KW0113 KEEWATIN - 501 OTTAWA STREET

POSTCARD

Date: Posted March 22, 1907 From M.K. in Keewatin, Ontario to Mrs. William Walls, Prince Albert, Sask.

Publisher / Photographer: Unidentified.

Notation: The note on front reads; "Do you recognise this place." The note on the reverse reads; "Did you receive that photo album(?) have not had time to write but will later. M.K."

At first, I had assumed that the house in this image was the Mathers-Walls House located at 1116 Ottawa Street in Keewatin, Ontario. It was built in 1889 by John Mather who was Keewatin's first postmaster and school board chairman and a prominent entrepreneur in the community - having founded the Keewatin Lumbering and Manufacturing Company. This house was originally built for John's son David. In 1906, it was purchased by John William Walls, who was the foreman at the Company's mill. The house is now known as the Mather-Walls House and is a museum and the focal point of Keewatin's public history. (In recent years, Keewatin has become part of Kenora, Ontario.)

I was wrong in my original assumption that the house in this image is the Mather-Walls House. I have since learned that Mr. Mathers had built two other houses in town. The one in this photo is still standing and occupied as a residence. It is located at 501 Ottawa Street. This image is looking up Ottawa Street from the east. Here is the present-day counterpart to the postcard image of the house and street:



This postcard was sent to William Wall's wife Elizabeth in 1907. From the address on this postcard addressed to “Mrs. Wm. Walls” it appears that Mr. Walls went by his middle name, William – not “John” as most current articles and references refer to him. At the time of this postcard, Elizabeth was in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

Elizabeth (Elizabeth Victoria Caddick) was William’s second wife. She had also been previously married. They had been married in Rat Portage in 1892. By the time of the 1911 census, William & Elizabeth had left Keewatin and were living in Assiniboia, Saskatchewan. Born on February 14, 1857, William died on March 27, 1927.

Further information on the Mather-Walls House can be found at: www.heritagetrust.on.ca/Conservation/Buildings/More-buildings/Northern-Ontario/Mather-Walls-House-(Kenora).aspx