Newcastle Ontario - The first Canadian Pacific Railway line was completed in southern Ontario in 1881.
 
It took a more northerly route through Peterborough and bypassed the southern part of the province.
 
This area was becoming more populated by the early 1900s and so it was decided to build another railway line.
 
It was originally chartered as the Campbellford Lake Ontario & Western Railway and was owned by the CPR.
 
This line ran from Agincourt (East Toronto) to Glen Tay (near Perth).
 
Construction took place from 1912 until 1914.
 
The railway bridge on Highway 2 at the east end of Newcastle was constructed in 1912 and is now more than 100-years-old.
 
The CPR station was built later on the north end of Mill Street in Newcastle.
 
The first agent at the CPR station was Howard Cooke.
 
He and his wife Evelyn had their residence in the station and their daughter Reita Virginia (Carr) was born in 1921.
 
In 1996, Reita provided our historical society with a great story describing what life was like living in the station from 1921 to 1931.
 
She indicated that she doesn't remember even hearing the trains but if they had guests they would be quite shocked at the noise.
 
There was a waiting room, with highly polished wooden floors, for passengers.
 
The passengers would wait on wooden benches.
 
There were ferns in pots and hanging baskets in the waiting room.
 
Outside they had a large circular flower bed at the side of the station.
 
One year Howard Cooke was awarded first prize for "The Best Station Flower Garden" between Toronto and Kingston.
 
When Howard retired, the family moved to a house on Mill Street.
 
The CPR station was torn down in 1964.
 
Today, it is the location of the Durham Co-operative Storage owned by Algoma Farms.

Myno Van Dyke.