmy’ McLinton and his eldest son, Russell, could fill your tank with Supertest gasoline, make your car hum again if it needed fixing (and this without computer-assisted diagnostics), and they also provided that now rarely seen commodity, a phone booth for their traveling guests or teenage sweethearts needing to touch base and coo privately.
With the bypass rerouting traffic, and the novelty that was ‘soft ice cream’ being served downtown, the McLintons eventually closed shop.
Can you see the ghost of the old service station and snack bar in the current residence?
Carleton Place Girl remembers: As a teenager, we walked there many an evening for a chocolate bar and a pop.Sometimes we walked through the Bates and the Findlay apple orchards and helped ourselves to a few apples on the way back. Our greatest danger in those days was getting caught in someones clothes line after dark LOL
Thanks to Gail Barr
lindaseccaspina 