19. Doyle’s General Store

Doyle’s General Store – 3 Albert St

In 1912, there was a general store on the east side of Albert street located between the McDermott block and the Presbyterian church. The insurance maps show that it was a concrete building. The building was owned by Timothy Pangman, occupied by the Aziz Brothers and W.H. Miller. Sometime around midnight on March 5, 1913, a fire broke out from an overheated stove and completely destroyed the building. The nearby Presbyterian church suffered damage to the roof, woodblock and tower.

There were no casualties as the family living upstairs was able to escape through a second-floor window. This building was at one time called the Calhoun block and was run by William Calhoun, his wife. Although the damage from the fire was about $25,000, the building had been insured for such a loss.

After the Calhouns, the Hurd family owned a grocery store at this location. At the time of the 1949 Sunderland fire, the building had been rebuilt with William Doyle running a general store south of the McDermott block and an egg grading station on the east side of the McDermott block. During the fire, men pushed the east wall of the burning building back into the flames to protect the egg grading station and helpers rushed to get the chickens and eggs to a safe location. Pictures from 1949 show several men on the roof of Doyle’s store using snow to keep the roof cool. George Clay had come to Doyle’s store to buy some butter when neighbors alerted him that his restaurant was on fire.