From the archives of the Timmins Museum: National Exhibition Centre:
Third Avenue, the heart of downtown Timmins, is looking a little empty and lonely these days but it was once a busy, bustling place.
It was one of the first streets that Noah Timmins laid out in his new townsite back in 1911. Visitors to the museum can see a massive painting showing Third Avenue in December, 1911 when it was just a few ramshackle buildings strewn along a path of stumps amidst a forest of trees.
Some may remember that the painting once hung with pride in Sam Bucovetsky’s shop, located along the very road memorialized in the painting.
Many businesses shown in this photograph will be familiar to long-time citizens of this town. One can surely recall the smell of chocolate escaping from Laura Secord, on the corner of Third and Pine Street. The Palace Theatre, built in 1936, had a beautifully decorated interior and whopping 1248 seats!
On the corner of Third Avenue and Cedar Street is Dalton’s bus and taxi, which grew out of a horse-powered service starting in the very first days of the gold camp. And finally, at the end of the street is the Goldfields Theatre, where cowboys and western movies were once shown.
Each week, the Timmins Museum: National Exhibition Centre provides TimminsToday readers with a glimpse of the city’s past.
Find out more of what the Timmins Museum has to offer at www.timminsmuseum.ca and look for more Remember This? columns here.