Before the era of suburbanization, the automobile, and economic globalization, people’s worlds were much smaller. In St. Catharines, if you weren’t a farmer, then, for the vast majority, your world revolved around a few square blocks that we now consider downtown. Downtown was not only destination but was where you lived, worked, accessed services, and socialized. Sean heads to 9 Queen St. to get a glimpse into how city life in St. Catharines has transformed over the last 170 years. This is History from Here: a video series presented by the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre. 

The main section of this brick building was built as a house between 1852 and 1854, with the single-story addition on the south side added around 1870. The house had several notable residents in its first few decades and is especially linked to the city’s medical and grocery histories. It was likely built for a Dr. William Ferris but was sold to Henry Brownlee a few years later.  

The Brownlees were an Irish immigrant family whose members established several grocery businesses in St. Catharines. Henry ran a grocery store and bakery around the corner on St. Paul St. and, in 1858, commissioned the construction of the Brownlee Block. This impressive 3-story commercial building stood at the corner of St. Paul and Queen, right next to his house and steps from where I am standing. The Brownlee Block originally featured two storefronts on the St. Paul St. side and two on the Queen St. side. It went on to house a Royal Bank for almost 60 years until it was demolished in 1968.  

Henry Brownlee died in 1880 but the Brownlee family maintained ownership of this house until the early 1900s. They began renting a portion of it to Dr. Samuel McCoy possibly as early as the late 1880s. Dr. McCoy operated a practice out of this home, but he also did work for the St. Catharines General Hospital and the associated Mack Centre of Nursing Education on Queenston, appearing in a photo with the 1895-96 graduating class. This training school had opened in 1874 and was the first of its kind in Canada. Dr. McCoy later worked as a resident physician at the Wellandra – a private maternity hospital at the former Welland House Hotel on Ontario St.  

Around 1905 the house and medical practice at 9 Queen St. was taken over by Dr. Matthew James Mulock, who stuck around for about 26 years. Not much is known about Mulock as a doctor, but his family was remarkable indeed. Most notable of all was Dr. Gwendolyn Mulock, the first female doctor to practice in St. Catharines! Gwendolyn joined her father’s practice, right here, after graduating with a medical degree from U of T in 1927. When her father died in 1931, Gwendolyn and her mother moved over to King St. where Gwendolyn continued her practice. Gwendolyn later served as a medical consultant for the Toronto Children’s Aid Society and was Director of Women’s Health Services at U of T. 

After 1931, 9 Queen St. ceased to be a private residence and began a long, chameleonic history of housing numerous businesses. These have included, among other things, insurance brokers, barristers, real estate agencies, a wheel truing shop, a camera shop, an architectural firm, and, most recently, an Italian restaurant. Having been sold in 2012 to a developer along with the storied St. Catharines Standard building next door, what transformation will come upon this historical gem next remains to be seen. 

Beyond the impressive list of local historical figures and businesses that have called this property home, the building at 7 and 9 Queen St. is a beautiful example of mid-19^th century architecture. It includes several characteristic features including a decorative brick frieze, cast-iron windowsills, and a stained-glass window on the 1870 addition. The original section includes an offset front entrance with engaged columns, a cornice, entablature, transom, and sidelights. 

With downtown St. Catharines continuing to transform and modernize, it can be easy to forget that this place was built not only as a destination but as a community. The quaint brick structure at 7 and 9 Queen St. has had many uses over the last 170 years, but it is still easily recognizable as a family home. And though it has stood in the shadows of giants for much of its existence, it continues to help anchor its surroundings with a reminder that the progress made here is by and for real people who call St. Catharines home.