Description of Historic Place

The building at 34-46 Walton Street, also known as the Smith Block, is situated near the base of the long, winding hill that characterizes Port Hope's main commercial street. The three-storey red and cream-coloured brick structure was completed in 1851 and is a vital component of the historic Walton Street streetscape.

The Walton Street facade of the building is protected by an Ontario Heritage Trust conservation easement. The building is also designated by the Municipality of Port Hope under Part IV (By-law 41-80) and Part V (By-law 44-97) of the Ontario Heritage Act.

Heritage Value

34-46 Walton Street is significant for its association with the family of Elias Smith, one of Port Hope's first permanent settlers, and its relationship with the town's mid-19th century construction boom. Located on lands first granted by the Crown to Elias Smith and Jonathan Walton in 1797, the site experienced considerable turnover through the first half of the 19th century as ownership was continuously being transferred amongst members of the Smith family. In 1844, Elias Percy Smith, the grandson of Elias Smith, purchased the property and immediately set to work in erecting a building on the site. A devastating fire in the spring of 1849 burnt this structure to the ground, but Smith wasted no time in replacing his first building with a new three-storey brick commercial block completed in 1851. An article in the local newspaper of the time raved about the quality of this new building and boasted that the workmanship and design of all of the town's new construction excelled far beyond that of any other Canadian town. As one of the many commercial structures erected within the same decade that the Grand Trunk Railway and Midland Railway reached the town, the building at 34-46 Walton Street is considered a product of Port Hope's most significant period of economic growth. In May 1980, the building experienced another disastrous fire and the Walton Street facade was the only portion that could be salvaged.

The building is an example of a large mid-19th century commercial block. The building features a two-storey upper facade divided into nine bays by brick pilasters and at ground level of five individual shop-front units. The most distinctive of the building's features is its decorative composition of contrasting red and cream coloured features. It is this characteristic that visually segregates the building from its neighbours and ultimately makes it one of the most recognizable components of the streetscape. Despite the loss of the building to fire in 1980, the upper storeys of the Walton Street facade remain sincere to their original appearance. The only alterations to have materially affected the facade relate to the ground floor shop-fronts, which have been continuously adapted to suit the needs of individual tenants.

Located near the eastern terminus of Walton Street, the commercial block at 34-46 is an important element in what is often referred to as Ontario's best-preserved main street. The building is snugly situated within a block of three-storey structures of the same period and it is neighboured on the west by the R.C. Smith Block and on the east by the American Hotel Building. The beauty and coherence of the architecture within this area of Walton Street was formally recognized in 1998 by the Municipality of Port Hope with its designation as a heritage conservation district.

Source: Conservation Easement Files, Ontario Heritage Trust

Character-Defining Elements

Character defining elements that contribute to the heritage value include its:
- typical mid-19th century commercial design of three-storeys and brick cladding
- considerable size: three-storeys, nine-bays and five store fronts
- decorative treatment of the facade with contrasting red and cream features
- ten two-storey brick pilasters capped by wooden capitals
- projecting brick frieze and ornamental brick cornice with corbelling and dentil course
- 18 upper-storey flat-headed window openings with timber sills, timber lintels, and double-hung sash windows with a six-over-six glazing pattern
- five shop-front displays on the ground floor in wood panels and plate glass
- expansive wooden cornice of the sign-band featuring small and medium sized decorative brackets
- location near the eastern terminus of Walton Street (at the Ganaraska River)
- siting within the Walton Street Heritage Conservation District