CHESTNUT HALL
1862
14 Ormond St. N
Map to the CHESTNUT HALL
Chestnut Hall was built for John McDonagh, a lumber merchant
who served as Reeve of the Village of Thorold from 1871 to
1874, then as Mayor of the Town of Thorold from 1881-1884.
McDonagh's widow left the house to St. John's Anglican
Church, which used it as a manse for a few months before
selling it in 1920 to the Great War Veterans' Association
(later the Canadian Legion). Chestnut Hall has also housed
the former Town of Thorold Municipal Offices and the Regional
Health Department. Currently it is the home of the Thorold
and Beaverdams Historical Society and the Thorold Museum as
well as forming part of the Thorold Public Library.
The main section of this building is two storeys high with a
bay window on the first floor extending to an open porch on
the second floor. There are five different sections in the
house, indicating that additions were built at various times.
The rear addition has interesting arched windows which are
very different from those in the main part of the house. The
house has a low hipped roof with a plain boxed cornice and
bracketed shelf over the main entrance.
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