Key Number:	HS 50260
Site Name:	Regal Confectionary
Other Names:	Henry J. Tennant Residence Regal Grocery Store
Site Type:	0101 - Residential: Single Dwelling 0410 - Mercantile/Commercial: Grocery Store or Supermarket 0412 - Mercantile/Commercial: General Retail Store

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			9	21	4

Address:	422 - 6 Avenue S
Number:	22
Street:	4 S
Avenue:	6 S
Other:
Town:	Lethbridge
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:	Second Empire
Plan Shape:	Square
Storeys:	Storeys: 1 1/2
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Concrete
Superstructure:	Nailed Frame
Superstructure Cover:	Brick - Bond: Stretcher
Roof Structure:	Medium Hip
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:	Massing of Units: Single Detached Wings: Front Wings: Rear Number of Bays - Facade: First or Ground Floor, 6 Bays Number of Bays - Facade: Second Floor, 2 Bays Wall Design and Detail: Decorative Shingle Plain Eaves Roof Trim - Eaves: Plain Fascia Roof Trim - Eaves: Plain Soffit Roof Trim - Eaves: Plain Frieze Roof Trim Material - Eaves: Wood Roof Trim - Verges: Not Applicable Dormer Type: Segmental Chimney Location - Side to Side: Centre Chimney Location - Front to Rear: Other Chimney Stack Material: Metal Roof Trim - Special Features: None Window - Structural Opening Shape: Segmental Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Shaped Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Curved Pediment Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Material: Wood Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Material: Brick Window - Sill Type: Plain Slip Sill Window - Sill Type: Plain Lug Sill Window - Sill Material: Wood Window - Sill Material: Brick Window - Trim Within Structural Opening - Head: Plain Window - Trim Within Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Window - Number of Sashes: One Window - Number of Sashes: Two, Double Hung Window - Opening Mechanism: Single or Double Hung Window - Pane Arrangements: 2 over 2 Main Entrance - Location: Off-Centre (Facade) Main Entrance - Structural Opening Shape: Flat Main Entrance - Structural Opening Shape: Segmental Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Plain Flat Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Voussoir Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening Material: Wood Main Entrance - Trim Within Structural Opening - Head: Plain Main Entrance - Trim Within Structural Opening - Head: Flat Transom, Single Light Main Entrance - Trim Within Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Main Entrance - Number of Leaves: 1 Main Entrance - Number of Panels Per Leaf: 1 Main Entrance - Number of Panels Per Leaf: 3 Main Entrance - Leaves - Special Feature: Glass Main Stairs - Location and Design: None Main Porch - Type: Closed Porch Main Porch - Material: Concrete Main Porch - Height: First Storey
Exterior:	Mansard roof with gable decorated dormer
Interior:	N/A
Environment:	Corner Grocery store Residential/commercial on high traffic
Condition:	Fair Fair / Poor (2004) Run down
Alterations:	Apparent Alterations and/or Additions: None Site: Original

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Construction Started	1892/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Served as a Synagogue from 1914 to 1928. Store Mercantile/Commercial: General Retail Store	1914/01/01 1914/01/01 1972/08/03
Owner:	Owner Date:
C.F.P Conybeare Charles Magrath Nick Spirrou	1914/01/01

