If you blink, you might miss it.
Nonetheless, this pint-sized building remains a longtime and well-remembered part of downtown Allandale’s streetscape.
And like other small neighbourhood stores – Bauldry’s, Parkside Variety, Kelly's, East End Variety, Knowles Grocery (Victoria and Sanford Streets), Smith’s Farm Dairy, Burn’s Grocery; Bayview Grocery (later Dyke’s Meat Market) and others, Addie’s has the power to invoke an abundance of fond memories and recollections.
Around 1905, the block between Gowan and Cumberland streets on the east side of Essa Road where Addie’s would later open, was growing commercially. On the corner of Essa and Gowan, the Allandale Post Office sat on a large lot (it’s civic address was actually Gowan Street).
In the centre of the block was a cluster of businesses: a rough cast hardware store, a building which sold boots in the north half and groceries and meats in the south half, and next to it, a small structure housing a tailor. A vacant lot completed the remainder of the block stretching to Cumberland Street.
By the late 1930s, the post office, W.A. Hannah’s Hardware store, Arthur Jay’s shoe store, Ezekiel Allen’s Fish and Chips, Margaret Griffith’s Confectionery and J.T. Hunter’s garage would fill the block.
In 1914, Margaret Irene Helen Little of Calgary (her parents at time lived in Alberta but were formerly from Stayner) married Clarence Alexander Griffiths in Victoria, B.C. Clarence, a pal of Harold Dyment’s, was formerly of Barrie. Margaret’s little confectionery was listed as 42 Essa Rd.
Was there an actual Addie? Yes. Adelaide Sloan.
Miss Addie Sloan of Estevan, Sask., met Harry Walter Herrington of Winnipeg, while he was bank manager at the local Union Bank. They married in Estevan, later moving to Toronto in 1926 where Harry became a purchasing agent for the Stromberg-Carlson Radio Company.
It was in 1949 that the Herringtons moved to Barrie and bought the little confectionery on Essa Road. A 1950 directory lists H.W. Herrington Confectionery at 40 Essa Rd., and Ted’s Radio Store at 44 Essa Rd., but by 1961, the street address of Addie’s is shown as 44 Essa Rd., which is the current address of the building.
The Herringtons became a welcome addition to the neighbourhood, attending the Burton Avenue United Church and making many friends around town, while building their small business. It wasn’t long before H.W. Herrington’s Confectionery became better known as Addie’s Confectionery.
Since then, Addie’s, the popular shop on Essa Road for literally decades, has become the stuff of good memories.
This ongoing series from Barrie Historical Archive curator Deb Exel shows old photos from the collection and one from the present day, as well as the story behind them.
