Hamilton History Research

[astroblaster]

I've become obsessed with local history... I am hoping this forum would be an appropriate place to throw some questions out there.

I've hit up Special Collections and few times, and purchased/borrowed a bunch of books. Right now me and my friend Paul (the guy who did historicalhamilton.com) are getting a bit nuts and we're trying to pinpoint the location of all sorts of historical sites that we've heard about. We're going to share whatever we find on his site. I've also made a new template for the website, so it's going to look pretty spiffy soon.

So... firstly, is this the best forum for me to ask questions about the stuff I'm looking into? Are there any forums that are specifically for this type of discussion that I haven't been able to find?

And secondly, the reason I started this thread today was to ask for advice about an idea thats been stuck in my head for a few months. I want to make a map documenting the average construction dates for various residential areas in Hamilton (and surrounding areas). Any tips on how to go about this? I'll probably be in Special Collections again soon, trying to dig up info on the topic, but in the meantime, I didn't think it would hurt to solicit advice from the SSP community.

Also, any other tips about researching local history would be welcome.. I've been reading about it on my own for a while, but I haven't really gotten into the local history community that exists (local history organizations etc.)

thanks

[flar]

That sounds like a great project. I would be interested in seeing it if you do it.

You could start with "Housing the north American City" by Michael Doucet and John Weaver. It uses Hamilton as a case study and has a wealth of info about when neighbourhoods were built and what types of houses were built there. You could follow their lead for more sources. There are numerous other academic works on Hamilton, mainly in academic journals. In fact, in Canadian social history, Hamilton is the Cnadian equivalent of Philadelphia in American social history: there are more studies of Hamilton than any other city in Canada. I don't have the references on hand but I've read some great journal articles about Westdale.

[highwater]

Another good resource is the Hamilton Branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario:

http://www.architecturehamilton.com/acoMain.html

In addition to walking tours, I know they publish articles and essays, which I couldn't find links to on their website, but there is contact info at least.

I'm sure Rob Hamilton and Ken Coit can point you in the right direction.

Another resource might be Built Heritage News:

http://www.builtheritagenews.ca/

It's Ontario-wide, but Catherine Nasmith used to be with Hamilton's Heritage Planning department, so she's particulary knowledgeable about Hamilton.

Congrats on a great project! I'm looking forward to seeing some of the fruits of your labours.

[FairHamilton]

I want to make a map documenting the average construction dates for various residential areas in Hamilton (and surrounding areas). Any tips on how to go about this?

What format are you planning to use for the map? Might I suggest using Google Earths .kmz files. You can make a very interactive map using that technology and I always like using new technology to document historical items.

If you have any questions on how to create the Google Earth file let me know.

[astroblaster]

i was thinking of trying to do something with the google maps api..

i'm more worried about finding the data for now.. once the ball gets rolling on that i'll contact you regarding the mapping presentation. i have a few ideas but i havent tested anything and don't know if the google maps will be able to do what i want to do with it.

[FairHamilton]

Take a look at this use of Google Earth: http://www.underwatercouncil.com/?action=cms&cmspage=dive-ontario

If you have Google Earth installed, click on the "OUC Shipwreck Directory" button in the right hand column.

[astroblaster]

oh. and thanks to everyone who's posted so far.. this is some really useful info and encouragement is always great

i am really excited and i want to get that "Housing the North American City" book asap... but i dont think ill be able to make it to central before 6 tonight.

[astroblaster]

Take a look at this use of Google Earth: http://www.underwatercouncil.com/?action=cms&cmspage=dive-ontario

If you have Google Earth installed, click on the "OUC Shipwreck Directory" button in the right hand column.

i don't have it installed at work, but ill check this out at home, thanks

[highwater]

Here's the book:

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/usedbooks/getSearchResults?isbn=9780773508255

I had a borrowed copy from a friend, but I think I'm going to order a copy for myself.

[Boomtown_Hamilton]

I've become obsessed with local history... I am hoping this forum would be an appropriate place to throw some questions out there.

