Thomas Marks & Co./Marks, Mackay & Co.
Thomas Marks was early Port Arthur's leading citizen -- its premiere merchant and politician, the leader of a family compact of powerful men who dominated the community. This is his store, "the leading wholesale and retail provision, grocery, hardware, and crockery business in the city," according to an 1883 account. At a time when most merchants operated small, one-room stores, Marks carried a staple stock of over $100,000, employed 12, and sold $250,000 per annum. Marks and his followers, mostly Conservatives, dominated politics in the new town in the same way his store dominated the town's main street.
It was from the open door on the second floor of this building that George H. Macdonell, victorious Conservative candidate in the 1893 federal election, made an impassioned speech in front of a cheering and partisan multitude. He ended by challenging his Liberal opponent to a fist fight in the street.
