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  #1101  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2021, 1:37 AM
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I found this picture of some road construction in Edmonton and it gave me Deja Vu, it looks like an alternate reality King St. W, just before MacNab.



that tower in the background looks like First Place, too.



This got me thinking. It wouldn't be impossible to salvage Jackson Square's streetscape from the mess it's in. Imagine something like Brookfield Place. A shopping mall with seemingly separate facades at the sidewalk, not unlike the buildings that used to be at this point in the street 60 years ago. Am I crazy? Probably. If nothing else, this street will automatically improve with the LRT, and having lane capacity halved will in turn lend itself to a better streetscape by itself.
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Last edited by ShavedParmesanCheese; Feb 3, 2021 at 3:39 PM.
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  #1102  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2021, 1:22 AM
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Dr Awesomesauce Dr Awesomesauce is offline
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^It could be better, a bit better.

But I do think there are limits to how friendly and attractive that stretch of road could be made. It's a wind tunnel and it's very dark. I think the best we could hope for is that the buildings get tarted up but making it a vibrant people-friendly spot is very unlikely.
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  #1103  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2021, 1:26 AM
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^My fantasy has always been to raze the mall, plow a couple of the streets through as they once were - Market and MacNab perhaps - and create a new Market Square. If money were no object, that's what I'd like to see.
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  #1104  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2021, 2:18 AM
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...on the right in the Edmonton picture is the Edmonton City Centre (former Edmonton Eaton Centre) -- specifically that's the Hudson's Bay store (former Eaton's) - built 1980s - currently in the process of closing. HB was founded in Edmonton -- as recently as the early 90s had 3 major downtown department stores -- Hudsons Bay, Woodward's and Eaton's
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  #1105  
Old Posted May 23, 2021, 10:22 PM
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Some nice ones from a Spec "175" story about the Pigott Building.
https://www.thespec.com/life/local-h...kyscraper.html

1928:


Postcard from the same era:


Some of the accompanying text... I never knew about this:
Quote:
His name was Willie Thompson and he is remembered for having worked as the elevator operator at the Pigott Building. Willie started at the Pigott in 1946, making a name for himself as the kindly fellow with gold-trimmed green jacket with matching pants who piloted people up and down the 18 floors of the building.

In its heyday, the Pigott was filled with doctors, lawyers, architects and other office workers, and Willy was a busy man moving them all from floor to floor. In the bad times — the 1980s in particular, when the building was derelict and vacant — the elevator was turned off and he lived in the basement.

He was quoted in The Spectator in 1994: “Some people think I’m daft. But I am a happy, contented man. I’m actually quite proud of myself.”

He told Hamilton Magazine in the early 1980s he didn’t mind living in the big building all by himself. “Now, you know, when you’re here late at night and there’s no one else about, you hear all sorts of funny things. You think there’s someone behind you, or someone on the staircase. Oooooo, it’s a spooky sort of place, this is, at night. Like a graveyard.

“Now, one night I was in the elevator at about 11 o’clock. Just me alone, and all of a sudden I hear this voice coming up the elevator shaft and it says, ‘Wait for me, Willie, I’ll be there in a minute.’ And you know, it was the voice of a man who had died in the building a year before.”

According to local historian Margaret Houghton, “Willie vowed that he would stay in the Pigott building forever, even after he died.”

Haunted Hamilton’s Stephanie Cumerlato says Willie may have succeeded in his wish after dying about a decade ago. “People who live in the building often tell us that they are all too familiar with Willie. He has been spotted walking through the halls, perhaps still residing at the place he loves.”
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  #1106  
Old Posted May 16, 2022, 5:16 PM
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Cemetery

I was under the impression that this area was a mass grave of people that died coming to Hamilton via ship and Cholera. When you look at the one picture just north of the sunken gardens the grounds just steep towards the Bay once you leave what is now York Blvd.

What happened to these graves? You go to the area now and there is a small 4-5' berm down from York Blvd but the ground is now level to the grave of the unknown soldier?

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Originally Posted by Ahatmose View Post
Can't believe how much they had to fill in.






