Reflections: The streets and stories of Stratford by Betty Jo Belton
Streets of Stratford was launched in a Reflections article in the Stratford Beacon Herald, March 17, 2023 submitted by Betty Jo Belton, Stratford-Perth Archives. It reads as follows:
The new Streets of Stratford website expands an effort that began in the pages of the Beacon Herald to tell the stories behind the street names of the city. PHOTO BY STRATFORD-PERTH ARCHIVES
Volunteer Paul Wilker and his supporters have just launched a new website called Streets of Stratford.
Have you ever walked down a street where you used to live? Vivid memories of what happened there and the people who lived nearby seem to come to mind more easily. Volunteer Paul Wilker and his supporters have just launched a new website called Streets of Stratford at www.streetsofstratford.ca, where you can take hundreds of virtual strolls into the past.
When COVID hit, Wilker, a former Stratfordite, was looking for a project to pass the time. In old scrapbooks that his mother had kept, he found 250 articles in the Stratford Beacon Herald about the Streets of Stratford. He started to scan them and put them on a website.
The articles were written by Stan Dingman in the early 1980s. Twenty years later, in 2004, the Beacon Herald published a supplement that contained condensed versions of those articles and added new ones. Over the past two years, Wilker has collected more stories and pictures of people and places related to those streets. Along the way, Gord Conroy, a contemporary of Wilker’s, also from Stratford, signed on to help. Stratford-Perth Archives staff have enjoyed finding photographs and information as requested while the project grew. Other major contributors include Dean Robinson, historian; Fred Gonder, photographer; Vince Gratton, historian; and Nancy Musselman from the Stratford and District Historical Society.
Now, 40 years after Dingman’s work, there is an expanded, digital version of the Streets of Stratford available to all. The website tells the story of how 300 Stratford streets got their names and includes a wide range of articles about early settlers, inventors, artists, musicians, singers, historic buildings, sports figures, veterans, actors, doctors, lawyers, mayors and merchants. In some cases, audio and video clips are used to enhance their stories. There’s also a quiz and a crossword puzzle.
If you’d like to explore some interesting streetscapes in person, the website includes links to walking tours like the Stratford-Perth branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario’s Cobourg Street Stroll at www.stratford-perthcountybranchaco.ca/Cobourg_Street_Stroll/. Destination Stratford has several self-guided audio walking tours available on their website at www.visitstratford.ca/audiotours/ that include information about sites of interest around Perth County. West Perth has a great guide to historic buildings in downtown Mitchell available on-line at www.westperth.com/en/business/our-heritage.aspx. The Stratford-Perth Archives also has Step into the Past: Historic Walking Tour of Some of Listowel’s Finest Old Buildings. It’s not online but we’d be happy to send copies.
Congratulations to Paul Wilker and his team! The Streets of Stratford website brings together a wonderful collection of information and images that present the rich history of Stratford in a unique and entertaining way. Check it out!
The Stratford-Perth Archives welcomes researchers and donations to the collection. For details, please visit www.stratfordpertharchives.on.ca , call us at 519-271-0531ext. 259 or email archives@perthcounty.ca.