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Niagara Falls
Friday, February 7, 2025
Tales from NOTL’s humbler era in local history buff’s new book
Jim Smith spent decades writing about the history of Niagara-on-the-Lake — his new book, "Reflections," a 196-page collection of hundreds of his clippings published over the years, dozens of 20th-century photographs. DAVE VAN DE LAAR
One thing that's changed over the years in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Smith says, is the arrival and departure of places in town such as the old canning factory, where the Pillar and Post is now, Greaves Jam, Shepherd Boats, Camp Niagara and, as seen in this photo, Dealy's Drug Store. Some places have remained, such as the Niagara Home Bakery. DAVE VAN DE LAAR

Anyone driving through the neighbourhoods of Old Town on a summer’s day in this century will be treated to the sight of illustrious homes, manicured lawns, well-kept gardens and shiny store façades.

Back in the day, however, the heart of Niagara-on-the-Lake looked quite different, says lifelong resident and history enthusiast Jim Smith — as he describes it, things in the ‘40s and ‘50s were more “rough around the ears.”

“The boulevards weren’t always cut. My street, Regent Street, the grass would get to be two feet tall,” he says. “We had these huge maple trees on the streets, and in the summertime, it was like going down a tunnel of green.”

Even with the grass being cut once a year and dogs running wild on Queen Street, the Niagara-on-the-Lake Smith grew up in wasn’t without its charm.

“It was a beautiful, beautiful town.”

The history of the town he was born and raised in is something Smith says he knows “like the back of my hand.”

“I grew up on Regent Street, right behind the Stage Coach Restaurant,” he says. “Right in the heart of town. The town clock, I heard that ring day and night.”

Over the years, Smith has spent a lot of time researching and writing about the town’s past and publishing his work in the papers. Now, he’s releasing a book this February called “Reflections,” containing hundreds of his old clippings about NOTL’s history.

Originally a collection of clippings he put together to share with his family, his daughter, Julie Jones, says she posted about her father’s project online, garnering lots of attention.

“The response was incredible — hundreds of people wanting to purchase one of the books,” Jones says.

With the positive reception and the encouragement of Smith’s friend Wayne Cardiff, they decided to prepare the book for official publication, with 196 pages.

Smith’s interest in history wasn’t borne out of an academic setting — he says he failed every single grade and “was pushed through” grades 6, 7 and 8 due to his age.

“I’m different in that I didn’t seem to be able to learn from books in the ways that other kids did. I learned a lot by looking and watching,” he says.

“I was hanging around with the bigger kids. And so, I had to watch everything they were doing and where they were going and everything. I took everything in and it’s still is vividly in me today, as it ever was.”

The stories in “Reflections” draw links between NOTL’s distant past, the past Smith occupied as a young boy and the present day.

In one article, he wrote about a place where he used to play with friends — an area they called “Jack Greene’s,” two vacant fields between Prideaux and Front streets, one with an abandoned home, left with all its furniture, lights and fixtures.

“Anybody could go in and take whatever they wanted and we just played there,” he says. “Across the street from that, there was a fieldstone building that used to be the Monroe Blacksmith Shop … we used to play in there and made tree houses in the trees in the back.”

Today, there’s a modern house on this area of land, he says, but a black walnut tree he remembers building a tree house in is still there.

Another story in “Reflections” is from October 1954, when Hurricane Hazel made its way to southern Ontario from South Carolina, passing over Niagara-on-the-Lake — and, Smith says, blowing the roof off the old water tower.

“The roof blew over the top of the Prince of Wales Hotel and landed in Simcoe Park. That thing must’ve weighed two tons,” he says. “It was 10 years old at the time. I remember it as clear as a bell.”

A lot has changed in town since the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s, he says.

Take his current home, located in the heart of town: Smith and his late wife, Heidi, purchased it in 1966 for $11,500 — even then, no bargain price.

“That was like more money than you could ever imagine,” he says

Today, his house is worth well over $1 million, he says.

“The town is completely, nothing, no comparison to what it was.”

Alongside hundreds of clippings from Smith’s tenure as a writer, there are dozens of sourced photographs from NOTL’s history, many from the early to mid-20th century.

His favourite photos in the book?

“Any of those old pictures that bring back the memories of when I was a kid,” he says. “It just takes me back to a time when things were simple.”

“Reflections” is available for pre-order, with limited copies available — so far, more than 150 have been ordered. The books will be available for pickup in mid-to-late February, with the pickup locations to be determined.

The book is $65. To place an order, send an e-transfer to reflectionsniagara@gmail.com. Jones asks those who place an order to share their contact information in the e-transfer or via email.

“Reflections” is dedicated to Smith’s late wife.

zahraa@niagaranow.com

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