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P. R. Ritcey & Co. Limited was a long-established retail and wholesale business in [[Kentville]] located immediately across Webster Street from the [[Kentville Station]]. It began in 1871 when Thomas Lewis Dodge started a hardware and furniture business, at first on Main Street but after a fire in 1876, he built a large three-storey store across from the station,<ref>Mable Nichols, ''The Devil's Half Acre'' (1967), p. 159</ref> one of a wave of businesses that relocated near the station as Kentville's business district grew up around the railway following the completion of the Windsor & Annapolis in 1869. As his sons joined, the firm became the T. L. Dodge & Co. They served as agents for Massey Harris farm machinery and sold a wide array of hardware, paint, furniture and later groceries..<ref>Louis V. Comeau, ''Historic Kentville'', Nimbus (2003), p. 4</ref> The store bought up warehouses along the track to the east and grew along grew Wesbster street, providing rental space to several other retail businesses such as tailors and restaurants. The firm was later known as the Supply Company and in the 20th century was bought by P. R. Ritcey who turned it into a grocery wholesaler known as P. R. Ritcey & Co Limited. After the collapse of the apple industry Ritcey bought Herbert Oyler's the adjoining brick tile apple warehouse. The firm remained active through the 1960s, receiving 5 to 10 cars a year.<ref>[[1969-MemoOfGenInfo|1969 Memorandum of General Information Corporate Info, page 8]]</ref> The store was demolished in the 1980s, but the old Oyler warehouse remains, now serving as Cleve's sporting goods.
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[[File:A020744.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The T. L. Dodge, later P. R. Ritcey Store across the street from the Kentville Station, about 1905]]
  
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The store and warehouse were served by their own 457 foot long spur from a east facing switch on the north side of the mainline. The business location immediately beside the station resulted in its appearance in the background of many photographs taken of the station over the years.  
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P. R. Ritcey & Co. Limited was a long-established retail and wholesale business in [[Kentville]] located immediately across Aberdeen Street from the [[Kentville Station]]. It began in 1871 when Thomas Lewis Dodge started a hardware and furniture business, at first on Main Street but after a fire in 1876, he built a large three-storey store across from the station,<ref>Mable Nichols, ''The Devil's Half Acre'' (1967), p. 159</ref> one of a wave of businesses that relocated near the station as Kentville's business district grew up around the railway following the completion of the Windsor & Annapolis in 1869. As his sons joined, the firm became the T. L. Dodge & Co. They served as agents for Massey Harris farm machinery and sold a wide array of hardware, paint, furniture and later groceries.<ref>[[:Category:Louis Comeau|Louis V. Comeau]], ''Historic Kentville'', Nimbus (2003), p. 4</ref> The store bought up warehouses along the track to the east and grew along grew Aberdeen street, providing rental space to several other retail businesses such as tailors and a series of small restaurants: Al's Lunch, Bill's Lunch, Moonlite Cafe, Mary's Coffee Shop, Larry's Fish & Chips, Kosy Korner and Shunamon's.<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/louis.comeau1/posts/10157394215651784?comment_id=10157394670211784&reply_comment_id=10157394744311784&notif_id=1604610442528887&notif_t=comment_mention&ref=notif [[:Category:Louis Comeau|Louis Comeau]], Facebook Post, November 5, 2020]</ref> The firm was later known as the Supply Company and in the 20th century was bought by M. J. Ritcey who turned it into a grocery wholesaler which was taken over by his son P. R. Ritcey and became known as P. R. Ritcey & Co Limited.<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/louis.comeau1/posts/10157394215651784?comment_id=10157394670211784&reply_comment_id=10157394744311784&notif_id=1604610442528887&notif_t=comment_mention&ref=notif [[:Category:Louis Comeau|Louis Comeau]], Facebook Post, November 5, 2020]</ref> After the collapse of the apple industry Ritcey bought the adjoining brick tile apple warehouse from [[Herbert Oyler]]<ref>[[Cranberries|Herbert Oyler]]</ref>. The Ritcey firm remained active through the 1970s.  The store and adjoining warehouses were demolished in 1975, except for the old Oyler warehouse. The property was purchased by Halifax Wholesalers in 1978<ref>1978 ''MT&T Directory'', courtesy Louis Comeau</ref> and in the 1980s it became a branch of the Cleve's sporting goods chain until 2013 when the store closed and the building was bought by the adjacent White's Funeral home. The Whites commissioned a large folk art style mural on the warehouse depicting [[DAR2551|locomotive 2551]] pulling into the [[Kentville Station]] with a passenger train.
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The store and warehouse were served by their own 457 foot long spur (reduced in the 1970s to 363 feet). It ran from an east-facing switch on the north side of the mainline at Mile 56.54 of the [[:Category:Subdivision Halifax|Halifax Subdivision]] and ended at a track bumper close to Aberdeen Street. Even after the growth of truck traffic Ritcey continued to receive rail deliveries, 5 to 10 cars a year in the late 1960s.<ref>[[1969-MemoOfGenInfo|1969 Memorandum of General Information Corporate Info, page 8]]</ref> The business location immediately beside the station resulted in the store appearing in the background of many station photographs over the years, often with a box car parked for unloading.  
  
