Changes to Pitt Street North – pt 1

For those who tend to think that little ever changes in Cornwall, let’s ponder this…

Just looking at the section of Pitt Street from 11th Street to Emma/Balmoral, can you guess have many properties have experienced changes in occupancy since the 1990s?

Hope’s Garage on the n.w. corner of Pitt and 11th St W. has witnessed a few businesses come and go.  1100 Pitt later housed Dr. Tint, Boyer’s Signs and a renovation company.

In 2017 a chiropractic office renovated the building and relocated to that 1100 Pitt Street structure.

1148 Pitt Street was home to Claire Roger hair stylists.

Moving north along Pitt Street, in September of 1989 this craft shop occupied the main level of this building at 1164 Pitt Street. Earlier occupants included Bazinet’s Grocery and Henri Confectionery.  Subsequently a ceramics shop moved in and the siding is now grey. The plate glass window has been replaced with a lovely six light bay window.

That same year, 1170 Pitt was home to a laundromat. The building was completely transformed and later housed a finance company and a computer store.

Next door at 1180 Pitt Street the car wash is now a car lot and the lot has also doubled for flower sales.

1201 Pitt Street was home to Villeneuve Insurance when this advertisement was printed in 1989.

The above insurance company at 1201 appears on the right edge of this photo from 1989, while 1207 on the left was home to Professional Hearing Services. The Tinkerbell Gift Shop operated at 1207 previously. A two storey house occupies the property at 1207 now and 1201 has reverted to a residence.

Next door, this was Ginger’s Plaza in 1989. At 1211, the Table & Chair Boutique has since been replaced by another business as is the case with the Handy Market at 1215. Between them at 1213, the Rendez-Vous has been there since 1982 and has since expanded into 1211. Prior to 1982, 1213 was home to Buds & Blossoms florist; Quality Prefab Distributors occupied that site previously.

Pictured here in 1989, 1255 is still home to Olympic Pizza.

Continuing north, the strip mall at 1274 Pitt Street has experienced a complete turnover of its tenants. The computer shop was replaced by a diner. A nail studio replaced the pharmacy. A vape shop and tattoo parlor occupy the other store fronts.

The service station at 1300 Pitt has been replaced by an automated car wash and pet wash, operated by the same owner. The house was sold to Jeff Wheeler and relocated.

In 2019, the adjacent Guindon Glenoco building at 1310 Pitt was levelled. Follow this LINK to view our post on Glenoco.

Across the street, the seasonal Dairy Queen at 1307 Pitt Street was replaced by a larger, year round eat-in store. In 1955 Geoffrey McNairn opened Cornwall’s first DQ on Montreal Road east of what is now St. Lawrence College (the slab is still there.)  Soon after he opened this Pitt Street location; both stores offered take-away service without a dining area.  One week after opening, he had to order a second soft-serve machine to keep up with the demand.  Geoffrey and his wife, Ruth along with their children Bill, Lois and Judy all worked at the store, which ran from 9 a.m. until midnight.  Bill died at the age of 83 in 1995.

Pictured in 1989, Benson has been located at 1321 since 1954.

Pictured here in 2019, the building has been updated and enlarged.

Next door at 1323 was Blanchard Motor Sales. MC Auto Sales took over Blanchard’s location; Freeland Motors is there now.

Prior to Blanchard’s, Hancock Tire conducted business from that address.

This was the strip mall at 1325-1335 Pitt Street in 1989.

It has also experienced a considerable turnover. Now known as the Pitt Street Plaza, the building is home to a walk-in clinic, connected pharmacy, as well as a florist/gift shop.

In 2018 the north branch of the Bank of Montreal at 1328 Pitt, which opened there in 1962,  faded into history with the two Cornwall branches consolidating at a new site.  Prior to the bank, Henry E. Lalonde ran a hardware store at that site.

A hearing aid centre opened there in 2019.

The Bill Mitchell T.V. sales and service site at 1410 Pitt is now home to a realty office.

1415 Pitt was renumbered as 1418 Pitt and is still home to Rainbow Music, but the appearance has been altered somewhat. 1417 Pitt Street was renumbered as 1420 Pitt and has been home to several eateries (Bill’s Lunch, Wimpy’s Diner, Aldo’s Pizzeria, Pit Stop as pictured above then Cecile’s) and has reverted to a residence. Apartment A was on the ground floor behind the restaurant. Apartment B was on the top floor above Apartment A. And Apartment C was above the restaurant. The addresses have been altered to align with the numbering system on the rest of the street. The former Cornwall Township section of the street north of Ninth Street was previously called St. Andrew’s Road.

Until 1961, 1433 Pitt was home to Kane’s Supermarket and to Cornwall Fruit Supply.

Another local grocer, Gosselin’s, occupied that site from 1961 until 2020; the photo above is from 1989.

The shop offered fresh cut meats, without added colouring.

In June of 2020, word spread that owner George Gosselin would not be re-opening after the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, rather he’d retire.

Hector Moise would be expanding his H. Moise Jr Trucking operation which had been operating next door at 1423 for several years. Moise planned to occupy part of Gosselin’s building.

Prior to the announcement, some of Moise’s heavy equipment could be seen parked behind Gosselin’s and Gosselin’s driveway to the next street had been closed off.

Cornwall Fruit Supply continues to operate on a nearby side street.

Many of the SD&G Historical Society colour photographs on this page were taken in September of 1989; the black and white photo is from 1953 and was shared on social media as was the DQ image. The more recent photographs were contributed by Don Smith.

Please see the second part of this article on the evolution of Pitt Street north, located at this LINK.