It still looks like the City is looking after the area as the area appears to be getting the grass cut. Who know with the work they are doing on Gage Park they might just decide to reopen this great feature for the entrance to Hamilton one day.

I am certain that little white dot in the middle of the large green area is the grave of the unknown soldiers of 1812.



cheers
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  #1107  
Old Posted May 16, 2022, 6:08 PM
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When they built the 403 they had to do a lot of landscaping here, so the bodies had to be moved. Apperently it caused quite a stir then. The bodies were supposed to have been re-interred at the municipal cemetery, but the details are foggy. Staff are unsure where that was, if they were even interred there at all.

This isnt the only mass grave along York actually, when it was expanded from a street to a boulevard, more bodies were discovered during the demolitions. Records for all of these are difficult to come by, especially considering that when the last one came through in the 1850s, the city had barely been incorporated as such for 10 years.

It's a pity the sunken gardens have been neglected for so long. All the formal gardens in the city have been, really. But, at least they haven't let this area become completely overgrown, it still has potential to be a great entrance to the city. In fact, even in it's current state this site is still seeing use, its a popular vantage point for Canada Day fireworks over the harbour.
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  #1108  
Old Posted May 16, 2022, 6:14 PM
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Beautiful Building

Back in the 1980's we did electrical work in that building and on the west side of the building there is a vehicle entrance that curves up to the second floor. Always thought that would be a cool studio apt and that I could ride my motorcycle into my living room - LOL

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Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce View Post
I heard somewhere that the original Crappy Tire was housed in this building on Main E. Does anybody know whether or not that might be true?
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  #1109  
Old Posted May 17, 2022, 3:15 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 410001661 View Post
Back in the 1980's we did electrical work in that building and on the west side of the building there is a vehicle entrance that curves up to the second floor. Always thought that would be a cool studio apt and that I could ride my motorcycle into my living room - LOL
I remember the old Hamilton Motor Products building at Main and Bay had a similar design, a big ramp for moving cars inside the building and up to the roof. I had never seen something like that anywhere else before.
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  #1110  
Old Posted Sep 20, 2022, 5:22 PM
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Here are some old photos and images from postcards.


Catch a glimpse of Hamilton’s bygone days at this weekend’s antique postcard show
Postcards from the past — this Sunday around 750,000 vintage postcards will be on display at the 35th Annual Antique Picture Post Card Show on Hamilton Mountain


By Mark McNeil
The Hamilton Spectator
Tue., Sept. 20, 2022

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...card-show.html
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%...card-show.html

...

This Sunday an estimated 750,000 vintage postcards will be available for viewing and buying at the 35th Annual Antique Picture Post Card Show at the parish hall of the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Resurrection on Upper Wentworth Street.

And thousands of them will feature scenes from Hamilton. They’ll be front and centre because in this city they’re the ones that buyers are most interested in.

Jon Soyka, president of the Golden Horseshoe Post Card Club that is hosting the event, says there will be about 25 dealer tables and he expects more than 200 people to attend. It will be the 35th show since the club began in 1985. The event has taken place annually, except in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID.

...

Soyka — who has been president of the club for more than 15 years and has published a couple of coffee table books about Hamilton postcards — has a personal collection of 75,000 cards with 3,000 featuring Hamilton.

...





Postcard image of the Hamilton and Barton Incline Railway at the foot of James Street from the turn of the century. The incline opened in 1892 and lasted until the 1930s.



Postcard image of the "Human Fly" climbing the side of the Bank of Hamilton building at King and James streets in 1918.



Postcard from the early 1900s promotes iconic locations in Hamilton.



Gore Park fountain in "real photo postcard" from the early 1900s.



Postcard shows reservoir and James Street incline in turn of the century image shot from the edge of the escarpment.
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  #1111  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2022, 6:28 PM
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Does anyone have some old pics of Augusta Street?
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  #1112  
Old Posted Oct 18, 2022, 3:16 PM
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Dundas, in the Spec


Dundas history comes alive in glass negative photo show
The images almost transport you back through time


Mark McNeil
The Hamilton Spectator
Tue., Oct. 18, 2022

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...hoto-show.html


They say every picture tells a story, but sometimes a photo can tell multiple stories if it is wide-angled and clear enough.

