GO EAST, YOUNG MAN.....
/While writer, Horace Greeley, may have advised young entrepeneurs to head west, Mr. Daniel Dunlay, in 1892, looked east in Marmora, purchasing the property at the south-west corner of Highway 7 and Bursthall Street. There he built a double house and beside it, to the west, he had his blacksmith shop. (He was the same man who built 43 Forsyth and the Dunlay Block at 28 Forsyth , now the parking lot of Nickle's Drugstore, where he ran a carriage trade.)
In 1926, the double house was occupied Mr. Quong Lee's Laundry and in 1937, it seems Mr. G.L. Forrester, who ran a clock and watch repair business, was in the same block The property remained in the family until the late 1940's, when it was sold to Mr. & Mrs. Charles Kelly, who in turn sold it to British Petroleum fourteen years later.
The first agent for British Petroleum was George Lummis, followed by Vic Provost in 1969. The B.P. company tore down the double house on Feb. 9, 1972, to make room for a 20' x 20' storage building and office, built of steel and enclosed by a chain link fence. The business was a whole sale operation for the sale of regular and super gas, oils, diesel oil and lubricants of all kinds to farmers, homeowners, commercial, industrial and construction companies.
1972
In 1983, Petro-Canada acquired BP Canada refineries and service stations, but the Marmora property was decommissioned in 1987. Trying to sell the property, Petrocan was directed to commence a remediation of the site and installation of groundwater monitoring wells. In 2004, a supplementary environmental site assessment was completed, resulting in tons of oil-tainted soil being removed and relocated in the landfill site for a fee.
The site still remains an empty lot.
2005
Celia Murray writes: .Dan is my grandfather! He built the lovely brick house on Forsyth St (#43 )next to the Clairmonts lovely stone house...now a BnB!...that is where my mother, Rita Murray, was born and raised!
Below: The North side of the street. Here we see the July 12th Orangeman’s Parade, heading west on the now #7 Highway, with Charles Dunlay in the lead. The brick building is the O’Neill Building, housing the Hardware store of Joker Jones and Jimmy Potts, which later became the TD bank.
Next right is the Imperial Garage, followed by the Blacksmith shop of Charles Sr. and Eli Clairmont. (All now the TD parking Lot) At the far right, the Clairmont House i visible. This house was later moved North, opposite the Town Hall (11 Bursthall Street)
