In the late 19th century, horse-drawn vehicles were still the standard for passenger and freight transport. In Collingwood as elsewhere before the advent of the automobile, livery stables were essential for both travellers and settlers who made frequent trips to town for goods and services. Typical rates around that time were $2 per day for a single nag and $3 for a rig and driver.
Livery owners frequently built attractive, purpose-built buildings in convenient downtown locations. In 1889, John Foster followed this practice and built a stylish modern facility for his livery business at the corner of Simcoe and Ste. Marie streets.
This was an ideal location as it meant Foster’s was the nearest livery to the railway station, where he could pick up and deliver passengers and freight, and close to the town’s many hotels. The building had horse stalls, a carriage room, rooms for washing and painting rigs, a hayloft, sales stable, caretaker’s apartment and office. The Palace was also equipped with an elevator, a new modern device for lifting carriages to the second floor. “As it occupies the entire corner it is a very prominent and imposing building, and adds greatly to the appearance of that part of the town,” raved one local newspaper.
Following Foster’s death in 1916, his three children inherited his holdings. Over the next 90 years, the building housed everything from a beer store to a restaurant, furniture store and saloon before being converted to apartments with the addition of a third floor. It eventually fell into disuse and was torn down in 2008 to make way for the new Collingwood Public Library. ❧
Source: Richard Lex, Creative Simcoe Street & Architectural Conservancy of Ontario
