My Dad has often told me, “Getting drunk in the seventies was an easy task, all you had to do was walk down Pitt Street, every second door was an entrance to a bar!” At the Wharf (located near Pitt and Water Streets) many Cornwallites purchased drafts for 10 cents a glass. Although it was originally constructed in 1888, the hotel became the “Lloyd George” in 1946 named after co-owners Lloyd Gallinger and George Bringloe. The building was demolished in 1978 to make way for the Cornwall Square.
Some of Cornwall’s popular bars included: The Old Fort in the basement of the King George Hotel, The Lafayette (which later became the Aardvark) on First Street, St. Lawrence House (which is now La Maison on Montreal Road), the Cornwallis Hotel (located on Second Street), the YMCA Dance Hall (the dance hall was located upstairs and hosted dances on Friday nights), and The Royal Hotel on Montreal Road.
Lalonde’s Bar in Riviere-Beaudette was a popular place for Cornwallites to visit in the seventies. Cornwall bands like Slopjaw and The Butlers often played at the Quebec establishment, and many Cornwall citizens followed to join the party!
The majority of seventies children were familiar with seeing wine-o’s down by Cornwall’s Harbour. That was “their spot” to drink. Many of these men were war veterans, and some of them were homeless.
Movie Theatres and Drive Ins
Cornwall children were blessed to have a variety of theatres and drive ins to choose from. They weren’t all located in Cornwall, but they were close enough to easily get to! Popular Drive Ins at the time included: Starlight Drive In which eventually became The Mustang (located on Purcell Road in Glen Walter), the Seaway Drive In (at Pitt and Tollgate, where the chip stand is currently located), and the Curry Hill Drive In.
Cornwall children also had three movie theatres to choose from: the Capitol Theatre on Second Street, which opened on January 23, 1928, and was demolished in 1991, the Palace Theatre on Pitt Street, which opened in 1921 and closed in the 1980s, and the Roxy/Port Theatre, which opened on December 26, 1941.
Random Memories from the Seventies
Bowling at Nativity Church and Olympia Bowl. It wasn’t uncommon to hear someone groaning during a game because the pins often hit the pin boys!
On Pitt Street where Lahaie and Sullivan’s Funeral Home is located, at the very back of the building used to house Kik-Cola. Children from the seventies will remember eagerly hoping to win something under their bottle cap!
Johnny Cash came to Cornwall on January 26, 1977. A Civic Complex employee wandered through the vents of the Complex, and snuck into Johnny’s room. When Mr. Cash came back, his wallet was missing. Outraged, he swore he would never return to Cornwall to play a show ever again, and he never did.
Everyone from the seventies remembers Joe Belisle from Apple Hill (he never worked, and he never will!)
