Our 100 Year History

1912 – 1921

Sault Ste. Marie incorporated as a City - April 16, 1912 - Mayor W. H. Munro
Governor General of Canada and Mayor Munro speeches - Official Visit to Sault Ste. Marie August 29, 1912
door to door mail delivery begins with 8 letter carriers across the City (Arthur Irwin, Harry Donnelly, Eugene Gardi, Russ Miskimins, Bob Gow, Jack Smith, George Martin, Harvey McIntyre) 1912
Lake Superior Power Company builds newsprint mill at Sault Ste. Marie - 1912
Merger of Algoma Steel Company Limited, the Algoma Iron Works, the Lake Superior Power Company, the Cannelton Coal & Coke Company and the Fibron Limestone Company with the Lake Superior Iron & Steel Company resulted in the creation of the Algoma Steel Corporation Limited - 1912
Sault Star daily publications begin and is renamed The Sault Daily Star - 1912
Duke of Connaught visits city August 29, 1912 - Governor General of Canada, 3rd son of Queen Victoria
James Lyons opens Lyon’s Fuel & Supplies Co. - 1912
Salvation Army Citadel opens - 1912
Marconi Society established - 1912
ACR Station and Offices at foot of Bruce Street opens - 1913
Corner section of Windsor Hotel constructed - 1913
Andrew Virene establishes store on Gore Street - 1913
newly built YMCA opens on March Street 1913
Main line of Algoma Central and Hudson’s Bay Railroad completed to Hearst - 1914
Queen Street jail closes, new jail opens on McNabb Street - 1914
Herbert Rosevear Lash opens H. R. Lash Boots and Shoes & Gents Furnishings - 1914
Lodge of Sons of Italy established in Sault - 1915
Algoma Steel Corporation divests itself of interests in water power lands and rights and the assets of the International Transit Company; the contract of sale was assigned to a new Company, the Great Lakes Power Company Limited - 1916
Ontario Railway and Municipal Board Order provided for the amalgamation of the city of SSM and the town of Steelton, population soars to 21,500 – November 24, 1917
Adolpho Spadoni opens James St. Furniture - 1918
Girl Guides organized in city - 1918
Work begins on foundations for Algoma Steel Corporation 28” structural mill 1918; shortage of funds stops work in 1920
Joseph LaPlante opens Foch’s Cleaners - 1918
Rotary Club in SSM holds first meeting and dinner at YMCA – June 15, 1918
Royal Victoria Hospital re-opens at the Plummer house “Lynnhurst” as the Plummer Memorial Hospital; 35 beds - 1919
Joseph Lemay opens Lemay’s Furniture - 1919
Visit by Prince of Wales – September 4, 1919
Members of the Group of Seven return to the Sault area in the fall of the year to paint - 1919
Nori family opens City Meat Market - 1919
Joseph Rossi opens Rossi’s Bakery - 1920
James Pilling opens Algoma Bakery - 1920
Isaac Davis opens Davis Clothing Store - 1920
Sault Ste. Marie Country club opens. W. C. Franz - president; Elmer W. West - vice-president; Edgar T. Read - secretary-treasurer - 1920
Soo Technical High School built - 1921
Sault High School became Sault Collegiate Institute - 1921
Verse on Cenotaph at Court House was inscribed with Rudyard Kipling - 1921
Edwards Hardware opens - 1921
first time Sault women vote in federal election 1921

1922 - 1931

Fire Hall opens at Wellington & Bruce, relocated from City Hall - 1922
Completion of present Court House - 1922
First Community Day Sept. 22, 1922 - 3,000 entries in parade (population of city 23,500). 175 of the entries were children. Proceeds used to purchase car for Public Health Nurse - known as the "baby car"
New Princess Theatre opens - 1923
Community Day Parade – 2,500 people marched in parade, between 200-300 decorated cars & floats - 1923
Dedication of cenotaph in front of Court House on Queen Street, names of
WWI veterans inscribed on Cenotaph – September 2, 1924
Greyhounds win Allen Cup – George MacNamara, General Manager; Hounds won the two-game total – goals final round against Selkirk Fisherman 6-3 - 1924
First year Rotary Club gives away car at community night, E. Ross McKay, Editor of Sault Star wins car - 1925
Kiwanis Club gets Charter - 1926
Willard Thayer opens Hiawatha Lodge - 1926
Frank Capy opens Capy’s on Queen St. - 1927
Sault hooked up to European continent via transatlantic phone service – April 12, 1928
Masonic Temple opens in city - 1929
Construction of new Plummer Hospital completed - 1929
Fire destroys Capy’s Grill - 1929
S. S. Kresge opens for business in old Shier Block - 1929
Wilfred MacDonald opens Mac’s China Store - 1931

