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BARNES BLOCK 3-7 Queen Street East, Sault Ste. Marie
As was mentioned, along with the two major business establishments were found a number of offices overhead. Clinton A. Kerr, a dentist, resided there from 1910 to 1915 along with McFadden & McMillan, Barristers, who were located there from 1912 to 1918. Where upon, James D. Becking, Barrister, entered the scene and stayed from 1919 to 1931 with his own practise. As well throughout this whole time period, starting from the original opening was the Barnes Hall. This hall was the scene of many a social gathering over the years. There were even boxing matches held in here. It is said that the local legend, Billy Hughes, fought many a round against Canadians and American alike. In 1919, Mr. T. T. Barnes got out of the drug store business and sold his two stores to Mr. Fredrick S. Dent and Mr. Henry E. Allcock, the two of which had formed a partnership. Both Mr. Dent and Mr. Allock were graduates of the Ontario College of Pharmacy. Mr. Allcock was from the Sault while Mr. Dent was from Woodstock, Ontario and had served his apprenticeship with the C. T. Adams Drug Store. The two partners decided to keep the business under the original name of Barnes. Together they provided an outstanding service to their customers with Mr. Dent minding the Central Store and Mr. Allcock minding the Queen and Gore Store. In 1947, Barnes Drug Company became an I.D.A. member and was able to better serve their customers. The outstanding service was not limited to their customers, but rather expanded into the community around them. Both Mr. Allcock and Mr. Dent during their years made outstanding contributions as citizens of Sault Ste. Marie. Both served on the Sault Chamber of Commerce for years. Mr. Dent was quite influential in the local Kiwanis Club while Mr. Allcock was an active Rotarian. Mr. Dent was also an avid promoter of juvenile sport in Sault Ste. Marie. This, of course, was due to his own athletic interests and abilities. Fred Dent made the headlines in 1910, while attending Woodstock College and Varsity, when he ran the 100 yard dash in ten seconds flat. This was a feat to be rarely equalled. He also won many intercollegiate and interscholastic meets.
In 1969 the Barnes Drug Company last closed its doors. With it went the end of an era which for over half a century the city of Sault Ste. Marie was served honestly. One other interesting fact about the history of the Barnes Block is that Sir William Hearst, who was the Premier of Ontario from October 1914 to November 1919, owned a portion of the land which could have included part of the smaller building to the east of the Barnes Block. Sir William and Lady Isabel acquired it in January 1932. The building itself can be somewhat attributed to two architectural styles. The turret is of Gothic origin while the north facade seems to lend itself towards a Victorian Romanesque origin. Although this facade is not polychromatic at its fullest, the colour variation of the window arches, trim and sills with the brick face is compatible with this style as are the arched windows. The windows do vary in size and shape. The top floor has windows with full, semi-circular arches on top while the middle floor has windows with a slight curve at the top of them. They vary in number as well. The first bay has two, the second has three and the third has two. Each of the bays is bordered by pilasters which are capped with a capital-like stone. The arches over each window are accentuated through the use of a large keystone. The cornice on the building is consistent with the simpleness of the rest of the facade. It consists of evenly spaced scroll-like modillions with horizontal mouldings below. The cornice continues right across the small building attached to the Barnes Block. This smaller building was built in the likeness of the larger block. It was built a year or two after the Barnes Block. One observation which substantiates this is that the stone work over the windows is of a different kind of stone than is found on this building beside it. At present there is no upper cornice, but earlier pictures reveal that there was one at one time. The lower cornice is still there today only it has been covered over with plywood. The west side of the Barnes Block is quite different than the front. It seems somewhat like an anti-climax after looking at the front. This side is plain and free from decoration except for the row of dentils across the top. This seems to be the side that no one was to see yet it is found on a street. There is one interesting feature found on this side which is the briel or the protruding bay window on the second floor. The turret on the corner which joins the west side to the front facade is the most significant feature of this building. Turrets can be found around Sault Ste. Marie, but usually on residential buildings as opposed to commercial. Aside from a couple of old hotels, the Barnes Block is the only business establishment which has a turret. The mortar and pestle which rise from the truncated turret roof is an age old symbol of druggists. This is quite appropriate since the building was built originally as a drug store and lasted nearly seventy years as such. The mortar and pestle look as though they may have been originally constructed out of copper. The roof of the turret is of a copper colour, but was not likely made of copper since it would have turned green due to weathering over the years. Also the spots where the copper colour has come away seem to be rusted indicating that the material must be some sort of sheet metal. At one time there was ironwork which extended from the turret roof up to the mortar and pestle. On the vertical face of the turret is found overlapping wooden shingles forming a weathertight imbrication. At the bottom of the turret is found a black, reflective material which most likely is vitrolite, a form of early plastic. This vitrolite extends across the top of the store front visually tying in the turret with the store front. Over the years, the Barnes Block became somewhat, of a landmark in the west end of the downtown. Not only a physical landmark, but a social landmark as well. It was a gathering place for the citizens of the area. The building itself is quite sound. The architectural features of this building along Queen Street make it an outstanding building. It is both because of the building's contribution to the city and its architectural features that make this building worthy of preserving in our community. Like so many buildings in the core of our city, the Barnes Block was built on the premise that industrial development had established an enduring foundation for continuing prosperity, and that individual investors would experience a good return on their capital. Probably the druggist, Theron T. Barnes, who acquired the building in June of 1902, recognized the force of the real estate agent's mantra that shrewd selection of property is based on three principles: location, location and location. Contemporaries knew that, whatever might happen further east along Queen Street, the most exciting and potentially lucrative developments were taking place to the west. So druggist Barnes planted himself right in the middle, prepared to attract customers from both ends. And so he and his successors did, for amongst other enterprises, the block housed a drug store from 1902 to 1969. Everyone recognizes the Barnes Block, at the corner of Queen and Gore, by its turret topped by a chemist's mortar and pestle. Not only does this fine old building anchor the western extremity of the Queen Street commercial district, it also functioned for many years as a meeting place for those living around Gore Street, a thoroughfare which has for a century or more divided the west from the east end of Sault Ste. Marie.
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