Post Tavern

After closing their doors as a tavern and inn, the building has gone through many phases throughout the years before coming into the hands of the Stratford Perth Heritage Foundation.

Family Home

After the closure of the Fryfogel Tavern & Inn in 1860, Sebastian’s son Peter used the building as a home for his wife Hellena (Ellen) Maude (née Allen) and their children. In order to accommodate the family the separating wall in the Trunk & Trundle Room was torn down to create a bigger bedroom. Along with that change, a wall was added in the middle of the ballroom to create two more bedrooms. Even the closet in the Proprietor’s Office was adapted into a bedroom for one of the sons.

After Sebastian’s passing in 1873, ownership of the property was fully transferred to Peter and his wife. According to the Fryfogel Tavern deed, ownership was briefly transferred to Peter’s son Richard Fryfogel in 1909 but later entries with his name have been crossed out and ownership was returned to his father. When Peter eventually passed in 1912 his wife Hellena was allowed to continue life in the tavern as usual, but she did not gain any proper ownership rights over the building. After her death in 1923 the property did not continue down Peter’s line but instead transferred over to Amos Fryfogel, the great grandson of Sebastian I, grandson of Sebastian II, and son of Sebastian III.

While it was not written on the deed for Concession 1 Lot 14, it has been said that Amos rented out the building to a cheese factory that used the space for storage between 1923 and 1937. There is no concrete evidence to the validity of this claim or the possibility that the building was also used to produce cheese.

Green Acres Tea Room

In the lease history for the tavern you can see that in September 1937 a new lease was signed by the Rankin sisters, Jessie Gertrude and Ethelwyn Stuart. It was Dr. James Palmer Rankin, who was a physician, surgeon, a senator, and a member of parliament, and his wife Mary J. Rankin (née McKee) that brought these two girls into the world. The family had another son, Dr. Ramsey David Rankin, who passed away in 1921 due to an accident involving falling through a glass door at a party in Montreal.

It wasn’t until 1938 that the Rankin sister’s began operations as a tea room and restaurant named Green Acres. This was due to some structural changes that had to take place within the building. Additional walls were torn down like those between the Tavern and Dining Room as well as the separating wall that turned the Ballroom into 2 bedrooms. Other changes included installing stoves, ovens, other kitchen appliances, as well as plumbing in the Back Storage Room upstairs.

Some sources with family members that worked at Green Acres in the 1930s-1940s claim that employees had to wear black, white, and pink uniforms during their work hours.

The Old Homestead

After the Rankin sister’s closed Green Acres over a decade after opening, a new business opened in its place. Instead of a tea room it operated as a banquet hall and reception center as well as a restaurant called the Old Homestead throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s. It has been said that brothers Kenneth Samuel Joseph Hesse and Carl B. Hesse ran the business together but little evidence is left to prove that claim. This could be due to the familial connection between Kenneth and Amos Fryfogel’s daughter Elizabeth. Kenneth and Beth were married at the tavern in 1950, right around the beginnings of The Old Homestead. Many weddings took place here such as that of John and Doris Belland who can be seen slicing their wedding cake (left) and the Ankenmann's doing the same (right).

An interesting story to come out of this business is that during the beginnings of the Stratford Festival Theatre in the early 1950’s, Canadian actors Christopher Plummer and William Shatner dined here.