1932 – 1941

Wolf Week held to attract tourists as an antidote to the depression (July 25th – 30th) , started by J. W. Curran editor of Sault Star - 1932
Boston Motors begins business on Spring Street, Andrew Ferguson (Fergie) Boston proprietor – 1932
New Company, Algoma Steel Corporation Limited (1934) incorporated under Sir James Dunn
First local radio station CJIC begins operations – October 15th, 1934
Soo Dairies begins operation - 1934
Royal Canadian Legion Drum & Trumpet Band established - 1934
Legion Band has 1st Dress Parade in March – 1935
First radio station, C.J.I.C. begins broadcasting - 1935
Sir James Dunn arrives in Sault - 1935
Survey showed a total of 17 different languages spoken in city - 1936
Bruce Smith voted by faculty as best student to represent Collegiate at Coronation of King George VI. Under generous sponsorship of J. C. Pinch, he left for England on April 24, 1937 and went from SSM to Montreal, then boarded the S.S. Montcalm in Quebec City for England arriving on May 6th. Returned to SSM on August 5th after visiting France & Scotland
Clergue returns to Sault Ste. Marie to attend a testimonial banquet where a portrait of him (now hanging in City Hall) was unveiled – February 15, 1937
Average hourly Algoma Steel Corporation wage 48 cents - 1937
Attillio Orazietti opens Orazietti Furniture - 1937
Hiawatha play performed at Toronto Exhibition by Ojibway band - 1937
Welcome Arch constructed on Brock St. Designed by John Arthur Luxton, built by John Murdo (Jock) Nicolson & son Donald - 1938
First Santa Claus Parade - 1939
Francis Hector Clergue dies in Montreal January 19, 1939 at age 82
SSM Country Club becomes Sault Ste. Marie Country & Golf Club - 1940
Robert Simpson Company opens store at 374-76 Queen - 1940
Wince Lyons & Lee Lyons open Girl In Red Restaurant - 1941

1942 - 1951

Last day of street car service - October 31, 1942
Dionne Quintuplets visit Sault, however remain on train - 1943
Fort Creek flood – Wellington and John Streets – 1945
Trans Canada Airlines inaugural flight from Kinross Airport – Michigan - 1947
Clergue Park dedicated in memory of Francis H. Clergue - 1948
Trixie Hardy Dance School opens - 1948
Hamilton Roddis built a saw mill on 3rd Line & People’s Road in 1948 employed 15-20 people. The mill was rebuilt in 1952 and became a veneer plant in 1953 addition of hardwood flooring mill in 1955. Bought in 1960 by Weyerhauser Canada. G. W. Martin took over in 1984
Memorial Gardens dedicated – largest Sault gathering under one roof – 6,500 - 1949
New Post Office on Queen Street opens - 1949
Soo Drive-In opened in 1949
1st Artillery Ball held at Armoury November 17, 1950
Plummer Memorial Hospital opens - 1951

