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Yarmouth----A Half
Century or More of Changes A “down homer’s” recollection of many years
past Written by George White Coached by Shirley Webb With the passage of
time, there are always going to be changes, some good,
some not so good. Yarmouth Town and County have
experienced both in many ways I am sure. As a former resident
of the County, I try to return to my roots as often as I
can, usually at least once a year. As what I might term
being an “outsider”, I have noticed many changes over
the past half century or more, unfortunately not all can
be listed on the good side of the ledger. A half century or
more ago, one could get to or leave Yarmouth either by
trains, busses, airplane or ferries. Today there are
none of these modes of transportation serving Yarmouth.
Many years past, Yarmouth even had a local bus service
extending from one end of Main Street to the other where
one could ride for five cents, children free. The old “Boston”
boat that used to arrive in the mornings loaded with
American tourists boarding one of the coaches of
Dominion Atlantic Railways (DAR) trains that shuttled
passengers to Halifax right from the boat dock is no
more. Others boarded the CN train to Halifax by way of
the South Shore. The tracks for both these trains are
removed; nothing more than narrow trails through the
countryside remains. Today if one goes down to the old
DAR train station, it would not be to board a train but
to get a cup of “double double”( today one can still see
one of the old DAR coaches sitting at the Museum of
Technology in Ottawa). Many brought their fancy cars and
they could be seen motoring around Yarmouth most of the
summer, leaving their money behind at local hotels,
stores, community events like strawberry suppers and I
am sure many other places. Yarmouth was placed
back on the tourist map when the MV Bluenose
arrived back in the early 1950’s. This provided a fast
direct route to Bar Harbour, Maine for all of the
tourists to come and go. This ferry plied the Bay of
Fundy for many years and carried a lot of passengers and
automobiles. It is gone. Following the MV Bluenose
service, the MV Scotia Prince ferry plied the
waters back and forth to Portland, Maine, again the
tourists came but cost was creeping into the tourist
trade. That boat is no more. Then Yarmouth was a Port of
Entry for a very high-speed ferry (the“Cat”)
between Yarmouth and Bar Harbour, Maine. I think with
its high speed, it must have missed the harbour entrance
toYarmouth, as it is no more. A half century ago,
Yarmouth had a busy airport, once the home to an active
RCAF base during WW2. Trans Canada Airlines, later
changed to Air Canada had regular flights in and out of
Yarmouth with both their Douglas DC-3’s and later their
new Viscount aircraft. Today one may see the casual
aircraft, other than private aircraft, sitting on the
tarmac, no more commercial service in or out of
Yarmouth. Not too many years
ago, one could make a trip to Halifax or all points in
between on a commercial scheduled bus service. Now I
believe that this scheduled service terminates in Digby.
Yarmouth lost another transportation service. With the loss of
these mentioned transportation modes, at least now
Yarmouth is served with two all-weather controlled
access highways leading from or to Halifax.
Unfortunately, one does not see many of the tourists
that once were abundant around the Town and County.
Perhaps it is a sign of the economic hard times.
Accommodations are very expensive one finds in Yarmouth,
the price of gasoline is among the highest priced in
Canada. Over time there are
bound to be many changes to any place when one returns
for a visit. Over the past half-century or more, I have
noticed many. Gone are the little local one-room
schoolhouses where most of us “old timers” received our
formal education. Also gone are many, if not all with
the exception of one or two, of the local farms that
could be found throughout the County. Today many of
these farms sit idle. The once productive fields that
contained cows and horses have either returned to their
wild bush state or sprouted new houses. A half century ago,
Yarmouth enjoyed a semi professional baseball team, the
Yarmouth Gateways. They are long gone, being replaced
these years by hockey. We lose one, we gain one. As well
as the Gateways, there were many community baseball
teams that created rivalry between the various
communities throughout the County. Times change, they
are no more. Yes, I remember
those times back a little over a half a century ago
growing up in Yarmouth, the trains, the boats, the
airplanes. Riding a bicycle on those narrow dusty
country roads, knowing everyone living in the community.
Today those winding dusty roads are paved and cars
travel them like they are trying to get airborne. The
sound of the old steam train whistle and how it was a
barometer of the weather systems moving in, no TV
weather forecasters back then, matter of fact, no TV! Many of the younger
generation of my time moved away from what we call home.
Today these individuals can be found scattered all over
the globe, one just has to check one of the Internet web
sites of Yarmouth. A lot of us still try to return year
after year and it is those of us that do return that
notice the many changes to our “home town”. Some we
welcome, others we miss. Unfortunately, with the passage
of time, I recognize more names in the local “final
resting place” than in the local phone book. I suspect that our
hometown is struggling like many other towns around the
Country. Unfortunately, not every town has the complete
ability to control the events of time. Industries that
once flourished in Yarmouth have been boarded up; local
fishing industry is on a downward slide. Transportation
links and tourist trade is almost non-existent. No one
can be blamed for this, it is a sign of the times,
things change over half a century. But fortunately,
some things do change for the better. Yarmouth’s Water
Street has seen vast improvements over the past half
century. Also gone are a lot of the small businesses
that used to support the shipping trade of years gone
by. Yarmouth has a couple beautiful public parks;
Killiam’s Wharf where a visitor can easily view the
activities in the harbour and perhaps scratch their head
in wonderment as to history of that old rusting ship
that has been beached on the far shore of the harbour
for many years. Of course Frost Park, directly across
the street from the Grand Hotel (both old and new) is
still a well-maintained and beautiful spot to relax and
view the harbour traffic. It is much rumoured in
Yarmouth, and we all believe it as fact, that Meredith
Wilson was staying at the Grand Hotel and on Christmas
Eve 1951, strolled over to Frost Park, was impressed
with the fresh fallen snow on the trees and wrote the
famous Christmas song It’s Beginning to Look a Lot
Like Christmas.
