It’s Wayback Wednesday, sponsored by Pharmasave Huntsville!
In this week’s photo, the first delivery of new cars arrives at Raback Motors on King William Street in 1961. In the background on the left is the Supertest gas station and on the right is the Blue Bell Tea Room, where One Stop General Store is today. Peter Raback started his garage in the summer of 1960 but did not get his first delivery of new cars from General Motors until January of 1961. Peter received the dealership after Union Garage was sold and then demolished to make way for a parking lot for a new A&P grocery store. Pictured from left are General Motors Rep. from Toronto, George Gosling, dealership owner Peter Raback, and the car transport driver. (Photo courtesy of Muskoka Digital Archives)
Last week we shared this photo with you:
In 1895, Matthew Wardell (pictured below right) and his wife, Mary Grace Smale (we don’t know if she’s one of the women in this picture), moved to Huntsville with their family. Matthew rented a store at 77 Main Street East, where Spectacles Vision Centre is today, and in 1902 bought the building. The store carried dry goods, produce, men’s and women’s clothing, carpets, oil cloths, and curtains, among other things. The building was destroyed on December 28, 1911 in a fire caused by an overheated box stove. The family rented the building across the street at 86 Main Street East, where Algonquin Outfitters is today, and resumed business. In 1920, they bought the building for $6,000. This photo was taken at the family’s original store sometime between 1895 and 1911. (Photo courtesy of Muskoka Digital Archives.)
If you want to see more Wayback Wednesday photos, click here.
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Raback’s photo courtesy of Janet Raback Boston. Her father Peter, was a great guy who liked to have fun at the garage but also was a very excellent mechanic. Notice the brand new 1961 Chevy is a smaller design compared to the 1960 model which was huge. They sold Chevys – Oldsmobiles – Honda motorcycles and Skidoos. What a line up!
How nice to see Raback Motors featured in this weeks Wayback Wednesday. Dad loved Huntsville and was a supporter of many lacrosse and hockey teams over the years. He also promoted Huntsville as a great destination for snowmobiling, with trips to Montreal and Eagle River, Wisconsin by Skidoo to advertise our town.