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Archival description
Assessment Rolls
CA ON00372 13 · Series · 1902-1969
Part of City of Fort William fonds

E. S. Rutledge was appointed in 1903 as the Collector of Rates for the Town of Fort William and retired at the end of 1905.

When established as a Town on April 14th, 1892 by the Province of Ontario, four wards were established in Fort William and their boundaries defined. Assessment rolls, currently in preparation by the township of Neebing, were to be transferred as appropriate to the new Town of Fort William for the collection of taxes. It is unknown who acted as the original assessment commissioner and tax collector for the Town of Fort William, however, J.J. Wells held the position from 1905 to 1912 and was the original Assessment Commissioner /Tax Collector for the newly incorporated City in 1907.

Under the Act Respecting Municipal Institutions 1914 (Chapter 192 Section 230) assessment commissioners could be appointed by a Council through a By-law. The records show Assessment Commissioners for the Town of Fort William as follows; J.J. Wells, 1905 to
1912 - Charles England, 1913- 1916 - R. Dagger 1931 to June 1945 (Hendersons) - Alexander Halliday appointed under By Law 3937 dated June 26th, 1945 and sworn in June 30, 1945 - 1950 Hendersons Lists J. A. Colvin as Assessment Commissioner - W. Paul Simpson appointed under By-law 4356 dated July 11th 1950 takes office August 8th - Wilbert Wray appointed under By-law 11-1957 dated February 26th, 1957.

Organized by Ward and Subdivision, details of the Assessment Rolls included the Name, Address and Occupation of the Property Owner, the street name, lot number, house number, plan number, size of the lot, The Rate, the Actual Land and Building Value, school support, number of children and whether the occupant was a tenant or an owner.

In addition to calculating property values for tax purposes, early Assessment rolls were used for election purposes to establish polling sub divisions and to determine eligibility to vote on the bases of property ownership.

Under By-law 4262 (1949) Assessment for the year was to be conducted between January and September, the assessment rolls to be returned to the City Clerk by dates specified in the bylaw. In the same year, a report prepared by Stevenson and Kellogg indicated that the Commissioner completed all assessments and that the department was overburdened, spending most of its time on the collection of taxes. It was recommended that the department be severed in order to have one assessment office and one tax office. In 1950 this division was completed and a new Assessment Commissioner was hired for the City of Fort William.

This series is virtually complete consisting of 817 bound volumes with detailed records of information for assessment purposes. Fort William Collector’s Rolls, Series 15 may substitute or be used to fill in any gaps in the Assessment Rolls.

Assessment Rolls - Industry
CA ON00372 14 · Series · 1915-1951
Part of City of Fort William fonds

This series is a record of the assessment of industrial properties in the City.

When established as a Town on April 14th, 1892 by the Province of Ontario, four wards were established in Fort William and their boundaries defined. The researcher must know the street address in order to use the assessment rolls efficiently, as well the ward would be beneficial. In addition to calculating property values for tax purposes, early assessment rolls were used for election purposes to establish polling subdivisions and to determine eligibility to vote on the basis of property ownership.

Under the Act Respecting Municipal Institutions 1914 (Chapter 192 Section 230) assessment commissioners could be appointed by a Council through a By-law. Included in each Assessment Roll is a form called “Affidavit of Assessor in Verification of Assessment Roll” that has been notarized by the commissioner and assessor. The Town of Fort William’s Assessment Commissioners were A. McNaughton from 1915 to 1944 and D. M. Martin from 1945 to 1949 and 1951. The Assessors were Charles England from 1915 to 1918, J. Richard Dagger from 1919 through 1944, A. Halliday from 1945 to 1949 and W. Paul Simpson in 1951.

Organized by Ward and Subdivision, details of the Assessment Rolls included part or all of the following; Name, Address and Occupation of the Property Owner, Owner or Tenant, the street name, lot number, house number, plan number, size of the lot, Rate, Actual Value of Land, Building Value and total of both, school support and date of delivery of notice. Each book also includes a summary of assessment and details.