I've hit up Special Collections and few times, and purchased/borrowed a bunch of books. Right now me and my friend Paul (the guy who did historicalhamilton.com) are getting a bit nuts and we're trying to pinpoint the location of all sorts of historical sites that we've heard about. We're going to share whatever we find on his site. I've also made a new template for the website, so it's going to look pretty spiffy soon.

So... firstly, is this the best forum for me to ask questions about the stuff I'm looking into? Are there any forums that are specifically for this type of discussion that I haven't been able to find?

And secondly, the reason I started this thread today was to ask for advice about an idea thats been stuck in my head for a few months. I want to make a map documenting the average construction dates for various residential areas in Hamilton (and surrounding areas). Any tips on how to go about this? I'll probably be in Special Collections again soon, trying to dig up info on the topic, but in the meantime, I didn't think it would hurt to solicit advice from the SSP community.

Also, any other tips about researching local history would be welcome.. I've been reading about it on my own for a while, but I haven't really gotten into the local history community that exists (local history organizations etc.)

thanks

Sounds like an exciting project. I recently did a lot of work on Hamilton and the history of it over on wikipedia.org

I'm proud of my work over there which helped Hamilton article become the featured article on February 29th of this year. This gave great exposure for the city as wikipedia gets something like 300-million pages hits daily.

Got started on some street articles over there as well. Check out my user page over here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Nhl4hamilton

There's a good set of books I own that the Hamilton Public Library also has called, "The Dictionary of Hamilton Biography." I have the first 3-volumes of it and there's a 4th book in the set I don't have but they do have at the Library. In it you will get all the Biographies of all the movers-and-shakers from Hamilton's past. The neat thing about these Bios is that they also list the actual addresses, street names and house numbers that these great men and women from our past lived at and with some they even go on to add what business they had and where they had it plus if they worked at a factory in town it even states where that factory is or use to be. In the beginning everything basically started off in the core King & James and branched out from there.

Are you also including Dundas here of Hamilton city?

One more point. I did my best to cite all my sources from the work I did on wikipedia. If you go to the bottom of all the Hamilton-related articles there you will find a list of web sites and books that I used for source materials. Take down the names of all those books and the URLs of those web sites and that should help you a great deal.

[astroblaster]

i don't have it installed at work, but ill check this out at home, thanks

checking this out right now.. very cool. we are working on doing something similar with the google maps api so it is more easily accessible.

[astroblaster]

Sounds like an exciting project. I recently did a lot of work on Hamilton and the history of it over on wikipedia.org

I'm proud of my work over there which helped Hamilton article become the featured article on February 29th of this year. This gave great exposure for the city as wikipedia gets something like 300-million pages hits daily.

Got started on some street articles over there as well. Check out my user page over here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Nhl4hamilton



Your articles on Wikipedia are very impressive. I read through them a while back when I first started getting into the Local history. Great work.


Are you also including Dundas here of Hamilton city?


I want to include all communities within our current borders.

[Boomtown_Hamilton]

Your articles on Wikipedia are very impressive. I read through them a while back when I first started getting into the Local history. Great work.



I want to include all communities within our current borders.

Thanks for the kinds words. Keep us posted with the developements of your exciting project.:cheers:

[DC83]

Boomtown, you're my hero. I LOVE the Street articles. I found them a couple months ago and spent many hours at work reading them... err, I mean working hard.

Astro, I find the best way to find out anything is to ask ask ask your lil heart out.
I'm also a huge Hamilton History nerd and own several books on the subject as well. I just like going to the Special Collections section of the HPL as well as local museums and asking everybody about everything.

We need a Museum of Hamilton in this city... hell, even Grimsby has their own!

[Boomtown_Hamilton]

Boomtown, you're my hero. I LOVE the Street articles. I found them a couple months ago and spent many hours at work reading them... err, I mean working hard.