So is the case with a fascinating new exhibit of historic Dundas scenes from glass negatives at the Dundas Museum and Archives.

The negatives from the 1850s to the 1930s are sometimes badly scratched and damaged but they still pass on an astounding amount of detail in the displayed poster prints. Not only is the clarity and sharpness remarkable, but the images tend to have a wide depth of field showing interesting scenery and people outside the main focus. The images almost transport you back through time.

...

The show is part of the ongoing 175th anniversary of the incorporation of Dundas as a town, which includes many other events this year.

...

Deep Focus Dundas - Glass Negative Photography

WHAT: An exhibit at the Dundas Museum and Archives

WHERE: 139 Park St. W., Dundas

WHEN: Until Jan. 14, 2023

COST: Free admission

MORE INFO: dundasmuseum.ca
https://dundasmuseum.ca/exhibitions/current/



Desjardins Canal basin, 1896:




Agricultural fair at the Dundas Driving Park, 1892:




King Street looking east from Sydenham Road, 1856 (oldest known photo that is part of the show):




Newsies on King St. with their stern bosses, 1912:

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  #1113  
Old Posted Mar 8, 2023, 5:34 AM
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Not sure this is the place, but the Spec had a story about the Desjardins Canal yesterday. Had this actually been a success (and geography, harbour and wetland depths, ship design/technology and size etc. would have doomed it anyway) imagine NOT having Cootes Paradise as it is today... and how Dundas and Hamilton would have evolved and complemented each other differently... and whether we'd have even had a steel industry and industrial complex in Hamilton's north end. I think it was a foregone conclusion that this was a failure from start to finish, but the ambitions have to be respected.


The curse of the Desjardins Canal
It was supposed to spur economic growth in Dundas, but the Desjardins Canal ushered in disaster


https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...ins-canal.html


Mark McNeil
The Hamilton Spectator
Tue., March 7, 2023











Pierre Desjardins never got to see the canal that would bear his name.

Ten years before it finally opened in 1837, the head of the Desjardins Canal Company was found dead in a field in Grimsby under mysterious circumstances.

Some believe he was thrown from his horse while setting out to collect debts on company shares. But an inquest came up with a more spiritual explanation. It said he “died by the visitation of God.”

Whatever took his life, at the age of 52, his sudden death can be seen as part of a pattern of adversity and setbacks that cursed the massive economic development effort to connect the town of Dundas to Hamilton Harbour and Lake Ontario.

There were major problems raising funds. There were technical challenges in constructing it. And there was a constant need for expensive dredging after the canal was built because of the silty nature of Cootes Paradise.

While the shipping route did initially give the Dundas economy a major boost, the prosperity was short lived. Commercial shipping declined within 25 years and eventually the waterway was abandoned by cargo ships. Dreams of the town becoming a major transportation hub evaporated. Hamilton would eclipse Dundas as the shipping and industrial centre for the area.

And the curse went beyond economic disappointment.

“The canal has been the site of many tragic accidents,” says Austin Strutt of the Dundas Museum and Archives.

The worst example took place 166 years ago this Sunday, on March 12, 1857.

Twenty years after the opening, the canal was the scene of one of the country’s worst railway disasters, killing 59 people and injuring 18 others. A Great Western Railway train en route to Hamilton from Toronto was crossing the wooden bridge above the canal when it suddenly derailed.

The structure gave way tossing the engine and cars downward, crashing through the ice 20 metres below.

Initially, investigators thought the bridge was defective, but an investigation determined a broken axle was to blame.

If the accident had taken place on solid ground, instead of a bridge, casualties would have been far less. Maybe no one would have been seriously hurt.

It was the worst possible place for the axle to give way.

It was a bridge that existed because of the canal project. Workers had to cut through a section of Burlington Heights to connect the waters of the bay with the wetlands of Cootes Paradise. That created a gap that required a major overpass for trains to cross. (Today, that expanse is managed by the High Level Bridge, Highway 403 and a rail bridge.)