Architect:	N/A
Builder:	N/A
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	1914 Owner - Nick Spirrou Original Owner - Henry Tennant Rancher & Collector of Customs at Coutts, Alberta. Built with Lethbridge made bricks. Present Owner - W. Quon 422 - 6th Avenue South This 1899 Photograph shows the home of Henry Tennant, Rancher and Collector of Customs at Coutts, Alberta, one of the most important Western border crossings at that time. This solidly, Middleclass, English home was built with Lethbridge-made bricks in the Victorian style. Today the house is still intact, the tin roof and fancy arched brick windows are clearly visible. The front bay window is gone, replaced with a new entrance and a side staircase. The home now serves as small corner grocery store on an avenue which once dead-ended at the coulees, but now leads to the city's new westside addition. Henry J. Tennant Residence / Regal Grocery Building ADDRESS                         422 – 6 Avenue South, Lethbridge BUILT                               1890s STATUS                            Provincial Historic Resource   HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE   In the early 1880s, the Canadian High Commissioner in London, Alexander Galt, assembled a closely knit group of British and Canadian investors into a company to develop the vast coal deposits along the Oldman River.   A company called the North West Coal & Navigation Co. was incorporated and mining activity begun.   As the mine was a considerable distance south from where the Canadian Pacific Railway had recently extended its line past Fort Calgary, the North West Coal & Navigation Co. decided to build its own railway straight east from Medicine Hat to the mine site.   At the site, the thriving community of Lethbridge was soon begun on Company property.   In 1885, the Company subdivided lots in the community and registered it as a townsite.   By 1890, the community was sufficiently large to be incorporated as the Town of Lethbridge with over 400 people.   The town would continue to grow and become a city in 1906 with over 2,000 people.   Among the lots sub-divided by the Company, one of the choicest was located at the east end of Courtland Street (now 422 – 6th Avenue S) overlooking, at a distance, the Oldman River.   In 1889, this lot was purchased by Company lawyer Charles F. Conybeare, then one of the leading citizens of Lethbridge.   Upon his passing in 1892, it was inherited by his wife, Ida, who, in 1894, sold it to Charles A. Magrath, then probably the most prominent citizen in Lethbridge.   A close friend of Alexander Galt’s son, Elliott, Magrath had served as the Land Commissioner of the North West Coal & Navigation Co.   In this capacity, he had undertaken the survey and subdivision of Lethbridge in 1885.   He also became the first president of the Lethbridge Board of Trade, and, in 1890, the first Mayor of Lethbridge.   He would go on represent the district for a while in the North West Territorial Assembly, and, from 1908 to 1911, serve as the Conservative Member of Parliament for the federal riding of Medicine Hat (which then included Lethbridge).     When Magrath sold his Courtland Street property in 1898, it was to another Galt employee and prominent citizen, Henry James Tennant, then a fireman with the North West Coal & Navigation Co.   In 1903, Tennant sold his Lethbridge home and moved to Coutts to take up ranching and eventually become a police magistrate.   He would run unsuccessfully for a seat in the Alberta Legislative Assembly for the riding of Warner in 1917 as a Conservative.     At some point during the ownership of either Magrath or Tennant, an ornate dwelling with mansard roof and detailed brickwork was constructed on 422 Courtland Street.   It was, no doubt, regarded at the time as an elegant addition to the community, and would have been the venue of much upper class socializing.   In 1903, Tennant sold the property to Agnes Westfall, who retained possession until 1907.   Several other people would occupy the dwelling over the next several years, until, in 1918, it was acquired by Peter Naismith, who converted it into the Beth Israel Synagogue.   At the time, the community around the property contained a large number of Jewish residents.   The old Tennant House would serve as a synagogue until 1940, when a new and larger synagogue was built.   Upon this move, the Tennant House, which had already undergone several major alterations, was made over into a community grocery store called Regal Grocery.   It is as the Regal Grocery that most residents of Lethbridge remember the building, for it would serve as a grocery and, later, as a confectionery until 1988.   The historical significance of the Regal Grocery lies, to an extent, in its service as a familiar community grocery and confectionery during the middle and latter part of the last century.   It also has some significance in its use as a Jewish synagogue between 1918 and 1940, although it had not been designed for religious purposes.   Its greatest significance is probably in its association with certain of the leading public figures of Lethbridge around the turn of the last century. Although, with extensive renovations over the years, there is little about it to remind people of its role as an upper class dwelling, aside from the mansard roof and certain brickwork.   The year of construction of the building has not been determined.   It may have been built for and occupied by Charles Magrath who owned the property between 1894 and 1898.   However, its identification by people in Lethbridge as ‘the Tennant House’ would suggest that it might have been built during Henry Tennant’s ownership between 1898 and 1903.   Many people felt that Magrath occupied the property after Tennant, but Land Titles records verify otherwise.   The Lethbridge City Archivist is still trying to determine the date of construction.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
Provincial Historic Resource	2002/05/03

Register:	N/A

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places:	4665-0795