The Lost Stone Town of Hamilton

[flar]

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





Old stone buildings of central Hamilton

When thinking of stone towns in Ontario, the first that come to mind are Guelph, Kingston, or St. Mary's. Hamilton might have been
among them if it hadn't experienced explosive growth in the latter part of the nineteenth century. In her book "A Heritage of Stone",
Nina Perkins Chapple writes: "the picturesque stone town of the 1850s soon was over-trumped by the robust, High Victorian city of
the 1890s, which, in turn, was swallowed up by the expanded, modernized city of the twentieth century...Hamilton would appear at
first glance to have lost its 1850s stone heritage; closer inspection reveals a remarkable resource which, although reduced and
scattered, includes some of the most exceptional stone buildings ever built in southwestern Ontario."

In this tour, I search for the remains of this lost stone heritage. All of these buildings are located in central Hamilton, sometimes hidden
among highrise apartment buildings or in Victorian neighbourhoods.



Burlington Terrace, c. 1850s


Slainte Irish Pub, Corktown


Sandyford Place, 1858. The finest stone rowhouse in Canada west of Montreal and one of only a few surviving rowhouses built for the wealthy.
It was nearly demolished for an apartment building


Whitehern, a classical revival mansion built c. 1850 and home to three generations of the McQuesten family






Inside Whitehern


A stone row on James Street South. Stone rows like this once lined many Hamilton streets




Commercial buildings near Gore Park






Christ's Church Cathedral, 1835, cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Niagara.


Inside Christ's Church:


Bay Street South Terrace, 1857




Park and Herkimer, c. 1860




MacNab Street Presbyterian Church, c. 1850s


Manse, c. 1860








James Street Baptist Church, 1878-82




This is Amisfield, once a stately castle on James Street South

Photo from Hamilton Public Library Special Collections hosted at http://www.raisethehammer.org/index.asp?id=516.

Today, Amisfield is completely surrounded:
"marred, obliterated and degraded, Rastrick's masterpiece stands in ignominy and shame."
from Victorian Architecture in Hamilton (1967) by Alexander Gordon McKay


Fearman House, 1863


Try saying "Pheasant Plucker" three times fast. This building is lonely today but at one time was surrounded by other stone buildings


Commercial on John Street South


Roach House, 1854, oringinally the home of George Roach, mayor and director of the Bank of Hamilton


Hess Village


Bishophurst, 1877, currently the home of CHCH Television


This building is being renovated into a luxury restaurant and bar with rooftop patio


St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, 1854-7, featuring 180 foot stone spire




Originally the Sun Life Assurance Building, 1899, later the upper floors were added and it became the Federal Building




Commercial warehouse, c. 1856. This building houses Coppley, Noyes and Randall, men's suit manufacturers


The Inglewood, c. 1850


Thomas Building, c. 1850s, slated for demolition. I believe the aluminum to the left covers the rest of the stone facade


Duke Street semi-detached house, c. 1840s


Ballahinich, 1853




Rock Castle, c. 1848


Hereford House, 1853


Somehow this lone house survives in a sea of commie blocks




Church of the Ascension, 1850








Central Public School, 1853, first large graded public school in British North America




The Stable houses at Dundurn Castle


Custom House, 1858, one of Canada's oldest surviving public buildings


STONED Series:
Fergus • St. Marys • Elora
Galt • Flamborough • Guelph
Dundas and Ancaster

[Top Of The Park]

Certainly a pleasant looking town...nice shots

[xzmattzx]

Great pictures. It's interesting to see snippets of a city's past.

[the dude]

me like stone. thanks for the tour of the 'stonecity.'

[kcexpress69]

Very nice tour of Hamilton's past. It is a shame however, that so many great building's of any city's past get demolished in favor of "urban renewel". Looking back into Kansas City's history, many buildings of architectural significance (word of the day) were torn down, even in the 1920s' and 1930s' to build skyscrapers. Oh well. You can't save everything, but I think we got careless somewhere along the way. Thankfully, more and more people started to appreciate the value of these old buildings and were able to save them.

[WilliamTheArtist]

Those old stone buildings just have such a nice feel to them. Thanks for sharing. Really like the interior shots as well.

[DC83]

Wow, I never realized how many stone bldgs were here before... and I've lived in Hamilton my whole life! They just blend in so well, I guess.

Great shots, too, Flar. You are totally exposing the Hammer to the world... in a very POSITIVE way (for a change)!

