45/47  Forsyth St     

Rathbun Lumber Co./Clairmont/Philpot House

Although we have no records regarding the building of this house,  we understand it was built around 1850 as a guest house for the operation of a lumber company. It is unclear if it was the Page,  or Rathbun Lumber Company that built this stone structure.  It was later transferred to the Gilmour Lumber Co.  around 1866,  which carried on operations until 1872.   Government records show they obtained a permit to cut the timber off three and a quarter square miles of forest in 1866,  but Gilmour continued their operations through the area at least until 1872, when they are reported to have taken 22,000,000 board feet of pine,                                                                          

The house had been used as a boarding house for the old Cobourg, Peterborough & Marmora Railway. Thereafter,  it was owned by Malcolm Cameron until 1884. 

The stone structure has full sized timbers in the attic and basement,  some of which still have bark on them.  The walls are about two feet thick,  and the original door bell is still on the door.  The basement had a mud floor until the late 1970's,  when it was hand dug out and cemented.  Heated by stove pipes,  the six guest rooms all had holes for the pipes to pass through,  and spaces above the doors for ventilation.

According toArthur Sweet, writing in 1967,  one of Marmora's oldest citizens,  Richard Campion,  lived in this house, running a livery there when the Gold Mine in Deloro was in operation.  His photo is on the wall in the above photograph.

At some point it was purchased by Jack Clairmont and converted to a house from offices.  The lower north end was rented out to Mrs. Campion.

In 1973 it was purchased by Anne & Andre Philpot and converted to a home with a law office in the Campion apartment at the lower north end. The first employee was Betty Nobes from Deloro.