Seaway News
Ask a Curator - December 2024
A popular downtown bakery sits on a property a mere 19’ by 110’. The store is compact, but its reputation is anything but tiny. The bakery is Riley’s, of course.
William Riley opened a bakery at 240 Pitt circa 1926. Prior to his Cornwall relocation, William operated a bakery in England. An August 1928 newspaper advertisement places Riley’s – Palace Bakeshop at 242 Pitt Street. William Riley’s ‘Palace Bakeshop’ name appears until at least 1930. The Riley’s Bakery name surfaces in advertisements by 1932.
Along with most of the west side of Pitt Street between Second and Third streets, Riley’s Bakery was obliterated during the Great Fire of August 7, 1933. In the process of rebuilding, they ended up with an address change from 240 to 248 Pitt. It also appears that during the process, they experienced a physical relocation a short distance to the north.
Their temporary location during the rebuild, remains uncertain.
After the 1933 fire and the bake shop’s subsequent re-build, 1935 saw William Riley turn over the Pitt Street business to Percy Cooper. Riley then worked for Cooper and eventually re-purchased the Pitt Street business from him. The business carried the Cooper name until at least 1941. Cooper’s prior bakery operated at 5 Marlborough Street South from 1926/27 until 1929 when he closed due to illness but resumed that location by 1932. William Riley and later his sons Vincent and George were with the Pitt Street bakery in the formative Riley and Cooper years.
The 1933 fire wasn’t Riley’s only challenge with the property. In 1947, during excavation to build the Advance Dress Shoppe to the north, much of Riley’s north wall collapsed into the cavity and the remaining structure took on a definite tilt to the north. Today an office supply company occupies the former dress shop building.
During that 1947 rebuild/restoration, Riley Brothers constructed a temporary bake shop next door to Langley Cleaners. That new frame structure, at 12 3rd St W., measured about 45’ by 20’. In January 1948, after the bakery returned to its customary Pitt Street location, Weber gift/card/book shop took up temporary operation at the Third Street location. On Christmas Eve of 1947, Weber suffered considerable water and smoke damage from a fire which devastated several buildings in the 100 block of Pitt Street. These two major fires are among those which have forever changed our downtown. But, like the mythical phoenix, Riley’s rose from the ashes of its precursor.
In 1969, long-time employee Bob Grant took over the business; he was 40 at the time and had been there since age 16. Rob and Anna Curran became owners in 1989. Rob introduced hearty sandwiches to complement the yummy traditional baking and it proved to be a winning combination. When the Currans “retired” in 2021 the Champagne family took over the location and equipment and retained the business name. And the Riley’s story continues to evolve.
Don Smith is Curator/Manager, Cornwall Community Museum