Union Hall

d Aug 3, 2007 in the Lanark Era:

The Union Hall was at the center of a community known as Union Hall Settlement. Unlike most of the other settlements in the area that were founded around mills, Union Hall settlement was a farming community. Union Hall has always been more than a mere building; it has been a symbol of rural community spirit for over 150 years. In 1835, Lot 16, Concession 2 of Ramsay Township was deeded to Sophia Thom. Some of this land was acquired by the directors of the Ramsay & Lanark Library in November 1856, and in the spring of 1857, a frame building was erected as a library and a church - "a hall for all denominations". Although a log school had been built on 1847, the community welcomed this new building and the newly-formed "Library and Literary Association" because in 1857, many children in the School Section # 3 Ramsay were unable to read or write. Acquiring books was important and by 1869, the number of books in the libraries of Union Hall, the School and the Sunday School totaled 815 volumes. The hall quickly became a focal point in the Community. The Sons of Temperance Society met there from the mid-1800s into the early 1900s and according to the convention, the ladies always sat on the right side of the room and the gentlemen on the left. The society displayed a large membership chart and had temperance mottos printed in big black letters on the walls. A sample of these might have been " Hell is populated with the victims of 'harmless' amusements - the bottle, the w**d, and the cards." Mr Joe Dougherty held a singing school in the hall and children learned to read music and sing four-part harmony. In the late 1800s there was a Union Hall String Band and music became an integral part of all social events. In the 1880s teacher John Clelland operated a grange (or co-op) at Union Hall. Farming families who belonged to the grange purchased groceries in bulk and picked them up on Saturdays. In 1919, under the guidance of teacher Howard Allison, the Union Literary Society was formed. It met in the hall every second Saturday night to read plays, debate and present papers on interesting subjects. The members put together a jocular and gossipy newspaper called The Literary Review. A motion was passed that members "not get sore over remarks in the paper". The hall was the home of the Union Hall Tiger Baseball Club from around 1915 to the 1940s. Baseball was popular at community picnics and festivals and many the cow was milked in a hurry so that young ball players could get to the games. With no field lights, starting times were early to get the games in before dark. There was also a Junior Women's Institute girls' ball team called the Janey Canucks

The Union Hall Women's Institute was formed in 1932. With humour and music, its members helped each other through the hard time of the Depression and the grim years of World War II. They improved the hall by extending the stage and building an anteroom in which to perform plays. Historically, there had been no dancing in the hall; however; the Institute's members wanted to hold dances, and having saved the place from falling down, asserted that it was their right to do so. In the 1940s variety concerts "packed the hall to the doors" under the guidance of Made Robertson who was "so good at getting them up". Horses were tied along the fences in warm weather and stabled in nearby barns in the winter. There were no babysitters so children were taken along. Babies were bundled into the corner of the hall to sleep away the evening as square dances were called, plays or concerts were performed or box socials were enjoyed. A new floor was laid in the 1950s to improve the dancing surface. It may have been around this time that a square grand piano was acquired. The hall's unheated environment was not suitable to a piano over the years and in 1991, a motion was passed "to compassionately dispose" of it and it was sold. As the years went by, the Union Hall Community did not let the hall wain. In 1988 a new roof was put on and a septic system was laid out. An addition with a kitchen, toilets and a handicapped access was built by volunteers in 1989 and the Union Hall Community Centre was incorporated. Dances, Halloween parties, music and talent nights as well as banquets, corn roasts, pancake breakfasts and strawberry socials have kept the hall vital. When Ontario Hydro proposed a transmission line through the community, the voices of the Union Hall Action Committee was successfully raised in opposition.