A couple of weeks ago I posted on The Maple thread some pics of the building that used to occupy the corner of Sackville and Hollis Streets before it became the location of a parking lot for many years prior to construction of The Maple. The pics are from the Municipal Archives site and appear to have been taken in the late 1970s/early 1980s time frame. Anecdotally the building was torn down in the late 1980s/early 1990s - I don't remember for certain.
Source
Next to it was the Bank of Canada Building, which was built in the 1950s and torn down in 2013 to facilitate construction of The Maple.
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/bus...tart-with-bang
https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.64645...7i13312!8i6656
In rereading some of The Maple thread I was reminded of the Queen Hotel, which was previously located at the Bank Of Canada site until it burned down on March 2, 1939, during which 28 people died and many more were injured.
There's info posted about it on the Halifax Municipal Archives site:
https://www.halifax.ca/archives/QueenHotelFire.php.
It was a horrible tragedy which brought to light unacceptable lapses in building codes and inspections, and eventually led to changes in an attempt to avoid such senseless loss of life due to fire in the future. It also brings to light how susceptible these old buildings were to fire - one of the points that strikes me as I peruse the archives sites is how many buildings (and lives) were lost to fire back in the day and how much better our fire codes are now.
A little further research led me to the Report of the Royal Commission on the Queen Hotel Fire. It's a fairly interesting read (though sad, considering the lives lost) and gives a good idea of the situations with buildings at the time. I get the impression that the Queen Hotel (and Halifax Hotel a few doors down) were nice hotels in the 1800s and early 1900s but had become somewhat neglected and run down by the 1930s.
Report of Royal Commission on Queen Hotel Fire
Also, both the Municipal archives and the NS archives have photos online of before and after the disaster:
From 1887:
https://novascotia.ca/archives/Notma...ves.asp?ID=493
Also from 1887, looking northeast from the Halifax Hotel with the Queen Hotel in the background:
https://novascotia.ca/archives/Notma...ves.asp?ID=495
Interior shots of the Queen Hotel from the late 1800s:
https://novascotia.ca/archives/Notma...ves.asp?ID=330
https://novascotia.ca/archives/Notma...ves.asp?ID=331
https://novascotia.ca/archives/Notma...ves.asp?ID=332
https://novascotia.ca/archives/Notma...ves.asp?ID=333
A photo from a 1924 postcard set from the Municipal Archives which shows the newer section of the Queen Hotel (built around 1908, I believe).
http://gencat1.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/request/DoMenuRequest?SystemName=Halifax+Regional+Municipality+Archives&UserName=WA+Public&Password=&TemplateProcessID=6000_20185_20185&CMD_(SearchRequest)[11]=&PromptID=&ParamID=&RequesterType=SearchTemplate&browseData=1&Keyword=0&SearchLogic=%26Logic%3D%26S1%3DPOI1_1225%261POI1_1225%3D827
Post-fire photos from the Municipal Archives:
And from the NS archives:
https://novascotia.ca/archives/EastC...ives.asp?ID=37
https://novascotia.ca/archives/EastC...ives.asp?ID=38
https://novascotia.ca/archives/EastC...ives.asp?ID=39
https://novascotia.ca/archives/EastC...ives.asp?ID=40
Additionally, I found this stock footage of the post-fire conditions:
http://footage.framepool.com/en/shot...rescuing-human
http://footage.framepool.com/en/shot...rescuing-human
...and a blog about the pumper that was used to fight the fire:
http://truckfax.blogspot.ca/2014/06/...station-2.html
There are other bits of historical information online about the fire, including information on a couple of the victims:
Quote:
|
Cuthbert and Henrietta Willis, twins, born on Nov. 29, 1866, Petitcodiac, New Brunswick. Henrietta Willis and her husband Adolphus Naftel, a retired law clerk, died on March 2, 1939 in Halifax’s Queen Hotel fire. Their death certificates said they were “caught in the burning building”.
|
http://queenscountytimes.ca/A-Z/html/j__w__willis.html
A paper in Stanford California:
Quote:
Halifax Fire Takes High Death Toll
HALIFAX. N.S., March 2 (UP).— Fire fanned by a 26-mile wind destroyed the Queen Hotel and two olher buildings today, aamaged a fourth and left scores of persons dead or injured. After the flames had burned themselves out, leaving the old wooden hotel a smoldering skeleton, authorities said that 21 persons were believed dead, 25 injured and 45 missing. At least 26 were rescued.
|
http://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-...390303-01.2.10
There was even mention in an Australian newspaper:
Quote:
DEATH FÏRE ARREST
Halifax (Nova Scotia), March 4.
An hotel employee has been ar-
rested for questioning in connection
with the fire which destroyed the
Queen's Hotel, with tne loss of 21
lives.
Forty-eight people who are
thought to have been staying at the
hotel are missing.
All the occupants of the third and
fourth floor of the building were
burnt alive.
The fire 'spread into the .business
quarter of the city and did £200,000
worth of damage.
|
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/49453951
These days, I can't help but think of this tragedy whenever I look at The Maple - it brings to mind how many stories are contained within the history of our city, and how many times I've walked or driven by the site without even knowing what happened there.
Stories like these have really helped to expand my perception of the city I've lived in all these years.
