Great source of vintage photos at the Herald
 

Stumbled across this last night - a searchable database of the Chronicle Herald's vintage photos. Lots of good stuff here, but unfortunately watermarked as their purpose is to sell prints - which is fine as they need all the money they can get these days to keep afloat. Actually thinking about buying a few prints for the wall.

http://shop.thechronicleherald.ca/Vintage-_c_508.html

The Hart House: http://shop.thechronicleherald.ca/Vintage-Reprint-of-Historic-Home_p_5202.html

I remember walking by early in the morning and it was there, I went about 12 hours later and it had been flattened. Great old building. Looking at that corner now I have to wonder why they could not have built around it since it's all grass on that corner. Maybe the parking is below? Quite the shame.

This is actually a treasure trove of images that have not been widely seen in recent years. Unfortunately they are crippled by a rather clunky interface, previews that are mostly too small, and far too intrusive a watermark process that limits their usefulness. The Herald has every right to try to monetize their photo library; I just wish they had done a better job of it. At some point these need to be more readily available as they are a tremendous resource. Some examples:

We had been discussing the Pacific Building in another discussion recently. I did not know that it was, prior to being the offices of Canadian Pacific, the former YMCA. Here is a picture and caption:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll229/keith_p/pacific_zpsf58a990c.jpg


We were also discussing the hazardous pedestrian crossing by the Morses Tea building and Historic Properties on Water St. Here is what it looked like originally:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll229/keith_p/morses_zpsf971167c.jpg


I found this pic interesting: Supposedly North St heading down to the MacDonald Bridge. Can't quite pinpoint the spot. Looks positively classy:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll229/keith_p/north_st_zps778449f2.jpg


Did you ever see the addition to the Westin Hotel (then the Nova Scotian) under construction? Here it is:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll229/keith_p/nshotel_zps276a5961.jpg


Here is a remarkable image I have never seen before, the part of Brunswick north of Jacob St where I guess Scotia Square's apartment blocks now are:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll229/keith_p/brunswick_zps3d991c1b.jpg


I have railed on for years about the desolate block on Barrington where the former NFB building facade has been an eyesore for decades. It was formerly the Family Theater - then as now, nothing remarkable to look at. Here it is at two different stages in its history - the first is the earliest, with the theater on the right side:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll229/keith_p/attica_zps9c2e3a54.jpg

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll229/keith_p/family_zps067115f2.jpg


There are a number of photos of the construction of the Citadel Inn, recently replaced:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll229/keith_p/citadel_zpse81f2331.jpg


If the caption below is accurate and not a typo, this is the first time I have heard the Citadel Inn was not the planned name originally:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll229/keith_p/citadel3_zps9820cbb1.jpg

And finally, the early finished product:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll229/keith_p/citadel2_zps47327eaa.jpg


Speaking of hotels, here is a pic of the Holiday Inn (now Atlantica) under construction:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll229/keith_p/atlantica_zps1dcf9de4.jpg


A decade or two earlier, did you know this was on the site of the office tower and parkade across the street at the Willow Tree? An interesting-looking structure:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll229/keith_p/willowtree_zpse8b30145.jpg


The Ralston Building has always been on Hollis St as long as I remember, but here is the site prior to construction and a pic of the construction itself:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll229/keith_p/halifaxhotel_zpsd1ec1bbb.jpg

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll229/keith_p/ralston2_zps82e3bcf5.jpg


An interesting shot of Cogswell Tower under construction:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll229/keith_p/cogswell_zps341470d1.jpg

It is an excellent photo history not only of Halifax but much of the province, since the Herald has always been a provincial paper. What a shame it is not more readily viewable.

I agree that it is a clunky site; how did you locate all that so quickly?

I had the site display all the photo thumbnails at once and just scrolled through. Most I skipped by, but these ones and a few others jumped out. It (and the captions) would really be a huge asset if properly handled. I imagine this is just scratching the surface of what they actually have.

Nice finds, Keith.

I agree with your comments about the site. In a perfect world I would love them to set this up as a public resource like the many public archives sites on the net, with the ability to view high-resolution images without the obtrusive watermarks.

That said, given the decline of print media in general and that the Herald just laid off a bunch more staff, I'm guessing this is one of the few potential sources of value that they have and probably can't afford to give it away.

Kind of a shame, really, as you mentioned this is likely just a drop in the bucket when one considers the many photos that would have been taken each day over the years, with only a percentage that actually made it to the paper.

I agree also that the captions are a valuable addition to the photos, giving a level of context at a much higher level than most online sources of historical photos. For example, this is a weakness of the NS archives site.

I do worry what might happen should the paper go belly-up some day. Those photos, IMHO, are a valuable historical resource and should become part of the public domain should the paper ever disappear. Hopefully they won't go out in the garbage at some time in the distant future.

I had to post this one:

http://i57.tinypic.com/2rmbltk.jpg

First pic I've seen of it all lit up at night. Just vague memories from when I was a kid.

I might just have to buy a print of this one... amazing stuff there!

And that's the 'rear' entrance? I think.

Was there another entrance while it was only Simpson's (before the Sears store was built on the upper parking lot)?

I only remember entering the store at the bottom level, around where the Sears bargain basement is now.

I do remember the elevators with a dial showing which floor it was on rather than the digital readout that was more common at the time that I saw it. Also, the orders and other paperwork being sent from floor to floor in those big vacuum tubes - that was a sight to behold for anybody who has never seen it.

That is Simpson's front entry. The circular drive where the tramcar can be seen was in front of the main doors.

I was thinking that the old farts on the forum would remember that the side facing the NW Arm was the 'front/main' entrance which later become more of a parking lot/rear entrance.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/archive/index.php/t-188640.html
includes a lengthy 'memory dump' from Keith.

To me it looks like the corner of North and Maynard.

Thanks for the reminder. I read that thread and even participated in it.

Never any traffic lights at that corner.

It is either North and Agricola, or North and Gottingen, looking towards the harbor.

Oh. I was going by the similarities of the house on the left and the Sunrise Cafe on the right, as well as the proximity of the bridge.

If it's one of the other streets, neither of those buildings still exist. Pretty sure it's not North and Agricola, though as the building on the left is definitely not the Gus' Pub building, which would have been around in 1959.

Doesn't look like North and Gottingen either, as shown in these pics:

http://shop.thechronicleherald.ca/Vintage-Reprint-of-North-Street-Cross-Roads_p_4424.html

http://shop.thechronicleherald.ca/Vintage-Reprint-of-1962-North-Street-approach_p_4423.html

If it's North and Creighton then the Cafe must have been torn down by 1962 (second pic).

Here's the thread with pics still included:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=188640

No, I think it is North and Gottingen. the second pic showing the traffic problems shows that the current system of lanes was not there in '62 and I think the corner we are talking about is just in "back" of that picture's view.

Hmmm... you may be right. I'll have to see if I can find more pics... :cool:

It's North and Gottingen.

1) There appears to be overhead tram lines heading along both streets. Following the construction of the MacDonald Bridge trolley lines were extended from Gottingen down North and across the bridge to the Bridge Terminal. This was part of "Route 11" (predecessor to Route 1).

2) I walk this area everyday and the distance to where the bridge starts is the same as Gottingen now. Also the land flattens out so the foot of the bridge is actually not visible from Maynard.

3) Stoplights have only ever been placed at Gottingen and Agricola Street.