A supplementary Assessment Roll for 1915, 1916, and 1917 was produced.

This series is virtually complete consisting of 37 bound volumes with detailed records of information for assessment purposes.

CA ON00372 5 · Series · 1904-1969
Part of City of Fort William fonds

A Cemetery and Parks Committee appears to have been established in the fall of 1901 as a 5-member sub-committee of Council. For the period 1904-1905, the committee was chaired by J.E. Dean. There is no indication of how park and cemetery functions were directed after 1905 as there are no references to the committee within the Fort William council minutes, and no remaining minutes for this or any related Committee until the formulation of the Parks Board in 1910.

After public consultation in the form of a plebiscite, and the adoption of By-law 735, the Board of Parks Management was created in 1910 under the authority of the Ontario Public Parks Act. The original public petition for the Board of Parks Management is available in the Fort William City Clerks files. (TBA 4 – File 131 entitled Parks Board 1910-1920)

Appointments to the Parks Board were formally established by Council on January 11 1910, with the first regular meeting of the Board of Parks Management held January 28th, 1910, chaired by W. A. Dowler.

Early ventures for the Board of Parks Management included the acquisition and control of existing park properties, boulevards, and the hiring of a landscape architect. The Parks Board undertook improvements to various park properties, scheduled use of park facilities and maintained a greenhouse. In addition to developing Chippewa Park and leasing cabins on Sandy Beach, the board assumed responsibility for the management of city cemeteries at various points after 1917. The Parks Board undertook responsibility for the formation of outdoor skating rinks in 1942, participated in the initiative to establish a skiing facility near Mount McKay in 1947 and undertook the Fort William Centennial Conservatory Project in the late 1960s.

Recreational committees began to surface as early as 1943 with an appointment of a Special Recreational Committee on March 15. Later, under the authority of By-law 4263 (1949) the Fort William Civic Recreation Committee was established to provide a program of community recreation as prescribed under the Department of Education Act. As the functions of recreation and parks committees were similar, Council passed a motion for the Board of Parks Management to assume the Civic recreation program in 1952. To avoid the requirement for a public plebiscite for the dissolution of the two boards and the creation of a new board to manage both functions, Council resolved the issue through By-law 4492, which passed and received approval from the Ontario Department of Education in 1952. This by-law allowed council to appointment members of Board of Parks to the Civic Recreation Committee. Both committees maintained separate minutes, but were in effect managed under the Board of Parks Management. Minutes (January 1966 to January 1967) for the Fort William Civic Recreation Committee are bound with the Board of Parks Management Minutes 1964-1965. Minutes for the Fort William Board of Parks Management end in 1969 due to the amalgamation of the City of Fort William and Port Arthur.

This Series Consists of meeting minutes relating to the management of Parks and Cemeteries for the City of Fort William. Eleven bound volumes exist, for which there are no indices. The first volume for the Board of Parks Management, dated January 28, 1910 to December 3, 1917, contains the originating By-law 1. Some Newspaper clippings and reports are interspersed. After 1935 the minutes reflect a growing structure for parks management. Reports from the Inside Park Committee, Chippewa Park Outside Committee, McKellar Park Committee, Finance Committee and a Tourist Committee are included for the period 1935-1936. While it appears that the first four are sub-committees to the Parks Board, the Tourist committee appears to be a committee of council with representation from the Parks Board. Frequent progress reports are included from Mr. A. Widnall, the longstanding Board Secretary and Parks Manager and reports from various Chairmen.

Also included with this series, custodial history of which is not known, is the Annual Statement for the Fort William Board of Parks Management for the year 1949. Included in this document are the statement of receipts and payments for the year, as well as the operating statement and highlights of various activities held at and improvements made to the City's parks throughout the year.

