Meadow Bank History: Cornwall Hall & Libraries

Here is our fifth excerpt from the Meadow Bank W.I. Tweedsmuir History published in 1951.

Cornwall Hall – (photo from Arthur Howard – appeared in Cornwall History)

Cornwall Hall

The public hall at Cornwall was incorporated by an Act of Parliament in May 1897. Directors at that time were Clarence Brown, William Leonard, Pope Crosby, W.W. Crosby and Allan MacLean. The last three named were residents of Meadow Bank. The hall was first built on the North side of the Ferry Road just west of the mill stream and alongside of the cheese factory. In 1915, it was moved to its present site. (as of 1951)

The Women’s Institute of Cornwall-York Point and Meadow Bank keep this hall in repair and equip it with necessary facilities. In 1950, with a view to adding a kitchen, we catered for four days at the Provincial Exhibition grounds during Old Home Week and made a net profit of over $1700.

Libraries

As early as 1898 we have records of a Sunday School Library at Cornwall with George H. Boyle as librarian. On May 5th of that year, Russell Hyde attended Sunday school and obtained a book.

A library was placed in Meadow Bank School in 1930, largely through the efforts of Miss Vera Hyde who was then the teacher and presented a school concert in Cornwall Hall to raise funds for a suitable book case. The selection and presentation of books was made by the Carnegie Library Foundation. Books have been added from time to time by the Women’s Institute and others.

Editor’s Notes:

• To learn more about Cornwall Hall and other civic buildings, refer to the Cornwall History here.
• On the Hall photo that you see featured, that property later became the site of the post office and later a dental clinic. The new post office is now located in the open field that you see in the foreground of the photo.
• Cornwall now has a library in their new Town Hall, more information here.

Stay tuned for the next excerpt where we will read about Meadow Bank pioneers.