HAMILTON | The Textile District

flar · #1 Posted **Aug 5, 2007, 5:32 AM**

HAMILTON NEIGHBOURHOODS:
Corktown • Durand • Central • Dundas • Locke St. South • Burlington • Stinson • Westdale • St. Clair • Keith • Landsdale
The Delta • Gibson • Jamesville • Concession Street • Durand North • Durand South • Old Dundas Houses • Hess Village • Barton Street
Ancaster • North Kirkendall • South Kirkendall • McMaster University • Downtown • The Bayfront • The North End • Kenilworth
Mountain Brow • Textile District • Strathcona • North Stipley • Flamborough • Beasley • Chedoke • Stoney Creek • The Beach Strip

HAMILTON FEATURES:
C I T Y _ L I G H T S • Stone Hamilton • Twilight of the Industrial Age • Twilight of the Industrial Age II
Stone in Dundas and Ancaster • Goodbye, Hamilton (from 43 floors up) • Dirty Brick • Day for Night
This broken down old city still manages to wake up every morning... • Everywhere, Ontario • < R - E - T - R - O >
HAMILTON | Scenes from the cutting room floor • S U B U R B I A ! • Everywhere, Ontario • Hamilton Rowhouses
< H E A V Y <> I N D U S T R Y > • Old Man Winter vs. Hamilton

Ottawa Street
Hamilton, Ontario

This 1920's commercial district in East Hamilton grew out of the local textile and fabric industry
which manufactured everything from sewing machines to clothing. Today the Textile District is
a thriving shopping area that has found its niche in fabrics, sewing and home decor. It is also
the site of the very first Tim Horton's location.

Site of the first Tim Horton's. It looks a lot like the other 2800...

boden · #2 Posted **Aug 5, 2007, 1:26 PM**

I'll have a double double.......................

the dude · #3 Posted **Aug 5, 2007, 2:46 PM**

ya, i could totally go for a cruller right now.

thanks for the tour. ottawa north seems to get better and better with each passing year. i wonder how the big box development at centre mall will affect it?

CBBC · #4 Posted **Aug 5, 2007, 6:21 PM**

colorful tour...nice work

Swinefeld · #5 Posted **Aug 6, 2007, 1:47 PM**

Very nice. Quite a flair, flar.

yarabundi · #6 Posted **Aug 6, 2007, 2:05 PM**

So, Tim Horton started in Ottawa ? I'm surprised. I thought it probably was from Toronto !!
Thank you for this tour of a part of Ottawa I didn't know about.

MolsonExport · #7 Posted **Aug 6, 2007, 2:14 PM**

largest in Canada? St. Hubert Street, Montreal.

flar · #8 Posted **Aug 6, 2007, 2:55 PM**

@yarabundi: this is in Hamilton

@Molson Export: This retail area is very specialized.
Ottawa Street-Wikipedia
Ottawa St. BIA

EDIT: I believe Ottawa Street's claims as largest textile district in Canada are true, there are well over a dozen fabric stores here, several of which are the size of department stores. There are even a few stores devoted entirely to foam for stuffing pillows and mattresses, a couple fur shops as well as tailors and sewing shops. People come from all over Southwestern Ontario for fabric, often on bus trips.

SteelTown · #9 Posted **Aug 7, 2007, 3:26 PM**

Nice job flar!

Hopefully the new big box centre at Centre Mall won't have any retail focusing on fabric and textile stuff. Leave that stuff to Ottawa St.

Few years ago Ottawa St was a dump and dangerous now it's a complete reversal.

I like what they've done with the new urban park on Ottawa St.....

DC83 · #10 Posted **Aug 11, 2007, 6:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by flar

EDIT: I believe Ottawa Street's claims as largest textile district in Canada are true, there are well over a dozen fabric stores here, several of which are the size of department stores. There are even a few stores devoted entirely to foam for stuffing pillows and mattresses, a couple fur shops as well as tailors and sewing shops. People come from all over Southwestern Ontario for fabric, often on bus trips.

I personally know ppl who come down from Owen Sound a cpl times a year just to buy fabrics here. They don't even bother with Queen / King West in TO's "fashion district" b/c there's a way bigger variety of EVERYTHING textile on this street.

You are amazing, Flar... when's the photo-book out

I need a new coffee table book!

Wheelingman04 · #11 Posted **Aug 12, 2007, 6:10 PM**

Great job of capturing the soul of Hamilton.

keninhalifax · #12 Posted **Aug 13, 2007, 3:16 PM**

Another Hamilton find. Your Ottawa Street is much more interesting than our Hamilton Street. Thanks again, Flar!

WZ1 · #13 Posted **Aug 13, 2007, 5:25 PM**

Nice Pics Flar! I bought a new camera .. Nikon d40X.. with a couple sweet ass lenses.. 70 - 300 VR (equiv to 460mm) and a 10-20..

DetroitSky · #14 Posted **Aug 14, 2007, 2:44 AM**

Nice tour.

Hozay · #15 Posted **Aug 17, 2007, 2:40 AM**

Excellent tour, the Hammer has a lot more to offer than you'd think

costanza · #16 Posted **Aug 17, 2007, 2:51 AM**

so ya, its a cute little district

does anyone in hamilton buy ready-to-wear or does everyone go down to ottawa street, pick up a 'textile' and then make their own clothes?

seriously.. how many people could possibly need fabrics and textiles in one city?

next up on the tour,

hamilton's 'hammock district'

flar · #17 Posted **Aug 18, 2007, 2:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WZ1

Nice Pics Flar! I bought a new camera .. Nikon d40X.. with a couple sweet ass lenses.. 70 - 300 VR (equiv to 460mm) and a 10-20..

A better selection of lenses for Nikon. Still using your Olympus+fisheye too?

Quote:

Originally Posted by costanza

so ya, its a cute little district

does anyone in hamilton buy ready-to-wear or does everyone go down to ottawa street, pick up a 'textile' and then make their own clothes?

seriously.. how many people could possibly need fabrics and textiles in one city?

next up on the tour,

hamilton's 'hammock district'

The hammock district closed because the 6 or 7 million people within an hour's drive couldn't support it. Seriously though, if you read the beginning, the retail district stemmed from the local textile manufacturing industry. Ottawa St. is a regional draw. It's common to see Torontonians, Mennonites from the Kitchener area, and bus tours from around Ontario and western New York.

flar · #18 Posted **Sep 28, 2008, 3:21 PM**

Yesterday I went to Ottawa Street for the first time in a long time, it's looking pretty good. I think some new businesses have opened and there is now a Farmer's Market on Saturdays.

raisethehammer · #19 Posted **Sep 29, 2008, 2:57 PM**

wow! I'm going to have to check it out next Saturday...looks downright booming. I love the live music on the street. beautiful.
And that farmers market...so simple, so quaint. That's all I want downtown...we have one of the biggest markets in Canada and it's stuck inside of an old parking garage with transport trucks roaring past out front. so sad.

flar · #20 Posted **Oct 1, 2008, 7:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

wow! I'm going to have to check it out next Saturday...looks downright booming. I love the live music on the street. beautiful.
And that farmers market...so simple, so quaint. That's all I want downtown...we have one of the biggest markets in Canada and it's stuck inside of an old parking garage with transport trucks roaring past out front. so sad.

This farmer's market is doing very well on Ottawa St., apparently much better than at its old location at the Centre Mall.