Sunderland Town Hall – 120 River St
This town hall was constructed in 1906 on the site of a previous wooden frame town hall dating back to 1871. The architect and supervisor was George E. Turner. It is correctly named the Town of Berkshire Town Hall, Sunderland. It took two years for the hall to be constructed, and the final cost was about $6,000. The fire insurance map from 1910 shows that the hall was used as a farmer’s market downstairs and an opera house upstairs.
For decades now the building has been the social center of the town and township. It has been used for plays, musicals, fundraisers during the wars and for over 50 years it has been the site of performances in the Sunderland Music Festival. The new structure has served not only Sunderland but the surrounding township with its clerk’s office, council chamber, banquet hall, jail and small library.
During the Great Depression the jail cells were a place to stay overnight for jobless men passing through town. On the south wall of River Street is the impressive circular rose shaped stained glass window of Gothic design. Behind this window is a large second floor balcony with the original seats that were provided by Robert Charter, the local furniture dealer and undertaker. Those fold up seats still have a rack underneath to hold a gentleman’s hat.
At the southwest corner is the four-story bell tower where an iron bell once rung. The entire ceiling is made of tin metal plates impressed with detailed patterns. In 1991 a town hall restoration committee worked with Brock Township and the Sunderland Lions to bring the building up to fire code. They did major restorations to the washrooms and added an elevator. The windows are Romanesque with their round arches. Inside is a vaudevillian stage with an old-fashioned ticket room and a sloped concert floor.
In front of the town hall is the cenotaph built in 1922 to honour the men killed serving Canada in the armed forces in both World wars.
2. Saint Andrews United Church – 10 Church St N
3. Sunderland Town Hall – 120 River St
4. Dr. Joseph Henry Oliver Home – 128 River St
5. St. Mary’s Anglican Church – 134 River St
6. Dr. James McDermott Home – 160 River St
7. The Fogg House – 198 River St
8. The Blacksmith Shop – 135 River St
9. The Nipissing House Hotel – 123 River St
10. Stop 4 Variety – 111 River St
11. The Old Drug Store – 108 River St
12. The Gigantic Hand Saw, Guardian Pharmacy – 103 River St
13. Flindell’s Fresh Mart – 97 River St
14. The Beall Block – 93 River St
15. The Harness Shop – 89 River St
16. Taylor’s Store – 85 River St
17. The William Doble Home – 32 Albert St
18. The Sunderland Presbyterian Church – 5 Albert St
19. Doyle’s General Store – 3 Albert St
20. The McDermott Block – 1 Albert Street S
21. The Sunderland Telephone Company. – 63 River St
22. James Doble Home – 3 Cedar St S
23. William Nassau Doble Home – 12 River St
24. Thomas Welsh Home – 20 River St
25. Robert Doble Home – 48 River St
26. The Bank – River Street (CIBC) – 74 River St
27. The Brock House Hotel – 82 River St
28. The Hardware Store – 92 River St
29. The Early Undertaker – 96 River St
30. The Printing Shop – 98 River St
31. The Magic Door – 100 River St
32. The Sunderland Legion – 104 River St
33. 108 River Street – 108 River Street
34. Freeze Creamery – 5 Church St N
35. The Sunderland Memorial Arena 1948-2009 – 20 Park St