Astro, I find the best way to find out anything is to ask ask ask your lil heart out.
I'm also a huge Hamilton History nerd and own several books on the subject as well. I just like going to the Special Collections section of the HPL as well as local museums and asking everybody about everything.

We need a Museum of Hamilton in this city... hell, even Grimsby has their own!

Hey now thanks for the compliments. Yes, we need a museum.

There's is a great spot in town on James Street North called Hamilton HIStory + HERitage. Graham Crawford is the man who opened it up few months ago. This is also a must see place on your list if you plan on doing some Hamilton History research & work. He too has a great collection of books that you can flip through for your research and awsome videos.:notacrook:

http://www.historyandheritage.ca/

[highwater]

We need a Museum of Hamilton in this city... hell, even Grimsby has their own!

Agreed. Bratina suggested this as a use for the Lister. Since the Lister is to be offices, a street level museum would be a great way for the Lister to enliven the street. Here's hoping.

[Boomtown_Hamilton]

Agreed. Bratina suggested this as a use for the Lister. Since the Lister is to be offices, a street level museum would be a great way for the Lister to enliven the street. Here's hoping.

If you wait for the Lister to become available for use as a museum you may have to wait for an eternity. I suggest they choose some other location.

[SteelTown]

Treble Hall

[Boomtown_Hamilton]

Treble Hall

There you go. That's a great spot. Right downtown too.

[astroblaster]

we've updated our historical photo site - http://historicalhamilton.com/

let me know what you think.

there are still a bunch of minor problems we have to work out.. but it's getting there. looks best in firefox at the moment.

im very open to comments, criticisms, suggestions & reports of errors or other weird bugs...

[DC83]

Great site! I've already showed a bunch of ppl at the office! hahaha
Thanks!

[astroblaster]

thanks DC. thanks for spreading the word

[astroblaster]

That sounds like a great project. I would be interested in seeing it if you do it.

You could start with "Housing the north American City" by Michael Doucet and John Weaver. It uses Hamilton as a case study and has a wealth of info about when neighbourhoods were built and what types of houses were built there. ...

i finally got this book out from the library. looks promising

[Boomtown_Hamilton]

i finally got this book out from the library. looks promising

You may also want to try and pick-up a 4-volume set of books titled, "Dictionary of Hamilton Biography" in it you will find bios of all the movers-and-shakers from Hamilton's past and included in their bios are their home addresses, where they use to live, and what buildings, if any, they owned or built in town.

[astroblaster]

You may also want to try and pick-up a 4-volume set of books titled, "Dictionary of Hamilton Biography" in it you will find bios of all the movers-and-shakers from Hamilton's past and included in their bios are their home addresses, where they use to live, and what buildings, if any, they owned or built in town.

yup, i've been thinking about ordering those (at least the first 2 volumes to begin with)

i didn't know that they included information about buildings as well. i will check these out at the library in the near future.

thanks!

[astroblaster]

I went to the library yesterday afternoon,

I got the first volume of the DHB.. so far it's great.

I also picked up john c weaver's Hamilton: An Illustrated History. I've been wanting to check out this out since i read through Housing the North American City. it's also really good.

I am currently reading Marjorie Freeman Campbell's A Mountain and a City, which I bought a few weeks ago. I find this book has some really good descriptions of the early landscape, alot of specific references to where early buildings were located.

I love all of these books.

[flar]

I saw Heritage Treasures by Susan Evans Shaw for 40% off at the Coles in Dundas. It has writeups and interior and exterior photos of quite a few notable historic homes in Greater Hamilton.

[Boomtown_Hamilton]

I went to the library yesterday afternoon,

I got the first volume of the DHB.. so far it's great.

I also picked up john c weaver's Hamilton: An Illustrated History. I've been wanting to check out this out since i read through Housing the North American City. it's also really good.

I am currently reading Marjorie Freeman Campbell's A Mountain and a City, which I bought a few weeks ago. I find this book has some really good descriptions of the early landscape, alot of specific references to where early buildings were located.

I love all of these books.