1952 - 1961

7,000 workers employed at Algoma Steel - 1952
First time for floats in Santa Claus Parade - 1952
Official opening of Pine St. Armoury, January 19, 1952, Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent hands keys to Lt. Col. Derrer
Queen Elizabeth II becomes Queen of England - 1953
Hyland TV first to broadcast TV from Sault Ste. Marie - 1953
Opening ceremonies new section Lake Superior Highway - 1954
Dedication at Cenotaph in front of Court House with addition of names from WWII and Korean War – 1955
St. Marys Boys College opened by the Basilian Fathers - 1956
Skylar Drive-In opened in 1956
Sault Transit – formerly run by Algoma Steel – taken over July 1, 1957
Sir James Dunn Collegiate and Vocational School opens to become the city’s third High School - 1957
Modern Simpson’s store built at Queen & Elgin Streets - 1959
Royal Visit – Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip July 8, 1959
Sault Ste. Marie Airport constructed - 1959
Allied Arts Council is formed; later renamed Arts Council of SSM & District - 1959
Mount St. Joseph College opened by the Sisters of St. Joseph - 1960
St. Marys College Men's Club erected a 12 ton cross on Moffley Hill on May 14, 1960. It is the western hemisphere's tallest, illuminated, self-supporting cross. Believed to be the same area where a cedar cross was raised June 14, 1671 as part of the French celebration of the founding of Sault Ste. Marie. Primary people involved in the cross creation were Bill Taylor, Mike Perepelytz and Lou Lukenda
Sault Airport opens, first commercial flight lands August 1, 1961
Bawating Collegiate & Vocational school opens - 1961

1962 – 1971

Ferry service to Sault Ste. Marie Michigan ends - 1962
Opening of highway north to Wawa and beyond - 1962
International Bridge opens for traffic - October 31, 1962
Churchill plaza opens - 1962
80 acres of land donated by Arthur A. Wishart for park on 4th Line - 1962
Group Health Centre opened - 1963
Welcome Arch on lower Brock St. demolished – March 4, 1964
Sault Ste. Marie amalgamates with Korah and Tarentorus Townships – population grows to 70,052 - 1965
Sault College of Applied Arts & Technology opens - 1965
Newly built YMCA on McNabb Street opens - 1965
City Council passes by-law allowing stores to remain open two evening a week (Thursday & Friday) until 9:30pm, all other nights they must close by 7:00pm - 1965
Garden River Band revives Hiawatha play, tours the CNE and Expo - 1965
Direct distance dialling initiated - 1965
Notre Dame Des Ecoles built - 1966
Algoma University College accepted first students – 1966
Main Library opens on East Street to mark the Centennial - 1967
Canada celebrates its Centennial Year - 1967
Korah Collegiate & Vocational School opens
Fire ruins St. Charles Hotel and Metropolitan Store on November 26, 1968. The top two stories were destroyed and the roof burned away completely. Capy’s restaurant and the Algoma Theatre (neighbouring buildings) received only slight smoke and water damage. Damage estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Alexander Henry High School opens - 1968
Soo Technical High School became a composite school and the name was changed to Lakeway Collegiate & Vocational school - 1969
Rotary YMCA Tennis and Aquatic Club (RYTAC) opens through joint efforts of Sault Ste. Marie YMCA and Rotary Club of SSM - 1969
Library moved to new building on Clergue Park - 1970
Restored Ermatinger House opens - 1970
Bandshell at Bellevue Park named Harry R. Pearse Memorial Bandshell June 14, 1970 in honour of local musician and band leader, composer of Men of the North, Hymn for the Armistice, Etienne Brule among others
Last Artillery Ball (2nd) held at Armoury November 5, 1971
Credit system in Ontario High Schools implemented - 1971
Marine Museum opens at Bellevue Park - 1971
Doran’s Brewery sold to Canadian Breweries - 1971
3,000 students stage walk-out to protest the halt of extra-curricular activities - 1971

1972 - 1981

Station Mall opens - 1973
White Pines Collegiate & Vocational school opens - 1973
Soo Drive In opens - 1974
New Civic Centre completed on the waterfront - Old City Hall complex on Queen Street demolished - 1975
freighter Edmund Fitzgerald sinks in storm in Lake Superior off Whitefish Bay November 10, 1975
Great Lakes Forest Research Centre completed - 1976
Art Gallery of Algoma opens in Station Tower – 1976
Municipal elections by Ward system - 1979
Smoking banned in elementary schools - 1980
Art Gallery of Algoma moves to new location at foot of East Street on waterfront - 1980
Sault Collegiate Institute closes - 1980

1982 – 1991

Smoking banned in secondary schools - 1982
Museum moves into old Post Office building - 1982
Great Tugboat Race begins at Gros Cap, one of the founders was Howard Avery - 1982
Soup Kitchen Community Centre opens - 1983
Cambrian Mall opens - 1984
Ontario Lottery Corporation is ordered by Premier to move its offices to Sault Ste. Marie from Toronto - 1985
Opening of the new Tube Mill at Algoma Steel - 1987
Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre opens - 1987
Odeon Theatre closes (last movie theatre on Queen Street) - 1989
Victoria House (The Vic) demolished, January 16, 1990

