There was a short-lived Minicola grocery store in Tweed, Ontario from about 1930 to 1931. On February 27th, 1930 there was an advertisement in the Tweed News for the store: DM Minicola & Son on Victoria Street, Telephone #126. Why did they open a store in Tweed, a small town about 100 kilometers north of Peterborough? It might have something to do with the Canadian Pacific Railway that ran directly between Tweed and Peterborough.

When my 2x great grandfather Filippo Menecola first immigrated to Canada in 1883, he worked on the construction of the Ontario and Quebec railway starting in August of that year in Peterborough. The railway was soon acquired by the newly chartered Canadian Pacific Railway and amalgamated into their system. The line was completed through to Norwood by the end of November 1883, but work continued on the sections to the east in the spring of 1884. It’s possible Filippo worked on this section through Tweed. Apparently there was an encampment of Italian laborers just east of Tweed in the grove by Stoco Lake. The Belleville, Ontario newspaper had several accounts of the Italian labour gangs working on the construction of the CPR through Tweed in the spring and summer of 1884.

1884 April 30: “Again we are called upon to express our indignation at the manner the Lord’s Day is desecrated by the employees of the Ontario & Quebec R.R. in this place. The men were employed all Sunday forenoon and till about three o’clock in the afternoon loading RR ties on the cars, while people were attending divine service within a few rods, the engine whistling and blowing off to the great annoyance of worshippers. They must think that we are heathens in this place and have no regard for the commandments of God.”

July 02: “On the 1st July, the laborers on the O & Q Railway at this point struck for higher wages. They were getting $ 1.25 per day, and want $ 1.50. They are principally Italians.”

Excerpt from the 1931 Census of Canada for the town of Tweed lists Joseph Francis Minicola, my grandfather’s brother along with my grandfather Vic, his new bride Evelyn Hughes (misspelled as Eveline) and their newborn first child, Yvonne. They are listed as living on Victoria Street in Tweed.

Store closes – June, 1931 – DM Minicola visits his son in Tweed (Intelligencer – June 5th, 1931) Then shortly afterward there is an announcement in the paper on June 15th, 1931 with regards to Victor Minicola starting bankruptcy proceedings. It’s assumed the store was closed at this point or shortly afterward although brother Joe was still living in Tweed in August, 1931.

Joeseph Minicola, my grandfather’s brother, was injured in a small fire – From the Belleville Intelligencer newspaper – August, 1931. After this point the store seems to have closed and they moved back to Peterborough. More research needs to be done but it seems likely the Great Depression had taken its toll on the store and they made the difficult decision to close the business.