[flar]

Originally Posted by kcexpress69

Very nice tour of Hamilton's past. It is a shame however, that so many great building's of any city's past get demolished in favor of "urban renewel". Looking back into Kansas City's history, many buildings of architectural significance (word of the day) were torn down, even in the 1920s' and 1930s' to build skyscrapers. Oh well. You can't save everything, but I think we got careless somewhere along the way. Thankfully, more and more people started to appreciate the value of these old buildings and were able to save them.

I would have loved to see the old Hamilton before the frenzy of demolition, rowhouses were hit particularly bad here. Hamilton still has not fully come to appreciate the value of old buildings, but that's another story...

Originally Posted by DC83

Wow, I never realized how many stone bldgs were here before... and I've lived in Hamilton my whole life! They just blend in so well, I guess.

Since I've been looking for stone buildings I've noticed many more, even today when I was out for a drive I saw a couple I didn't know about. These pics are by no means a comprehensive listing of Hamilton's stone buildings, there are lots more stone houses throughout the lower city. If you added up all the stone buildings in Dundas, Ancaster, Hamilton Mountain, Greensville, Waterdown and Stoney Creek there are probably more stone buildings in the Greater Hamilton Area than anywhere else in Ontario, easily several hundred. But yeah, they are scattered and there exists only a small fraction of what was once here.

[jodelli]

I like how you keep coming up with new 'old' shots. Nice, Flar.

[kool maudit]

your photo threads are actually starting to make me think of hamilton as one of the most interesting cities in canada.

[boden]

Beautiful presentation flar. Your comment of "not fully appreciating...." is sadly true in so many Canadian cities.
Nonetheless, there is obviously still plenty of the good stuff left!!
I love this little gem.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

your photo threads are actually starting to make me think of hamilton as one of the most interesting cities in canada.

Two things about Hamilton:

1. In spite of its rusty reputation as a declining industrial city, one can indulge in splendiforous natural surroundings (30+ waterfalls, the Bruce Trail, Royal Botanical Gardens, etc.) perhaps only matched by Vancouver in Canada.

2. The most apt quote I ever saw about Hamilton was made by a local musician/artist type whose name I do not recall in an interview with some Toronto media outlet. It went like this: "Hamilton has a very specific funkiness." That sums the place up in a nutshell for me.

[Jaborandi]

You've done it again flar with a wonderful photo essay. I'm constantly amazed at the number of stunning stone buildings that still survive in Hamilton.

Thanks!



Where is this row?

[flar]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

your photo threads are actually starting to make me think of hamilton as one of the most interesting cities in canada.

Montreal is the most interesting for sure, but Hamilton is right up there. I was just reading a book called "Housing the North American City" which uses Hamilton as a case study, and it claims that Hamilton is the "most-studied urban society in Canada". I believe it, I've found no shortage of Hamilton material at the library and in academic journals.

Originally Posted by boden

Beautiful presentation flar. Your comment of "not fully appreciating...." is sadly true in so many Canadian cities.
Nonetheless, there is obviously still plenty of the good stuff left!!
I love this little gem.

That little gem could use some work, but it is unique--check out the bayed dormers. It was probably designed by F. J. Rastrick, the architect behind a number of the buildings in this tour. There is a great article about Rastrick's buildings in Hamilton here: http://www.raisethehammer.org/index.asp?id=516

Originally Posted by Jaborandi

Where is this row?

That row is on Catharine between Wilson and Cannon. It often goes unnoticed so I'm glad I found it because it's a beauty. It has brick bays but the rest is stone. The front has nice smooth stone and the sides are of rubble stone. It's very well kept despite being surrounded by some of the poorest areas in Hamilton.



An interesting fact from the book I mentioned above:
In 1861 there were 322 stone houses in Hamilton. I have no idea how many there are today, but definitely not that many.

[beanmedic]

Taking this house for example...

If one were to construct this same house today, how much extra would it cost to use stone, as opposed to the more popular modern materials?

[beanmedic]

Originally Posted by beanmedic

Taking this house for example...

If one were to construct this same house today, how much extra would it cost to use stone, as opposed to the more popular modern materials?

bump?

[xzmattzx]

Originally Posted by beanmedic

bump?

It would cost a lot more. The stonecutting trade isn't as populated as it was 100 years ago. Stonecutting is pretty labor-intensive.

[skylife]

Awesome! I'm in love with the stone architecture of Ontario.

[ainulindale]

Originally Posted by skylife

Awesome! I'm in love with the stone architecture of Ontario.

I can no longer speak for myself on this site...skylife has taken my words this time.

[Swinefeld]

Absolutely awesome as usual. You really know your history and you photograph it well. Great tour!