1992 - 2001

Sault native Dr. Roberta Bondar becomes Canada’s first woman astronaut and first neurologist in space – January 1992
Official Homecoming of Dr. Roberta Bondar to Sault Ste. Marie – February 1992
Official opening of Roberta Bondar Place - 1992
Sault Greyhounds win Memorial Cup championship - May, 1993
Official opening of Roberta Bondar Park Tent Pavilion – 1994
Kiwanis Community Theatre opens at White Pines Secondary school - 1995
Sault Airport renamed for Roderick Borden Gray, Flying Officer WWII, recipient of George Cross 1997
Casino Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario’s first charity casino opens - 1999
John Rhodes Centre opened – Phase II - 1999
City hosts 2000 Ontario Winter Games
Ermatinger / Clergue Heritage Site becomes Ermatinger / Clergue National Historic Site - 2001

2002-2012

Block House opened at Ermatinger / Clergue Site - 2002
McNabb St. Jail closes - 2003
On May 8, 2003, Sault Ste. Marie recieved the International Safe Community designation from the World Health Organization; Sault Ste. Marie was one of only six Canadian communities at the time to recieve this
City becomes non-smoking – June 1, 2004
Movie “Looking for Angelina” filmed in city with local actors - 2004
“Old Post Office” - Dominion Building celebrates 100 years; Gala Evening held at Marconi Club - 2005
Walk of Fame begins September 30, 2006 with 10 inductees – Dr. Roberta Bondar; F. H. Clergue; Ken Danby; Treble Charger, Gary & Joanie McGuffin, Ron Francis, Ted Nolan, Morley Torgov, Kevin Scott, Jessica Tuomela
Steelback Centre opens officially September 29th, 2006 – renamed Essar Centre in 2008
Carmen’s Way – new truck route dedicated in memory of late Carmen Provenzano - 2006
Sault Steelers Football Team celebrates 35th Anniversary. Win the Northern Football Conference and the Canadian Championship. Medal of Merit recipient - 2007
Bon Soo Winter Carnival celebrates 45 years - 2007
St. Mary’s School of Nursing celebrates 100th Anniversary of beginning of school - 2008
Mount St. Joseph College celebrates 50th Anniversary of school – 2008
Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 celebrates 80th Anniversary – 2008
Algoma Steel is renamed Essar Steel Algoma Inc. – 2008
Algoma Community Care Hospice opens September, 2008
Plaque unveiled at SSM Museum to commemorate Ukrainian detainees during WWI - October, 2008
Sault Search & Rescue celebrates 50th Anniversary - 2008
Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 Drum & Trumpet Band celebrates 75th Anniversary - 2008
City holds flag raising ceremony at Clergue Park marking 25 countries whose residents established Sault Ste. Marie - 2009
On June 6, 2009, Sault Ste. Marie was re-designated as an International Safe Community by the World Health Organization
Natasha Floyd, Sir James Dunn High School student and Jessica Tuomela, paralympian from 2000 Games carry 2010 Winter Olympics torch along Wellington Street to the Essar Centre enroute to Vancouver B.C. - January 2, 2010
Algoma University turns Windsor Park into student residence - 2010
YMCA $3M renovation begins to upgrade the McNabb Street facility - 2010
Lower section of East Street south of Bay Street renamed Ken Danby Way - 2010
Mayor John Rowswell passed away while in office - August 2010
Debbie Amaroso elected City's first woman Mayor - December 2010
New Sault Area Hospital officially opened - February, 2011
Hub Trail renamed John Rowswell Hub Trail - 2011
Parkland adjacent to Clergue Park (former site of A. B. McLean & Sons) named John Rowswell Park - 2011
Replica of Rotary Welcome Arch constructed at original location on Russ Ramsay Way (lower Brock Street) - unveiled July 16, 2011 after Rotary Community Day Parade
Mayor Debbie Amaroso announces that Dr. Roberta Bondar will be Honorary Community Ambassador for 2012 Celebrate100! events - October 2011