Fortunately, The Yarmouth Golf and Country Club
located in the south part of town has survived over the
past century and is very much utilized to this day. A half century ago,
and even pre-dating that time, the expression “cold beer
on ice” was not a dream by those in Yarmouth that
indulged. This was because residents were able to buy
blocks of ice, sometimes delivered to their home by
either horses or oxen. The ice was cut from Lake Milo in
the winter and stored during the summer in the old
icehouse in Milton. Of course times have changed, not to
mention modern refrigeration in every home, and the
icehouse is long ago history, lands replaced with modern
apartment buildings where residents can watch the wild
ducks swimming in the small bay or holding up traffic as
they slowly make their way across the highway numerous
times a day. I remember as a
young lad venturing into town from the country on a
bicycle on a Saturday night, the big shopping time of
the week. This event was later changed to Friday nights.
Back in those days, one would have to drive up and down
Main Street numerous times just to find a choice parking
spot where one could sit in their car and “admire” the
passing pedestrians. There was very little traffic on
Main Street during Wednesday afternoon because at that
time, most of the retail stores were closed for the
half-day. Move ahead half a century and now Main Street
shopping has been transferred out to Starrs Road where
one can find all the major big box stores, countless car
dealerships and fast food outlets overtaking the large
farms that used to be there. Back in my youthful days in
Yarmouth, Starrs Road was a good road to test one’s car
for top speed. Today, fortunately, a different
generation, perhaps with better judgement, this activity
is almost impossible. Starrs Road leads one to both the
two all-weather highways out of Yarmouth to Halifax. A half century ago,
give or take a few years, how many can remember the
blacksmith shop up in Milton, a place where farmers took
their draft animals to get new shoes? The blacksmith of
the day later worked at the Upper Canada Village, a
replica of a pioneer village on the St. Lawrence River,
located between Morrisburg and Cornwall Ontario, part of
Parks Canada National park system. Today there are
probably very few that even know that teams of horses
and oxen worked the many farms in Yarmouth County. And
of course speaking of oxen, probably the “old timers”
can remember those performances of “Chester” with his
team doing the ox pulls at the local exhibition grounds.
I bet there are people living in Yarmouth today that
have never seen a team of oxen working. A changing of
the times! A half century ago,
the many dairy farmers used to deliver their milk or
cream in large metal cans to one of two local milk
processing plants, one at the corner of Dayton and Pond
Road and the other large one at the corner of Vancouver
Street and Main. Both are now gone. The statue of the
horse and large water basin, referred by many as the
“horse fountain” used in many years past to provide
refreshments for the horses and oxen that carried the
goods to and from town still stands at the foot of
Vancouver Street, a landmark for visitors I am sure.
Unfortunately, a similar “horse fountain” that was once
located in the south end of town has long been “put out
to pasture”, never to be seen again. One could wonder how
many today can remember the dances held every Saturday
night at the Milo Boat Club, a very active place back a
half-century or more? Perhaps most of the people arrived
at the dance by way of the local bus service. Those
dances were very popular with the younger generation of
the day but sometimes the activity spilled out onto the
street after closing time much to the annoyance of the
local residents. However, I very much doubt that one
would have heard the loud rock music that seems to be
the music (read noise) of choice at dances today. But
that is my personal feeling. During the past
century, a lot of old things have gone by the wayside,
new things have happened. A new jail has been
constructed; a new high school is being built to replace
the old Yarmouth Consolidated Memorial High School
(YCMHS) that for half a century was located on Parade
Street, the old Hebron Consolidated school building,
torn down and replaced
with a modern day “palace”, the Municipal administration
building. The Milton as well as South End schools of
course are history.
The new fire hall replaced the old central
firehouse that used to sound a loud horn to call all the
volunteer firefighters to duty if there was a fire. Who
can remember the signals, one long blast for out of
town, a series of long and short, something like Morse
Code, for different in town locations? Back in those
days Yarmouth Town even had its own police force. Times
change. Some things have
remained the same though. Yarmouth still has its CJLS
radio station that can be heard around the globe on
Internet, a connection to “home” for the many former
residents. On a clear fog-free day, there are places in
Yarmouth that one can stand on high ground and see the
tip of Briar Island or miles out to sea. Perhaps when in
season, drive the many roads lined with beautiful lupine
flowers, the many beautiful lakes and rivers that make
up the County. The Yarmouth Light house is still located
at Cape Forchu, functional but now a museum of sorts.
People still stand on the rocks there and watch the
power of the sea during storms in spite of the dangers.
Those dangerous activities have never seemed to change
over the past half century. There is still one
thing that has never changed in Yarmouth, though I
suspect many would like to find the formula to do such.
Certain times of the year, the fog rolls in off the Bay
of Fundy. Usually “burns off” around 3 PM each
afternoon, only to have the cycle repeated again at 4
PM. Maybe there are still some tourists lurking around,
we just can’t see them. Even though many
former residents no longer live in Yarmouth, they still
proudly proclaim it their home, this in spite of all the
changes, good or bad, in the past half-century or more.
There is just one thing us “down homers” would ask the
people of Yarmouth to do, that is to kindly replace all
those old tattered and torn flags we see when returning
home on our yearly visits with new ones and please fly
them in the correct manner. One wonders what the
next half-century or more will be like for Yarmouth. |