 
==Gallery==
 
==Gallery==
 
<Gallery>
 
<Gallery>
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File:200803033.jpg|Church Street, Kentville, with [[Kentville Station]] platforms to right and the [[P. R. Ritcey|T. L. Dodge hardware store]] to left. circa 1900.
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File:Comeau007.jpg|[[DAR0033|DAR Locomotive No. 33]] beside the [[P. R. Ritcey]] building in [[Kentville]], date unknown.
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File:Kalkman085.jpg|[[DAR0033|DAR locomotive No. 33 "Glooscap"]] at [[Kentville]], beside the [[P. R. Ritcey]] building, circa 1910.
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File:Gertridge10.jpg|[[DAR0028|DAR No. 28]] and a 4-4-0 shunting cars in the [[Kentville Railyard]] beside the [[P. R. Ritcey]] store with the [[Kentville Station]] in background, March 1916
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File:Ritcey1910.jpg|P.R. Ritcey warehouses looking west to the [[Kentville Station]], circa 1920.
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File:Kentville Fire Map 1921 Sheet 3.jpg|Detail [[Kentville]] [[:Category:Fire Insurance Maps|Fire Insurance Map]] with Webster Street business including the [[United Fruit Companies|United Fruit Companies Headquarters]] and the [[P. R. Ritcey|P. R. Ritcey Spur]] Aug. 1921.
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File:Kalkman19.jpg|[[DAR2552|Locomotive No. 2552]] leaving [[Kentville]] with passenger train, [[Kentville Station]] in background and [[P. R. Ritcey|P. R. Ritcey warehouses]] to right, April 1937.
 
Image:Kentville Station - CPR No 6799.jpg|[[Kentville Station]], circa 1942 with [[P. R. Ritcey]] store in right background.
 
Image:Kentville Station - CPR No 6799.jpg|[[Kentville Station]], circa 1942 with [[P. R. Ritcey]] store in right background.
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File:DAR - Kentville Station West End B-Harold Jenkins Photo-1959 or April1960.JPG|[[Kentville Station]] with [[P. R. Ritcey]] store and warehouses in background, photographed by [[:Category:Harold Jenkins Photo|Harold Jenkins]], 1959 or April 1960.
 
File:Kentville_Railyard_-_1958July.png|Box car unloading at the P. R. Ritcey spur east of the Station, July 1958.
 
File:Kentville_Railyard_-_1958July.png|Box car unloading at the P. R. Ritcey spur east of the Station, July 1958.
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Image:KentvilleStationh.jpg|Kentville Station, circa 1970 with [[P. R. Ritcey]] store in right background.
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File:DAR - RDC 9059 - Kentville - Harold Jenkins Photo - May1964.JPG|[[DAR9059|RDC No. 9059]] at the  [[Kentville Station]], with the  the [[P. R. Ritcey|P. R. Ritcey store]] in background, May 1964.
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Image:Tupper1.jpg|The [[Confederation Train]] parked at Aberdeen Street level crossing, [[Kentville]] with the [[P. R. Ritcey]] Company in centre, October 1967.
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Image:KentvilleStationh.jpg|Kentville Station, June 1974 with a boxcar unloading at [[P. R. Ritcey]]'s in the background at right.
 
File:01350018.JPG|[[DAR9059|No. 9059]] at [[Kentville Station]] on an evening in January 1977 with [[P. R. Ritcey]] store in right background.
 
