BarrieToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected]. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letter is in response to ''Demand better': Fairgrounds plan 'falls flat' with neighbours,' published April 6.
It was with interest that I read the recent announcement about the proposed redevelopment of 175 and 199 Essa Rd., in Barrie, along with 50 Wood St., by Greenworld Construction/Digram Developments.
James Hubbert, my grandfather, was the last individual to own that property and I am proposing that the subdivision be named Hubbert Estates.
James Hubbert, age 12, came to the south half of Lot 5, Conc. 11, now Salem Road, in Innisfil Township about 1870 with his parents William and Ann (Teasdale) Hubbert, and several siblings.
On the 100 acres of pine forest there was a log house surrounded by a small clearing.
James later married and he and his five sons became prominent farmers in the Holly area of Innisfil Township, owning several hundred acres during the late 1800s and early 1900s.
James also owned a 200-acre pasture farm near where the Bear Creek Secondary School now stands. Nearby is a street called Hubbert Crescent.
One of his sons, Edward, served in the First World War and was wounded in France. When he returned home, the Holly community held a reception for him and presented him with a gold watch.
In 1920, James and his wife, Martha (Srigley) Hubbert retired to 189 Essa Rd., and lived there for 25 years. There was a one-storey cement block house, a small barn and several acres of pastureland. They had a large garden, hens, a couple of cows and sold eggs and butter.
When James Hubbert died in 1945, his daughter, my mother Mary (Maimie Hubbert) Stewart, was in charge of settling his estate.
Two or three years later, the property was sold to the Barrie Agricultural Society.
The Barrie and surrounding area is still home to several Hubbert families.
At 90 years of age, I realize that I probably won't live to see this proposed subdivision built on the old fairgrounds.
I ask that this information be given to the mayor, city councillors and the developer.
The name Hubbert Estates would honour one of Innisfil Township’s pioneer families.
M.E. Harvey
New Tecumseth
