By Jim Hagarty
Oh Dear God, not Thomas Edison again! So says the reader who is not so astonished that Thomas Edison used to live and work in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, where I ive, but by my constant writing about it. Sorry, but my dog and I are alike: Whenever he gets a new toy he plays the hell out of it.
In 1863, when he was 16 years old, the eventual famous inventor worked as a telegraph operator and nightwatchman at railway stations in Stratford and the neighbouring town of St. Marys. Shown here is the Grand Trunk Station near St. Marys which was built in 1858 and closed in 1941 and where Edison once toiled. The station itself has an interesting history. It was built too far outside the village to be really useful and 50 years after it opened, a second station was opened up right in St. Marys. This building might have come down many years ago but local preservationists managed to keep that from happening. I hope to get permission to wander inside some day. By the standards of the day, this was a well-built and fine-looking station. The one in Stratford where he also worked is also still standing and in daily use today.