File:01350018.JPG|[[DAR9059|No. 9059]] at [[Kentville Station]] on an evening in January 1977 with [[P. R. Ritcey]] store in right background.
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File:Pulsifer 6.jpg|Eastbound freight at [[Kentville]] looking from the new VIA station towards the old [[Kentville Station]], with the [[P. R. Ritcey]] warehouse on right, February 1988.
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File:Oyler-Ritcey.JPG|The former [[Herbert Oyler]]/P.R. Ritcey warehouse looking west in [[Kentville]], April 2013.
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File:Kentville 1A.JPG|The former Oyler/P.R. Ritcey warehouse with new mural in [[Kentville]], July 15, 2013.
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File:Kentville 7.JPG|The west end of the former Oyler/P.R. Ritcey warehouse in [[Kentville]], July 15, 2013.
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File:Kentville 6.JPG|[[Kentville Freight Shed]] depicted on new mural on former Oyler/P.R. Ritcey warehouse, [[Kentville]], July 15, 2013.
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File:Kentville 5.JPG|[[DAR2551|Locomotive 2551]] depicted on new mural on former Oyler/P.R. Ritcey warehouse, [[Kentville]], July 15, 2013.
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File:Kentville 4.JPG|[[Kentville Station]] depicted in new mural on the former Oyler/P.R. Ritcey warehouse in [[Kentville]], July 15, 2013.
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File:Kentville 3.JPG|[[Kentville Station]] depicted in new mural on the former Oyler/P.R. Ritcey warehouse in [[Kentville]], July 15, 2013.
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File:Kentville 2.JPG|[[Kentville Station]] depicted in new mural on the former Oyler/P.R. Ritcey warehouse in [[Kentville]], July 15, 2013.
 
</Gallery>
 
</Gallery>
  

Latest revision as of 08:37, 2 March 2024

The T. L. Dodge, later P. R. Ritcey Store across the street from the Kentville Station, about 1905

P. R. Ritcey & Co. Limited was a long-established retail and wholesale business in Kentville located immediately across Aberdeen Street from the Kentville Station. It began in 1871 when Thomas Lewis Dodge started a hardware and furniture business, at first on Main Street but after a fire in 1876, he built a large three-storey store across from the station,[1] one of a wave of businesses that relocated near the station as Kentville's business district grew up around the railway following the completion of the Windsor & Annapolis in 1869. As his sons joined, the firm became the T. L. Dodge & Co. They served as agents for Massey Harris farm machinery and sold a wide array of hardware, paint, furniture and later groceries.[2] The store bought up warehouses along the track to the east and grew along grew Aberdeen street, providing rental space to several other retail businesses such as tailors and a series of small restaurants: Al's Lunch, Bill's Lunch, Moonlite Cafe, Mary's Coffee Shop, Larry's Fish & Chips, Kosy Korner and Shunamon's.[3] The firm was later known as the Supply Company and in the 20th century was bought by M. J. Ritcey who turned it into a grocery wholesaler which was taken over by his son P. R. Ritcey and became known as P. R. Ritcey & Co Limited.[4] After the collapse of the apple industry Ritcey bought the adjoining brick tile apple warehouse from Herbert Oyler[5]. The Ritcey firm remained active through the 1970s. The store and adjoining warehouses were demolished in 1975, except for the old Oyler warehouse. The property was purchased by Halifax Wholesalers in 1978[6] and in the 1980s it became a branch of the Cleve's sporting goods chain until 2013 when the store closed and the building was bought by the adjacent White's Funeral home. The Whites commissioned a large folk art style mural on the warehouse depicting locomotive 2551 pulling into the Kentville Station with a passenger train.

The store and warehouse were served by their own 457 foot long spur (reduced in the 1970s to 363 feet). It ran from an east-facing switch on the north side of the mainline at Mile 56.54 of the Halifax Subdivision and ended at a track bumper close to Aberdeen Street. Even after the growth of truck traffic Ritcey continued to receive rail deliveries, 5 to 10 cars a year in the late 1960s.[7] The business location immediately beside the station resulted in the store appearing in the background of many station photographs over the years, often with a box car parked for unloading.

Gallery

References and Footnotes

  1. ↑ Mable Nichols, The Devil's Half Acre (1967), p. 159
  2. ↑ Louis V. Comeau, Historic Kentville, Nimbus (2003), p. 4
  3. ↑ Louis Comeau, Facebook Post, November 5, 2020
  4. ↑ Louis Comeau, Facebook Post, November 5, 2020
  5. ↑ Herbert Oyler
  6. ↑ 1978 MT&T Directory, courtesy Louis Comeau
  7. ↑ 1969 Memorandum of General Information Corporate Info, page 8
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