flar
Jul 7, 2008, 1:45 AM
Original thread with comments:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=150491
Old stone buildings of central Hamilton
When thinking of stone towns in Ontario, the first that come to mind are Guelph, Kingston, or St. Mary's. Hamilton might have been
among them if it hadn't experienced explosive growth in the latter part of the nineteenth century. In her book "A Heritage of Stone",
Nina Perkins Chapple writes: "the picturesque stone town of the 1850s soon was over-trumped by the robust, High Victorian city of
the 1890s, which, in turn, was swallowed up by the expanded, modernized city of the twentieth century...Hamilton would appear at
first glance to have lost its 1850s stone heritage; closer inspection reveals a remarkable resource which, although reduced and
scattered, includes some of the most exceptional stone buildings ever built in southwestern Ontario."
In this tour, I search for the remains of this lost stone heritage. All of these buildings are located in central Hamilton, sometimes hidden
among highrise apartment buildings or in Victorian neighbourhoods.
Burlington Terrace, c. 1850s
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00176-00178.jpg
Slainte Irish Pub, Corktown
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00002.jpg
Sandyford Place, 1858. The finest stone rowhouse in Canada west of Montreal and one of only a few surviving rowhouses built for the wealthy.
It was nearly demolished for an apartment building
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00071.jpg
Whitehern, a classical revival mansion built c. 1850 and home to three generations of the McQuesten family
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00056.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00037.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00047.jpg
Inside Whitehern
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/springhammer/00114.jpg
A stone row on James Street South. Stone rows like this once lined many Hamilton streets
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00023.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00125.jpg
Commercial buildings near Gore Park
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00092.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00085.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00079a.jpg
Christ's Church Cathedral, 1835, cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Niagara.
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00022-00024.jpg
Inside Christ's Church:
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/springhammer/00186.jpg
Bay Street South Terrace, 1857
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00252.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00219.jpg
Park and Herkimer, c. 1860
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00192.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00104.jpg
MacNab Street Presbyterian Church, c. 1850s
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00036.jpg
Manse, c. 1860
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00042.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00178.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/170-172.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00166.jpg
James Street Baptist Church, 1878-82
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00079.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00160.jpg
This is Amisfield, once a stately castle on James Street South
http://www.raisethehammer.org/images/rastrick_25.jpg
Photo from Hamilton Public Library Special Collections hosted at http://www.raisethehammer.org/index.asp?id=516.
Today, Amisfield is completely surrounded:
"marred, obliterated and degraded, Rastrick's masterpiece stands in ignominy and shame."
from Victorian Architecture in Hamilton (1967) by Alexander Gordon McKay
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00130.jpg
Fearman House, 1863
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00158.jpg
Try saying "Pheasant Plucker" three times fast. This building is lonely today but at one time was surrounded by other stone buildings
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00015.jpg
Commercial on John Street South
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00151.jpg
Roach House, 1854, oringinally the home of George Roach, mayor and director of the Bank of Hamilton
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00028.jpg
Hess Village
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00122.jpg
Bishophurst, 1877, currently the home of CHCH Television
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00131.jpg
This building is being renovated into a luxury restaurant and bar with rooftop patio
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00147.jpg
St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, 1854-7, featuring 180 foot stone spire
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00077.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00019.jpg
Originally the Sun Life Assurance Building, 1899, later the upper floors were added and it became the Federal Building
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00100.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00121.jpg
Commercial warehouse, c. 1856. This building houses Coppley, Noyes and Randall, men's suit manufacturers
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00114.jpg
The Inglewood, c. 1850
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00082.jpg
Thomas Building, c. 1850s, slated for demolition. I believe the aluminum to the left covers the rest of the stone facade
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00097.jpg
Duke Street semi-detached house, c. 1840s
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00078.jpg
Ballahinich, 1853
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00073.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00017.jpg
Rock Castle, c. 1848
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00049.jpg
Hereford House, 1853
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00053.jpg
Somehow this lone house survives in a sea of commie blocks
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00259.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00044.jpg
Church of the Ascension, 1850
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00057.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00012.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00140.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00010.jpg
Central Public School, 1853, first large graded public school in British North America
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00009.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00026.jpg
The Stable houses at Dundurn Castle
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00001.jpg
Custom House, 1858, one of Canada's oldest surviving public buildings
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00006.jpg
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=150491
Old stone buildings of central Hamilton
When thinking of stone towns in Ontario, the first that come to mind are Guelph, Kingston, or St. Mary's. Hamilton might have been
among them if it hadn't experienced explosive growth in the latter part of the nineteenth century. In her book "A Heritage of Stone",
Nina Perkins Chapple writes: "the picturesque stone town of the 1850s soon was over-trumped by the robust, High Victorian city of
the 1890s, which, in turn, was swallowed up by the expanded, modernized city of the twentieth century...Hamilton would appear at
first glance to have lost its 1850s stone heritage; closer inspection reveals a remarkable resource which, although reduced and
scattered, includes some of the most exceptional stone buildings ever built in southwestern Ontario."
