The First Ride
This image depicts the arrival of the very first new car in Sudbury Ontario Canada.
The car is waiting for passengers to board for the very first ride. The car is a 1911
Packard Model 30 Phaeton, purchased by William Bell. Bell was a lumber baron
who owned the Spanish River Lumber Company and responsible for harvesting
over 325 million board feet of lumber from the Sudbury area. Bell hired Percy
Gardner as his chauffer in 1911 and sent him to Detroit to learn to drive and
service the Packard. The car cost a whopping $5,500 in 1911 when a Model T Ford
could be purchased new for only $500.
By 1921 Percy Gardner borrowed money from Bell and opened Gardner Motors,
which became the longest operating Chrysler dealership in Canadian history.
Bell was also the CEO and president of Cochrane Hardware and his business
associate, Frank Cochrane is shown in the light gray suit. Cochrane was also a
federal politician and served as Sudbury mayor.
Bell's wife Katherine, seated in the buggy with her Jack Russel dog, preferred to
ride in the buggy, and her favourite line to frustrated drivers was "get a horse".
The house in the background was Belrock Mansion which belonged to the Bells
and is illustrated exactly as it appeared 1911. Every detail in the image was
researched and appropriate to 1911.
The building was bequeathed to the Sudbury Memorial Hospital in 1954 upon
Katherine's death. It was gutted by fire on December 3 1955, sold to the Nickel
Lodge Masons who attempted to remodel it as a Masonic Lodge. The Lodge failed
to secure a zoning change and sold the building to the Sudbury Chamber of
Commerce. In 1967, $135,000 of private money was donated along with a
Centennial grant and the house was renovated to become the Art Gallery of
Sudbury. Stewardship of the house was delegated to Laurentian University in 1969
for the sum of one dollar. The Art Gallery has been a tenant since then and have
outgrown the building for their collection and purposes. It is hoped that the house
will eventually be passed on to "The Friends of Belrock", a group who are seeking
non-profit corporation status, so that the house may be restored to it's original
layout and used as a self sustaining period home museum and focal point of
Sudbury's illustrious forest/logging history and re-greening efforts to the future.
William and Katherine Bell were amongst Sudbuy's most beloved philanthropists
and left a legacy of love to the people of Sudbury, by way of our Bell Park on
Ramsey Lake, as well as Memorial Park downtown and many other generous gifts.
Bell Park is protected for the people of Sudbury by a covenant on the land which
states it must only and forever be used as park for the benefit of the people of
Sudbury.
The car is waiting for passengers to board for the very first ride. The car is a 1911
Packard Model 30 Phaeton, purchased by William Bell. Bell was a lumber baron
who owned the Spanish River Lumber Company and responsible for harvesting
over 325 million board feet of lumber from the Sudbury area. Bell hired Percy
Gardner as his chauffer in 1911 and sent him to Detroit to learn to drive and
service the Packard. The car cost a whopping $5,500 in 1911 when a Model T Ford
could be purchased new for only $500.
By 1921 Percy Gardner borrowed money from Bell and opened Gardner Motors,
which became the longest operating Chrysler dealership in Canadian history.
Bell was also the CEO and president of Cochrane Hardware and his business
associate, Frank Cochrane is shown in the light gray suit. Cochrane was also a
federal politician and served as Sudbury mayor.
Bell's wife Katherine, seated in the buggy with her Jack Russel dog, preferred to
ride in the buggy, and her favourite line to frustrated drivers was "get a horse".
The house in the background was Belrock Mansion which belonged to the Bells
and is illustrated exactly as it appeared 1911. Every detail in the image was
researched and appropriate to 1911.
The building was bequeathed to the Sudbury Memorial Hospital in 1954 upon
Katherine's death. It was gutted by fire on December 3 1955, sold to the Nickel
Lodge Masons who attempted to remodel it as a Masonic Lodge. The Lodge failed
to secure a zoning change and sold the building to the Sudbury Chamber of
Commerce. In 1967, $135,000 of private money was donated along with a
Centennial grant and the house was renovated to become the Art Gallery of
Sudbury. Stewardship of the house was delegated to Laurentian University in 1969
for the sum of one dollar. The Art Gallery has been a tenant since then and have
outgrown the building for their collection and purposes. It is hoped that the house
will eventually be passed on to "The Friends of Belrock", a group who are seeking
non-profit corporation status, so that the house may be restored to it's original
layout and used as a self sustaining period home museum and focal point of
Sudbury's illustrious forest/logging history and re-greening efforts to the future.
William and Katherine Bell were amongst Sudbuy's most beloved philanthropists
and left a legacy of love to the people of Sudbury, by way of our Bell Park on
Ramsey Lake, as well as Memorial Park downtown and many other generous gifts.
Bell Park is protected for the people of Sudbury by a covenant on the land which
states it must only and forever be used as park for the benefit of the people of
Sudbury.
| Image Dimensions 12" X 24" Open Edition $150. ea. Canvas edition 16" X 32" Limited to only 100 $400. ea. |
GORDON DRYSDALE
This is a "Sudbury Heritage Edition" print and is signed by the
artist and embossed with a special stamp commemorating
Sudbury's first ride.
artist and embossed with a special stamp commemorating
Sudbury's first ride.