I was raised on Weir St., just three blocks west of Strathearne (attended Ballard School).That was almost the city limits at the time. Then they built what were referred to as 'wartime houses' and the 'limits' moved east to the old Hamilton Airport ... yes ... the original airport was located about where Woodward Ave. School and the Woodward Fire Station are located. I believe bits of the runway are still intact in the field behind the housing developments.
From The Hamilton International Airport History Page:
"Hamilton's second airport, the Hamilton Municipal Airport, with two hard surface runways housing several commercial operations, was opened by the City of Hamilton near Red Hill Creek. By 1931, the airport was equipped for night flying. A civil aviation report from that year stated, "Hamilton Airport is owned by the City which has spent $300,000 on its development without assistance from the government… With the exception of Vancouver, no city has made a larger investment in aviation". This facility remained in operation until the transition to the already built military airfield at Mount Hope for public use occurred."
That was the original home of 'The Hamilton Aero Club' .. I recall it operating into the 50's
Barton and Strathearne was home to 'Magnovox' .. they made radio and radar parts during the war ... seem to recall they were there into the 50's, we would scavenge the junk piles for radio parts that we knew nothing off ..little diodes and transisters .. things that amazed boys .. still do I suppose.
I recall a guy across the tracks, behind where The Centre is now, had a dump of old discarded army stuff from WW2 .. helmets, belts, ammunition pouches ...we would sneak over ther and grab junk .. everyone had an army helmet or two and web belts and old army knapsacks were everywhere. I reacall that Bob Brattina had something to do with that.
We could travel all the way along the 'pipeline' to Van Wagners Beach .. we would actually fish in the ponds there .. and eat our catch .. I had a favourite spot on top of a concrete sewer outflow ... as a kid, I couldn't figure out why there were so many fish there ... like they say .."you eat a peck of dirt before ..."
The beach was a destination during the summer .. either Van Wagners or we would line up at the 'East Ham Radio' and take the bus to the canal and the amusement park.
I seem to recall that Hurrican Hazel, in '54, altered Van Wagners Beach somewhat and was the beginning of what's there now ... everything was moved down to the present location from 'the Cove'. Hutch's is the last remaining name. The one other I remember is 'Abe Sovonkin's' (sp)... he ran a restaurant down there ... played for the old Tigers and wrestled 'pro' for a while. I believe until his passing a couple of years ago, raised prize poodles .. I remember he and his daughter would put on wrestling exhibitions behind the restaurant.
Speaking of wrestling .. we had regular matches at both the 'mune' ( 'Jimmy Thompson Pool' ) and the old lacrosse stadium that sat where Scott Park Arena now stands. Big names .. Whipper Billy Watson, Yukon Eric, etc.
The baseball park .. now the soccer pitch, was home to 'The Hamilton Cardinals' .. PONY Leaque team ... Farm team of St.Louis ... a few big names of the day went through here. My grandmother and an aunt ran 'Peggy Anns Grill' .. corner of Gage and Cannon, now a Chinese Restaurant ... the ball teams .. Tigers and Cardinals , would hang out there.
My grandmother also loved the ponies ... at least once a week she'd have to go to the 'Jockey Club' and 'watch' the races. I was too young to get in so with a few other kids, we would hang around the green fence along Barton St. and watch the bookies and others ( there were several crap games going when ever the races were on ) Older version of The Flamborough Slots?
In those days, the nearest police station was at Sherman Ave, east of Barton, and the police drove black cars, and had a black paddy wagon we called 'The Black Maria' .. no siren, just a bell .. when ever the police decided that a raid of the illegal gamblers was warranted, they would come tearing down Barton St. with bells clanging, thus warning the 'neredowells' to get their boards and other ecoutrements off the street.
Very few arrests were ever made and I found out in later years that the only time they ever acted was on complaints from either the local churches or disgruntled wives.
As kids, we would hang around and pick up the loose nickels and dimes that were left behind by the fleeing gamblers ... usually accompanied by a boot in the butt from one of the coppers.
The track was gone in '52 and the Centre Mall was running in '55.
I think the building of the Centre Mall was a major turning point for 'The East End', positive and negative.
On the positive side, it provided us with Canada's first big 'shopping Centre' ( not enclosed at that time either ) and became the main shopping destination for families in the area. With the Mall, Gage Park, Ivor Wynne ( Civic Stadium ) the Municipal Pool, lots of schools and bus a street car coverage, as well as all the big industries along Burlington Street, the east end was flourishing. The exodus to the mountain was just underway at the time and realestate was quite hot between Gage and Parkdale.
On the negative side, The Centre spelled doom for Ottawa St. and Kenilworth Avenue, as well as a few other local shopping enclaves in the area.
My grandmother disliked the 'Centre' .. probably a lot to do with the loss of the racetrack as much as anything else ... until her final days, she insisted on shopping on Kenilworth or Ottawa Street. Not sure how she satisfied her gambling habit, but back then 'bookies' were a part of most neighbourhoods.
Ottawa Street is coming back to life, remains to be seen, I suppose, if Kenilworth can pull a 'Phoenix'. Perhaps the changes at 'The Centre' will help ... personally. I have my doubts.
Ottawa was blessed with some fairly substantial buildings, mostly brick, whereas Kenilworth was built, mainly, on the 'cheap'. Wood frame, ashphalt siding, no basements ...
Right now we have a handful of buildings worth noting .. Holy Family, The Fire Station, The Library and Tim Horton's ... the rest, sad to say, probably wouldn't be missed.
OK .. as my wife say's ..'enough already!'
Mack