Pounder Brothers

Thomas A. Pounder came to Stratford when he was about 30 from Logan township at the turn of the century to work at the Grand Trunk shops. He built his first home in 1905 which led to his contracting career. In 1908 he was joined by his brother, George F. Pounder, and they formed a partnership which gave the contracting firm its name. Their work together continued until 1918 when George died while building the Bell Telephone office in Collingwood.

Thomas then bought out the interests of his brother George and carried on the business under the name of Pounder Brothers. By then, Thomas had four sons Earl, Oscar, Ivan and Ray. .They all began as “water boys” and doing whatever their father needed. Thomas probably envisioned the day when they would take over the business and resume the partnership that he and his brother had started.

The first office of the firm was at 21 Downie St . Around 1910, Pounder Brothers purchased the Zion Lutheran Church at 45 Cambria St after the congregation erected a new building on Erie St.. The church remains the basic structure of the lumber mill and yard. The business expanded its hardware store in 1922 that had been handled in a modest way on the second floor of the original building. Pounder Brothers started its coal business around 1932-33, during the depression years. They bought out several local yards. One was the Kalbfleisch coal yard on Nelson Street.

Thomas eventually retired from the business in 1946 and in the same year died at the age of 71. The boys continued to operate the business, each one having their own responsibilities.

In 1999 Ray passed away and his daughter Gayle Ponder Beattie managed the business together with her husband Larry, who joined her at the firm around 2004. After 109 years in 2014 Pounder Timber Mart, formerly Pounder Brothers, closed the store forever.

In 2015 new owners took over the property and opened a distillery called “Junction 56.” The name was a tribute to the local area because the distillery is a mere 15 feet from one set of railway tracks and one block from another. The junction of two tracks is about two blocks away. The number 56 comes from the year 1856 when the railroad came to Stratford.

For many years Pounder Brothers was one of the city's main contractors and many homes and factory buildings were built by them. In 2000 the Beacon Herald reported that old blueprints that have been saved over the years, 40 boxes worth of city history, were donated to the Stratford-Perth Archives.

Noted Stratford contracts to Pounder Bros.

Registry Office 1910

Ann Hathaway School 1922

Falstaff School 1929

Central United Church

Renovation of Avon Theatre 1964

Library Renovation 1975

Built and repaired the Pergola

Fram

The flagpole on top of city hall was milled in the Pounder millroom by Al Weber. It was quite the adventure getting it moved out of the millroom to the city hall.

Anne Hathaway School. Pounder crew

Pounder Bros. Trophy: Pounder Brothers donated the Challenge Trophy for the top Male Chorus in 1933 at the Music Festival. The company was a long time financial supporter of the Festival through their annual advertisement in the Program. In 1952, the Kiwanis Club of Stratford took over the operation of the Festival from the Music Teachers' Association and, at that time, Ray Pounder was a member of the Kiwanis Club of Stratford. He was an active member of the organizing committee for several years, handling such tasks as Program Sales, Scholarships and Advertising.This trophy was originally presented to a Male Vocalist but has been reassigned to Junior Voice.

The Pergola: The original pergola built in 1931 near the Orr dam was washed away on April 25, 1937, when heavy rains overwhelmed the floodgates of the old dam at the west end of Lake Victoria. The new pergola, built in the fall of 2009, was dedicated on Sept. 11, 2010. The fundraising for the rebuild was spearheaded by the Stratford Civic Beautification and Environmental Awareness Committee. The majority of materials to reconstruct the pergola were donated by Pounder TIM-BR mart in memory of Thomas Albert Pounder whose company erected the original structure in 1931.

Flood in 1937. Stratford-Perth Archives

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