I bought DHB a few years back when they only had 3 volumes. I still need to pick-up the 4th one, they have a copy of that one at the Hamilton Public Library, 3rd floor history department. I heard there was a 5th volume of it currently in the works but don't quote me on that one. Great thing about these bios is they list they exact address, street name and house number, that the individual lived in here in Hamilton.

[astroblaster]

Hey everyone,

We're still working on our site, historicalhamilton.com

We are currently trying to revamp the whole thing.. lots of behind the scenes work for now.

If anyone has any pictures of local historic buildings, we'd love to include them on the site.

We will provide credit for each photo, including your name and, if you want, a link to your website, portfolio, profile etc.

Please PM me, or email us: info (at) historicalhamilton.com

[realcity]

Contact Richard Harris at McMaster.
http://www.raisethehammer.org/index.asp?id=169

I do know that a large section of the East Mountain (between Gage and Ottawa, Fennell and just south of Mohawk) was built by a company called "Sunshine Homes" you can still see their sign from their head office in the second floor of the plaza on the southwest corner of Fennell and U Ottawa. The white plaza with 1up Games (formerly housed the Sherwood Library branch). They built that plaza too.

[astroblaster]

i was wondering if anyone knows anything about the Chedoke Estate west of Garth at the escarpment.
I know its associated with James Balfour (and it's off of Balfour St.).
Did he design it, or was this his residence?

It looks like there was a laneway from Garth. There is an old stone house beside the laneway, and a stone wall along Garth. I assume this house was the gatehouse for the larger Chedoke estate.

Any insights?

[Atticus]

I believe the Balfour family still owns the property.I am not sure who designed the house.The home remains occupied by an elderly women who is the only remaining Balfour on the site.Upon her passing, the family have agreed to donate the property to the City as parkland. The City has not yet determined what will become of the home on the property. City parks dept. should be able to provide additional information.

[Atticus]

I believe the Balfour family still owns the property with the large home on it.I am not sure who designed the house.The home remains occupied by an elderly women who is the only remaining Balfour on the site.Upon her passing, the family have agreed to donate the property to the City as parkland. The City has not yet determined what will become of the home on the property. City parks dept. should be able to provide additional information. I think that the Gatehouse was sold off years ago.

[astroblaster]

thanks for the info!

[bigguy1231]

If the property you are talking about is the same one I think it is, it was once the Southam Estate. As in Southam Newspapers. That house is still there, although obscurred by the newly built fence.

[astroblaster]

we might be talking about different ones, are you refering to the one right at the top of the dundurn/garth stairs, yellow?

if so, thats not the same building, but thank you for identifying that one, I was curious about this one as well

the one I'm talking about is accessed from Balfour Dr. and is not directly adjacent to garth.

[bigguy1231]

we might be talking about different ones, are you refering to the one right at the top of the dundurn/garth stairs, yellow?

if so, thats not the same building, but thank you for identifying that one, I was curious about this one as well

the one I'm talking about is accessed from Balfour Dr. and is not directly adjacent to garth.

Yes, the yellow one was the one I was refering to. That was the Southam Estate.

I never realized the other estate existed. I'll have to walk the area one day.

[Atticus]

The Southams and the Balfours were related by marriage. Former Spec Publisher St. Clair Balfour, who died in 2002, was married to Ethel Southam, a daughter of William Southam,who was the founder of the Hamilton Spectator and Southam News.

[astroblaster]

apparently there was a church on the corner of main and dundurn, where the taco bell is now. it housed quite a few notorious musical performances at one point.

does anyone know what this church was called, or have any other information or recollections?

thanks

[bigguy1231]

apparently there was a church on the corner of main and dundurn, where the taco bell is now. it housed quite a few notorious musical performances at one point.

does anyone know what this church was called, or have any other information or recollections?

thanks

I used to live just down the street from there. I think it was a German language church originally. Possibly Lutherin. After that there were many different denominations. I am not sure of the original name, but I think it may have been St Rudolphs or St. Ruperts or something like that.