Back in the mid-1800s, designers opted for a swing bridge. It allowed the structure to be moved aside to allow tall ships to pass through.

When the rail bridge was reconstructed after the disaster, a fixed design was chosen. So taller ships could no longer pass. It helped to render the canal obsolete for cargo shipping, especially at a time when vessels were getting larger on the Great Lakes.

And then there was more tragedy. Seven years after the train disaster, on June 12, 1865, four teenagers drowned near the entrance to the canal. Edwin and Caroline Coleman, children of Dundas’ first mayor James Coleman, were among the victims. They were in a rowboat with three others, George and Mary Creighton, and a young woman named Catharine Gage. Their boat was caught in waves from the steamer Argyle that led to the boat tipping over after one of the girls stood up. George was the only survivor. He managed to hold onto a canal post until he was rescued.

The news devastated the town, and they say James Coleman was never the same. Coleman was an importer and exporter in the grocery business who became fabulously wealthy because of the canal. Now the waters that aided his fortune had taken two of his children.

“There were a lot of drownings over the years,” says Strutt, who is in the early stages of planning an exhibition about the canal at the Dundas Museum this summer.

“Newspapers were filled with accounts of people drowning in depths of water where they shouldn’t have drowned. Part of it probably had to do with the muck and silt.”

In 2013, Dundurn Press published the book “End of the Line – the 1857 Train Wreck at the Desjardins Canal Bridge” by Don McIver.

“There is so much bloody irony in all this,” the author told me in an interview shortly after the book came out. Samuel Zimmerman, the general contractor for that section of the railway line, was one of the victims. He was a man who liked efficiency and successfully lobbied against a requirement that trains come to a full stop before crossing the bridge. Perhaps if the train had halted, the engineer would have noticed a problem with the wheel axle.

There were all kinds of other stories about passengers being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Adam Ferrie, a son of Hamilton’s first mayor Colin Ferrie, was among those who died.

A few got lucky. The book tells the story of a man who got off one stop early to stretch his legs or maybe to go for a beer. He lost track of the time and the train left without him. Fifteen minutes later, one transportation system horrifically crashed into the waters of another one, forever immortalizing the surname of Pierre Desjardins.


Timeline:
1805 – Pierre Desjardins comes to Dundas from France and works as chief clerk with Richard Hatt, who runs a major milling operation in the community.
1809 – Hatt establishes an inefficient shallow channel through Cootes Paradise to Spencer Creek for water transportation of goods, and pushes for a full-fledged canal.
1819 – Hatt dies, leaving Desjardins to lead the canal project. He establishes a joint stock company to raise funds and incorporates his Desjardins Canal Company. He gets government approval to build the project.
1827 – Just as work is beginning, Desjardins dies in Grimsby, leaving his company mired in debt and uncertainty. A group of investors take over.
1837 – The canal officially opens.
1857 – The Desjardins Canal Bridge train disaster leads to 59 deaths.
1860s – Use of cargo shipping declines in the canal with larger Great Lakes cargo ships requiring deeper water. Hamilton increasingly is used for shipping.
1900s – The canal evolves into a place for small recreational boating along with some steamer excursions into Hamilton Harbour.
1967 – The turning basin for the canal is filled in and transformed into Centennial Park. Today, the Urquhart Butterfly Garden uses part of the land where the start of the canal used to be.

Last edited by ScreamingViking; Mar 8, 2023 at 5:46 AM.
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  #1114  
Old Posted Mar 11, 2024, 5:23 PM
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Hawrylyshyn Hawrylyshyn is offline
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Saw posted on Facebook:



"The Birch Ave. private right-of-way in Hamilton, Ontario, on May 12th, 1951 and March 3rd, 2024.

The last of the Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) streetcars were retired on April 6th, 1951. This spot between Wilson St. and Birch Ave is now a park called "Stirton Tot Lot".

Learn more about Hamilton's transit history by attending my presentation on Monday March 11th at 6:30pm. Hosted by the Burlington Historical Society in the Burling Public Library - Central Branch on New St.
"
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