Susanna McLeod
Special to Ontario Construction News
The time ticked down for the old building, neglected for decades and crumbling. The village council considered demolishing the then nearly two-century-old Ham House in historical Bath, Ontario, when rescue arrived. The heroes didn’t have capes, but they had plans and energy.
In the early 1800s, the village of Bath (founded 1784) was thrumming as the County of Lennox & Addington’s base of commerce and a military training hub. The waterfront harbour was a hubbub of shipping and shipbuilding activity, and later. As the population grew, the village featured some of the earlier schools and places of worship in Upper Canada. Ham House, named for George Ham, began with the Farmers Store constructing a vernacular two-storey timber-frame store and home in 1816 with woodclad exterior.
Constructed in Neoclassical style, Ham House embodied “strong Adamesque or Federal period features that lean heavily on ornate details,” said “Explore Historic Bath,” Loyalist Township Heritage Committee report, 2021. Adamesque style was developed in the late 1700s by brothers Robert and James Adams in Scotland, the design focussing on symmetry and refined details. Derived from Georgian architecture, the Federal style emerged after the American Revolution ended in 1783.
George Ham was a sergeant with the 1st Regiment, Addington Militia in 1812 at the eruption of the War of 1812. (The War lasted until 1815.) Ham rose to Lieutenant Colonel in Cobourg’s Northumberland Militia by the 1837 Rebellion. His older brother, Peter (B. 1791), was also an Addington militia member. Purchasing the property in about 1818, the brothers became merchants under the name George Ham & Co.
Operating the general store in the easterly side of Ham House, the brothers received a variety of merchandise shipped from Montreal to the local port. A Kingston Chronicle newspaper ad on December 1, 1820 mentioned that “they just received a fresh supply of goods, in addition to their former stock, which they will dispose of very low for cash, short approved credit, or in exchange for Merchantable wheat.”
Briefly in local politics, in about 1925, George Ham dissolved the business partnership with his brother. Settling in Cobourg, Ontario, he was appointed Justice of the Peace. Peter Ham operated the store for several years until he died in 1829. By the late 1930s, the Hawley family was living and working in Ham House as innkeepers, receiving a tavern licence in 1840. Partitions were added and perhaps staircases were adjusted to accommodate guests. As decades evaporated, the house passed through several owners and underwent updates. Municipal services were installed when the village laid water and sewer pipework in the late 1960s.
Although designated a heritage building, Ham House was disintegrating. Averting de-designation in 2010 by Loyalist Township—and potential demolition of the building—the village community “rallied to its defense and both saved and restored the property,” stated Ontario Heritage Trust. (OHT)
Ron Tasker (a Director of the Frontenac Heritage Foundation) and Bonnie Crook purchased the property. With friends and community help, they launched into restoring Ham House, starting with thorough historical research. “The building was lifted, its foundation rebuilt, and the neoclassical and other water damaged structures replaced and restored,” described OHT. “This work met high conservation standards…and convinced the local council that poor material conditions on an exceptional heritage structure are not insurmountable conditions for its restoration.”
“Over time, elegant features were stripped off, slowly dumming it down until almost indistinguishable from a late 19th century barn,” said Tasker. Re-sided in wood board over a century ago, the home was left “with not a trace of paint on it. Most of the damage we repaired had been inflicted on it in the 19th century.”
The interior of Ham House was similarly desperate. “It took two years to strip the interior of the building back to its original elements, removing nearly 40 tons in layers of drywall, plywood and plaster,” Tasker and Crook wrote. “This care allowed us to recover pieces of original millwork and construction lumber re-used when modifications were made.” The team also found historical treasures.
Whiskey bottles and tavern keg spigots were gathered, “and many pottery fragments spanning from the mid-18th century through to turn-of-the-century hotel ware,” the renovators said. British Navy and American military buttons from the early 1800s were found. A musket ball, and a bounty of coins and tokens surfaced, including a 1762 Spanish Real and 1778 Loyalist Copper. An impressive find seemed to be a broken commemorative plate, celebrating the Lachine Canal opening in 1825.
Tasker, Crook and participants earned awards for their exceptional restoration from Ontario Heritage Trust in 2020, and Lieutenant Governor’s Award in 2021. Along with the façade’s elaborate cornice with fanlike motifs, described Explore Historic Bath, Ham House shines again with “large reeded Doric pilasters [dividing] the wall into three sections, emulating a Doric temple for the store entrance.”
©2025 Susanna McLeod. Living in Kingston, Ontario, McLeod is a writer specializing in Canadian history.
Sources:
“2020 recipients of the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Awards,” Ontario Heritage Trust. https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/pages/programs/lgoha/2020-recipients
“Advertisement, George Ham & Co.,” Kingston Chronicle, December 1, 1820: pg. 3.
https://vitacollections.ca/digital-kingston/97154/page/3?q=ham&docid=OOI.97154
Blumenson, John. Ontario Architecture, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1990. https://archive.org/details/ontarioarchitect0000blum/mode/2up
“Explore Historic Bath: 4. Ham House, 353 Main Street,” Loyalist Township Heritage Committee report, 2021. https://www.loyalist.ca/media/o1mjtihx/explore-historic-bath-2021-complete.pdf
Ham House, Bath, Ontario, c. 1816: Walls Can Talk. https://hamhousebath.com/home
“Village of Bath Heritage Conservation District Plan Update,” Loyalist Township Heritage Committee, 2013. https://www.loyalist.ca/media/m51pn5is/heritage-conservation-district-plan.pdf