Building Permit Registers
CA ON00372 11 · Series · 1907-1969
Part of City of Fort William fonds

Outlined in By-law 325 (1903), the duties of the Building Inspector included the examination of construction of buildings and repairs, making the Office of the Building Inspector a likely candidate for the responsibility of the Fort William building permit registers. Through reviewing annual reports (Series 16) it appears that the office of the Building Inspector came under the direction of the Fire Water and Light Committee.

Arranged numerically by year and permit number, registers (Between 1912 and 1972) generally include the following details:
permit number, date, owner, information on the location of the building including lot, block, plan, street and address, a description of the building including construction details of walls, foundations and roof, the names of architect/contractor and plumber/electrician, the costs of the construction, any fees charged and the purpose of the permit. Monthly summaries give the
totals for different categories of construction such as duplexes, single dwellings, sheds, commercial and institutional buildings.

The earliest building permits (1907-1911) do not include details regarding the contractor, builder, plumber or electrician, but still provide a description of the purpose of building and value attached to the construction.

This series consists of bound volumes with details of construction completed under a permit number. There is no index to permit numbers, by name or property. Researchers must know the approximate year of the construction for a property in order to search, page by page, for the street address.

By-laws
CA ON00372 3 · Series · 1892-1969
Part of City of Fort William fonds

By-laws cover a great variety of issues and concerns. There are By-laws to formalize agreements with other institutions, appoint municipal officials, regulate tax collection, construct sidewalks and roadways, license local establishments, provide for holding elections, establish rates for water and other applicable utilities, and construct City facilities. While most By-laws pass after three readings by council, some early by-laws affecting the “future position” of the municipality required the electoral approval by ratepayers according to the Municipal Act. These by-laws would generally include debenture by-laws for the borrowing of funds on credit, but would also include by-laws for annexation or separation, a re-division
of wards, construction of street railways, local assessment and improvement to name a few.

Interspersed with the earliest Fort William By-laws, there are also sundry by-laws generated by the Municipality of Neebing (1890-1894).

City of Fort William (Ont.)
City Clerk's Files
CA ON00372 4 · Series · 1903-1969
Part of City of Fort William fonds

This series contains records relative to Council and the City Clerk’s office. The First Box is strictly correspondence, alphabetically filed and dating from 1903 to 1913. Additional materials are arranged by file code and can be accessed through reviewing the file list.

Records in the Fort William City Clerk’s Files reflect some of the above mentioned legislative requirements, however, this series largely reflects local issues including correspondence relative to Council actions and the administration of the City through its various Boards. The earliest records of the of Fort William Clerks Files consist of correspondence for the Town of Fort William in the early part of the 20th century. These records are alphabetically ordered and cover the period from 1903 to 1913. Latter records are subject-based files organized by a file code. The following titles are in no way exclusive or consistently applied over the span of years for the City Clerks files. They are included here to reflect the variety and scope of issues addressed by the Clerk.

File headings include the following: Auditorium, Board of Education, Bridges, City Statistics, City Hall, Complaints, Court of Revision, Council, Court of Revision – Voters List, Elections, Fort William Gardens, General Correspondence, District Officer of Health, Health, Housing, Historical, Hydro-Electric Commission, Industry, Legislation, Local Improvements, Loch Lomond, Public Utilities, Railways, Rinks, Royal Visit, Streets, Street Railway, Tax, Tourists, Town Planning, Transit, Visitors, Vital Statistics, War and Zoning. A detailed file list is available.

In 1949 a report conducted by Stevenson and Kellogg identified the work performed in the Clerks department. In addition to duties already mentioned, the clerk oversaw City insurance matters, performed secretarial duties for Council and its committees (such as the Police Commission and Board of Health) issued marriage licenses, and was responsible for the internal coordination of work between departments as well as the coordination between departments and the committees of Council which managed the City. This last responsibility for the coordination between departments and Council was likely alleviated after the appointment of Sydney H. Blake as City Administrator in January of 1958, his duties being described in By-law 58-1961 to include the control and direction of department heads.

City of Fort William (Ont.). City Clerk