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Tom Monto

The Pollards - Gold-rushers, Brickmakers and a Racehorse Jockey (Millwoods Mosaic)

Anyone wonder where the name Pollard Meadows comes from? Did you know the history of that name involves the famous racehorse Seabiscuit and the 1915 flood that wiped out the river valley community of Walterdale? You see, the Mill Woods neighbourhood of Pollard Meadows is named after Frank Pollard, an important man in Old Strathcona in the - well - in the old days. He was owner of a large brickyard right under the High Level Bridge and a member of the Strathcona city council back when Strathcona was a separate city from Edmonton. His life had successes and disappointments, and when we see the name Pollard Meadows, we must recall that each life has its ups and downs. He was born in 1872 in Iowa and his arrival was soon followed by that of a younger brother, John “Jack”. The two spent most of their lives together. When gold was found in the Klondike (today’s Yukon Territory), they got gold fever and side by side they hit the trail in 1898. They hoped to get to the Klondike overland through the northern bush. That was a hard road, and few who tried it succeeded. Perhaps it was just as well that Frank and Jack would be diverted from their original purpose. They got as far as Strathcona, which at the time had the northernmost railway station in Canada, and there they fell into conversation with a man with a business proposition. He knew how to make clay, and he knew that clay was available in the ground in Edmonton's river valley, and he knew any bricks made would sell. He just didn't have the money to make it happen. Frank and Jack saw their chance and put their money into the venture. He trained them up, and then Frank and Jack bought him out, taking a chance on running the business themselves. Back in 1898, Alberta was still part of the North-West Territories. It did not become a province until seven years later. And Edmonton was a town on the northside of the river and what is now Old Strathcona was a very young settlement - without a municipal government - on the south side of the river. A year after the Pollards' arrival, the Town of Strathcona was organized. The Pollards started their brickyard at a good time to start any business related to construction. Construction was booming and there was great demand for bricks. The Pollards Bros. brickyard made and sold them by the thousands. Corbett Hall at 82nd Avenue and 112th Street, the Strathcona Library and the historic Rutherford House on the UofA campus were all built of Pollard bricks. When the bricks were baked, some bricks came out dis-coloured or malformed. The Holy Trinity Church group was short of money and bought many of these "clinker" bricks for cheap from the Pollards. Their church on 101st Street at 84th Avenue still stands, and its clinker brick construction is a talking point for passers-by. The brickyard boomed, and the Pollards settled down in the young community. The brickyard was at the west end of today's Kinsmen Park. Next to it was a tannery where animal hides were made into leather. Frank married Annie Bedard, the daughter of the owner of the tannery in 1901. The couple eventually had eight children. Jack married also and they had six children. Their second son John was nicknamed Red, and he leads us to the Seabiscuit story. More on that later. Business was good, and both Jack and Frank eventually built large houses for themselves - out of brick of course. Frank’s family's house was down at the brickyard, west of today's Queen Elizabeth swimming pool. Jack’s family's house was just off 82nd Avenue near 110 Street. The High Level Bridge was built high above the brickyard, and the Pollards sold some of their land for the bridge footings. Business was good until it wasn't. and when it wasn't, it sure wasn't. The bottom dropped out of the economy about 1912. The big construction projects finished up, and British capital dried up - it stayed home to prepare for what looked like a coming war. When the war did break out in 1914, it stopped immigration and Edmonton's economy slumped further. Then in the first summer of the war, the North Saskatchewan River flooded. Hard as it is to believe, the river rose to the level of the deck on the Low Level Bridge and overflowed into the river valley communities. The brickyard suffered terrible damage. Without money coming in, Frank volunteered for the war. Almost 50 years old, he was too old to be a soldier so served as a stretcher-bearer. He served in the battle of Passchendaele and other fighting. He left his family in the care of his brother Jack. Food was in short supply with 15 children to feed, and Jack's son "Red" grew up small. Weighing only 115 lbs, he was suited to ride racehorses, getting his start at the Strathcona racecourse, on the site of today’s Strathcona Composite High School. He excelled at this and literally learned the trade in the "school of hard knocks." Thrown from a horse, he shattered a leg but healed and eventually got back in the saddle. In 1936, he was partnered with the incredible racehorse Seabiscuit. And over the next four years, the two won many of the most important races in the U.S. The story is the stuff of legend, and the 2003 film Seabiscuit tells the story. Toby Maguire played the part of Red Pollard and he lost 10 kilos to fit the role. Meanwhile, Frank did survive WWI but his lungs were damaged by poison gas, one of the inhumane weapons used in the war. After the war, he and Jack tried to get the brickyard going again, but they couldn't find the funds to pay off the city taxes owing. Frank never did recover totally from his war injuries and died in 1926. Jack lived into the 1950s and at one time operated the Princess Theatre on Whyte Avenue. And that is the story of the Pollards brothers - Frank and Jack - and "Red" Pollard. Now when you see the name Pollard Meadows, you'll know the full story!


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(originally pubished in Millwoods Mosaic August 2022)


somewhat gray photo of Frank in book Bricks of Alberta.

There is famous photo of Low Level Bridge during the 1915 flood


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