What does a 1960s grain buyer have to do with a card room? Everything, at Coral Ridges — the whole place still runs on his old habit.
The Grain Buyer
Who Was Actually Running This Office in 1962?
Who was Walter Prentice? A grain buyer working out of a small office on Cunningham Street, weighing and pricing what came in from the district's farms each week.
Why did he start the card table? Nobody wrote it down at the time — the best guess is that the buyers and sellers he dealt with all day simply had nowhere else nearby to sit down together once business was done.
What happened to Prentice himself? He kept the grain side of the business running into the 1970s and, by most accounts, dealt the odd hand of euchre himself most evenings.
1962
The first card table goes up in the back of Prentice's grain office.
1970s
Prentice steps back from grain buying; the card evenings keep going.
1990s
The current house takes over the lease and keeps the ticket window.
The House Today
So Who's Actually Behind the Counter Now?
Is anyone here related to Walter Prentice? No — the connection is the building and the habit, not the family.
What did the current owners change? Mostly the kitchen, which now runs a proper supper service; the card room, the ticket window and the two-list booking system stayed exactly as they found them.
Does the house get many questions about Prentice? Often enough that his name still gets a mention on this page, sixty years on.
No Family Link
The current owners bought the lease, not the Prentice name.
Kitchen Added
Supper service is the main change since the 1990s.
Before You Come In
Both the dining room and the card room at Coral Ridges are for adults only. Confirm you're eighteen or over to continue.
