In the late 19th century life for Armenian Christians in the Ottoman Empire was difficult. That consideration is likely what led so many Armenians to come to this country during those years. A good number of them chose to settle in St. Catharines.

Faced with conscription into the Ottoman army, Armenian Ohannes Torosian, with his wife Hyanoosh (Agnes), left the Old World behind and came to this country in 1909. By 1912 they had settled here in St. Catharines, where son Hygus was born later that year and son Harry in 1919. Like many of his fellow Armenians, Ohannes initially settled near the intersection of Carlton and Ontario streets, where McKinnon Industries offered employment opportunities for such new arrivals.

This week's old photo shows the old farm house on the east side of Ontario Street, above Carlton, that the Torosians ultimately called home. During much of the 19th century the house had belonged to farmer J.W. Johnson, whose property once extended all the way from Twelve Mile Creek eastward to Haig Street, and from Carlton Street northward almost all the way to Scott. By the early 1890s that extensive property had begun to be sold off piece by piece, with the farm house itself and adjacent property then owned by farmer Henry Hogben.

By the 1920s Ohannes Torosian owned the old farm house at 350 Ontario Street and was growing tender fruit trees on the adjacent farm land. He became a familiar figure on the Market Square in downtown St. Catharines. His family had a stall there for some 70 years, and for a time son Hygus was president of the Market Vendors' Association.

With the economic and demographic changes that followed the Second World War the area along Ontario north of Carlton was gradually invaded by non-farming activities. The Torosian family's farmer-neighbours moved on to other things, and the stretch of Ontario from Carlton to the QEW was slowly taken over by gas stations, auto body repair shops, car dealerships, fast food restaurants, and a large bowling alley that ultimately grew into the Parkway Motor Inn complex.

Torosian patriarch Ohannes Torosian died in 1975, age 94, but sons Hygus and Harry remained in their Ontario Street homes until the late 1980s — Harry in the old farm house at 350 Ontario and Hygus in a modern house next door at 354 Ontario. They were the last vestiges of the area's former agricultural economy. By 1990 Hygus and Harry had both sold their properties and moved to other parts of the city.

The old family farmhouse pictured here was torn down long ago and most of the former farm replaced by a shopping mall. Today Big Tuna Asian Cuisine stands where the old farm house once stood. But not all of the old farm was sold. The family gave the city several acres at the rear of their property for a neighbourhood park. The next time you're on Ventura Drive, look for Torosian Park, the welcome bit of greenspace the family left behind for us all to enjoy.

Dennis Gannon is a member of the Historical Society of St. Catharines. He can be reached at gannond2002@yahoo.com               

https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/community-story/8378655-yesterday-and-today-the-last-farm-on-ontario-street/