Interesting Finds

With the end of the war, the “Rosies” working at Can Car found themselves no longer needed on the factory floor. With the men serving overseas returning home, there was a need to provide them with housing and employment, and they ended up taking over many of the jobs women held, including at CanCar. Can Car was converted to manufacturing such things as buses, trolley coaches and railcars for passenger trains.

Winston Hall, which housed the women who worked at CanCar during the war also underwent a conversion. In late 1945, with the women returning to their home towns across the region and beyond, Winston Hall was purchased by the City of Fort William and converted into an apartment complex to provide housing for returning soldiers and their families.

Winston Hall had its own church, dance hall, bowling alley and grocery store. A tenants committee was formed in January 1946 and they produced “The Winston Hall Bugle Call,” a community newsletter that kept residents up to date on the happenings.

Hogarth’s Quality Food Store was managed by John William (Bill) Hogarth and his wife Gudrun Johanna (Rimstad) Hogarth.