In this tour, I search for the remains of this lost stone heritage. All of these buildings are located in central Hamilton, sometimes hidden
among highrise apartment buildings or in Victorian neighbourhoods.
Burlington Terrace, c. 1850s
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00176-00178.jpg
Slainte Irish Pub, Corktown
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00002.jpg
Sandyford Place, 1858. The finest stone rowhouse in Canada west of Montreal and one of only a few surviving rowhouses built for the wealthy.
It was nearly demolished for an apartment building
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00071.jpg
Whitehern, a classical revival mansion built c. 1850 and home to three generations of the McQuesten family
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00056.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00037.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00047.jpg
Inside Whitehern
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/springhammer/00114.jpg
A stone row on James Street South. Stone rows like this once lined many Hamilton streets
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00023.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00125.jpg
Commercial buildings near Gore Park
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00092.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00085.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00079a.jpg
Christ's Church Cathedral, 1835, cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Niagara.
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00022-00024.jpg
Inside Christ's Church:
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/springhammer/00186.jpg
Bay Street South Terrace, 1857
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00252.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00219.jpg
Park and Herkimer, c. 1860
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00192.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00104.jpg
MacNab Street Presbyterian Church, c. 1850s
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00036.jpg
Manse, c. 1860
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00042.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00178.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/170-172.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00166.jpg
James Street Baptist Church, 1878-82
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00079.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00160.jpg
This is Amisfield, once a stately castle on James Street South
http://www.raisethehammer.org/images/rastrick_25.jpg
Photo from Hamilton Public Library Special Collections hosted at http://www.raisethehammer.org/index.asp?id=516.
Today, Amisfield is completely surrounded:
"marred, obliterated and degraded, Rastrick's masterpiece stands in ignominy and shame."
from Victorian Architecture in Hamilton (1967) by Alexander Gordon McKay
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00130.jpg
Fearman House, 1863
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00158.jpg
Try saying "Pheasant Plucker" three times fast. This building is lonely today but at one time was surrounded by other stone buildings
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00015.jpg
Commercial on John Street South
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00151.jpg
Roach House, 1854, oringinally the home of George Roach, mayor and director of the Bank of Hamilton
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00028.jpg
Hess Village
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00122.jpg
Bishophurst, 1877, currently the home of CHCH Television
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00131.jpg
This building is being renovated into a luxury restaurant and bar with rooftop patio
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00147.jpg
St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, 1854-7, featuring 180 foot stone spire
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00077.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00019.jpg
Originally the Sun Life Assurance Building, 1899, later the upper floors were added and it became the Federal Building
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00100.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00121.jpg
Commercial warehouse, c. 1856. This building houses Coppley, Noyes and Randall, men's suit manufacturers
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00114.jpg
The Inglewood, c. 1850
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00082.jpg
Thomas Building, c. 1850s, slated for demolition. I believe the aluminum to the left covers the rest of the stone facade
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00097.jpg
Duke Street semi-detached house, c. 1840s
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00078.jpg
Ballahinich, 1853
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00073.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00017.jpg
Rock Castle, c. 1848
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00049.jpg
Hereford House, 1853
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00053.jpg
Somehow this lone house survives in a sea of commie blocks
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00259.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00044.jpg
Church of the Ascension, 1850
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00057.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00012.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00140.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00010.jpg
Central Public School, 1853, first large graded public school in British North America
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00009.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00026.jpg
The Stable houses at Dundurn Castle
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00001.jpg
Custom House, 1858, one of Canada's oldest surviving public buildings
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/stonehammer/00006.jpg