North York entrepreneur Aggie Hogg was in advance of her time

“Aggie Hogg Gardens,” a small inside road alongside the environmentally friendly room in the middle of the Outlets at Don Mills at Lawrence Avenue and Don Mills Highway, is named in honour of a notable 19th century North York lady who was way ahead of her time.

According to Patricia W. Hart’s “Pioneering in North York”, published in 1968, Aggie Hogg boldly went into the male-dominated business enterprise environment fairly than the then-usual woman job of homemaker. She never ever married.

Born in 1834, Aggie was a daughter of John Hogg, a Scottish immigrant who owned a farm and sawmill where the Stores now are. He gave some of his property for Don Mills’ initially faculty, a log cabin, erected in 1837. He had a basic store and was Don Mills’ first postmaster.

Aggie lived apart, in a brick property constructed on her father’s assets his had been a body dwelling. Considering that her father experienced retired, she determined to copy him and establish her possess put together normal products retailer-publish business.

Her household was rather large she utilized the ground flooring for her business enterprise. She established apart area for a lending library, the first in Don Mills, with guides equipped by the area Literacy Modern society. She boarded instructors upstairs. This was generous since underpaid academics only could pay for to pay back very low rents. In her personal way, like her father, she was earning it attainable for people today revolutionary in North York to get a formal instruction.

Buyers of all ages referred to as her “Aggie,” alternatively than Skip Hogg, and, according to Hart’s background textual content, she spoke in a Scottish brogue, greeting kids with “Well, aye, aye, how are you the working day?” and mothers with “How are the wee ‘uns?”

Idiosyncratically, she usually wore each pairs of her eyeglasses a single on top of the other. The retail outlet experienced a bell to summon her when she was in the back again backyard.

Little ones flocked to Aggie’s for sweeties. Just a person penny was ample for quite a few caramels with vanilla cream inside of, referred to as “bull’s eyes,” or sugar sticks in several colors.

Naughty youngsters stole icing sugar from an open up box. To quit this, Aggie…