Gilbert Carriage Works
The opening of the Rideau Canal spurred development in the communities along its route. For canal steamboats, Haskins Point was a convenient stopping place right on the main channel; fuel wood was loaded from the wharf and barges were moored and loaded in the adjacent bay. Access to the Point was over a rough track that joined the main Kingston Road on property that had been purchased by William Gilbert in 1829.
Although Gilbert’s occupation appears to have been farming, carpentry and joinery were a tradition in the family, one that was followed by two of William’s sons, Edward and John. By 1880 several men in the Gilbert family were working as carriage makers; work was carried out in a blacksmith shop where Thompson Electric is now situated while carriages and wagons were assembled and painted in the adjacent two-story building.
By 1905 the business, operated by Harrison and George Gilbert, was sold to Ephraim Bracken and continued to produce farm wagons as part of the Seeley’s Bay Supply and Construction Company until the beginning of World War I. Chester Caird carried on business in the blacksmith shop until his death when it was sold to Martin Perry who did automobile repairs. The assembly shop continued to be used for carpentry work including the construction caskets for the local undertaker. The upper floor was rented to the Oddfellows Lodge and later to the Eastern Star Lodge. The lower floor was converted to a residence that later purchased and occupied by Martin Perry and is now owned by Donny Gray.
