Stone Pillars Erected on Woodstock Street North to Recognize the 20th Anniversary of the Tavistock Horticultural Society in 1943

The Tavistock and District Historical Society (TDHS) recently received an inquiry from Jana Miller requesting information about the small stone pillars that stand at the entrance to the town on Woodstock Street North. "I've seen lots of information about the history of the Queen's Park Gates," she wrote, "but have never come across much about these other smaller gates."

Jana believed that her great-grandfather Henry Vogel, a stonemason, and his son Carl, also a stonemason, were the builders of the gates. She had heard that her great-grandpa had put a whiskey bottle with some time capsule contents into the gate during its construction. Jana also identified the girl on the right in the photo as Henry's daughter Barb Vogel Matthies (Mrs. Bill). The girl on the left has been identified as Joan Hitzeroth Smith (Mrs. Ross).

The stone gates at the north end of Tavistock was a project of the Tavistock Horticultural Society. The beautification of the village had always been their intent and, with the Society's 20th anniversary in 1943 approaching, they looked for some permanent way of recognizing the good works they had done. At their meeting in March 1942, the members decided to build stone gates that would welcome visitors as they entered the village.

The Tavistock Gazette, in its 1942 May 2 edition, reported that "sanction was given by the Village Council to the request for permission to erect gateways at the north end of the village, the request being sought by the Horticultural Society through its delegation of Henry Schlemmer president and J A Seltzer, secretary-treasurer. Mr. Schlemmer stated that he had interviewed an official of the Department of Highways as to the position of the proposed gateway in relation to the roadway. The gateway will be of cut stone, with tall pillars furthest from the road and smaller pillars closer to the roadway. Mr. Seltzer stated that the Society had secured an estimate on the work and that it would cost less than $100."

The Gazette reported regularly on the progress of the construction of the gates. The cement footings were poured in the fall of 1942. In July 1943, "the stone work on the Horticultural Society ornamental pillars at the north entrance to the village was commenced, with Henry Vogel and son doing the work. The stones were secured from farms in East Zorra, South Easthope and North Easthope." There was a delay in the final construction of the gates "due to the scarcity of labour" but by October of 1944 the ornamental gates were completed and ready to be dedicated.

In 1946, the Society sent a letter of appreciation to the Superior Stone Ltd. and its local agent Joseph Z. Baechler for the granite markers donated to the Society and embedded in the gates.

Originally as in the picture, there were two columns on each side of the road. When sidewalks were later constructed along the road, the sidewalks were placed between the two pillars on either side of the road. Bob Rudy recalls that one of the innermost pillars was damaged in a car accident. When Woodstock Street North was widened in 1960 to enable the construction of the town's sanitary sewer system, the two innermost pillars on each side had to be removed. They were taken down and then re-erected at the inner entrance to Queen’s Park at the northeastern edge of the arena parking lot. A chain was stretched between the two pillars to control entrance into the park. Later, when the parking lot was expanded to accommodate parking for the new arena, the pillars were dismantled once more. The stones ended up in the gardens of some local residents. The plaque with the name “Tavistock” on it that was originally on the small inner pillar on the west side of Woodstock Street was saved when the gates at the entrance to Queen's Park were taken down. It was placed back into the existing tall pillar on the west side of Woodstock St N. This work was done by Elroy Wagler who also re-erected the Eckstein cairn that is now in front of the post office.

Bob Rudy also says that the western pillar was slated to be taken down in 1990 when another street widening project was planned but he convinced the township to simply move it over three feet to the west. Today that original western pillar has “Tavistock” written on its north face. The eastern pillar is in the same place where it has always been and has a plaque reading “Tavistock Horticultural Society 1943” on its south face.

Note in the photograph that there is a sign in the background promoting the 1948 celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the founding of Tavistock.