Robert Edson Bush

Other Events:

• Name: Edson Bush
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-40282
• Occupation: 1901, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Plumber
• Occupation: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Boat Livery, at Park
• Residence: 1911, 26 Homewood Ave., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Presbyterian

Notes:

When Victoria Park opened in 1896, the newly created lake was Berlin's largest body of water (and remains so) thus it wasn't surprising to find, along the David Street shore near Roland Street, a 70-foot boathouse.

That boathouse remained in service until 1929 by which time much of the wood had rotted from continual exposure to the lake water. Edson Bush operated the boathouse in all seasons for those three decades, renting boats, providing refreshments and lighting the wood stoves so skaters could warm up.

To replace it, the Kitchener Park Board committed $15,000 in early 1929 for a two-storey brick structure designed by architect Charles Knechtel. Four months after ground was broken near the Queen Victoria monument, the first canoes and rowboats, stored on racks within each end of the building, were being rented from its dock.

"Flash From The Past: Kitchener'S Multi-Tasking Victoria Park Boathouse". 2021. Therecord.Com. https://www.therecord.com/life/local-history/2021/08/06/flash-from-the-past-kitcheners-multi-tasking-victoria-park-boathouse.html.

Robert — Sarah Jane Hopper. Sarah was born 31 Oct 1859, Hagersville, Oneida Twp., Haldimand Co., Ontario; died 9 Aug 1902, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]