3-039-168 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Belleville Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, Hastings County, Ontario, Upper Canada, 1871. 'The Institution...has been built, at a cost of £15,000, by the Government of Ontario. It will accommodate 300 boys and girls. Poor orphans are admitted free; the parents of other children, belonging to the province, are charged the cost of food only, which is 6 dols. a month. Lodging and teaching are free to these; and pupils from other provinces of the Canadian Dominion pay £25 a year. The principal of the institution is Dr. W. J. Palmer...The site of the building is easily accessible by railway or by steamer, with provisions at a moderate price, and a delightful as well as healthy neighbourhood. This building was constructed after the premium design of Mr. James Smith, architect, of Toronto. It was completed within less than fifteen months, by Messrs. Kemster, of Hamilton, the contractors...It is interesting to know that Messrs. Kempster availed themselves of various emigration societies to select labourers, who readily obtained employment, enabling them to achieve so large a structure in so short a period'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.