[flar]

These show some Hamilton industry circa 1913:

 

[Goldie]

downsizing in the 20th century

My first thought upon seeing all these photos of manufacturing plants in Hamilton, is that we lost plenty of manufacturing jobs long before the current, 21st century, shut-downs. Are any of the pictured companies still in business anywhere in Canada?

 

[androiduk]

^ Boy, what an industrial powerhouse. It's too bad a lot of these companies didn't invest in the local community. Maybe it wasn't part of corporate culture back then or maybe a lot of these companies were foreign owned and $ went elsewhere.

 

[DC83]

My first thought upon seeing all these photos of manufacturing plants in Hamilton, is that we lost plenty of manufacturing jobs long before the current, 21st century, shut-downs. Are any of the pictured companies still in business anywhere in Canada?

Some are around under different names (ie Stelco & Dofasco are now US Steel & Arcelor Mittal).

Some buildings are still around but sit empty, ie:


Google Streetview Now

Imperial Cotton Company
Google Streetview Now

I believe this is now an Arts Incubator?


And Westinghouse's Head Office tower is still standing DYING to be lofts!

Google Streetview Now! PLEASE SOMEONE TURN ME INTO LOFTS!!!

 

[DC83]

Now for something Really depressing!

King William St, looking West towards James St N:

Then:

Now:

That awesome building in the middle of the shot was our City Hall. Torn down in the late 80's for a Parking Garage for the (old) Eatons Bldg.
That parking structure was demolished (along with the original Eaton's Bldg)only a couple years later (early 90's) to make way for the new Hamilton Eaton Centre, which stands today as The Hamilton City Centre Mall/City Hall.

 

[Blovertis]

In Mustapha's absence I am really enjoying (if that's the word given the scenes of mass destruction) this thread. I don't know Hamilton well but I'm hard-pressed to think of a city that so thoroughly screwed itself up to accommodate the automobile. Winnipeg, maybe.

 

[flar]

My first thought upon seeing all these photos of manufacturing plants in Hamilton, is that we lost plenty of manufacturing jobs long before the current, 21st century, shut-downs. Are any of the pictured companies still in business anywhere in Canada?

Sometimes the "rust belt narrative" leads us to believe industry declined suddenly and in the last few decades. On the whole it did, but manufacturing is an up and down business where factories open and close all the time as they become obsolete or inefficient.

For Hamilton, I think the current recession has hit hard, but the worst of Hamilton's decline happened well before. Most of the big plants in Hamilton closed long ago, and many of the buildings have already been wiped off the landscape. At one time Stelco employed over 20,000 and other places like Westinghouse employed over 10,000. It's been a very long time since any plants in Hamilton employed that many people.

^ Boy, what an industrial powerhouse. It's too bad a lot of these companies didn't invest in the local community. Maybe it wasn't part of corporate culture back then or maybe a lot of these companies were foreign owned and $ went elsewhere.

There were over 400 factories in Hamilton in 1913, a lot of those were locally owned and probably did help out the community to some extent, but many of the big ones were branch plants for American companies. Stelco and Dofasco were, of course, Canadian.

_______________________________________


Might as well add another lost building photo:

Old YMCA on James St.

Now:

 

[adma]

That awesome building in the middle of the shot was our City Hall. Torn down in the late 80's for a Parking Garage for the (old) Eatons Bldg.
That parking structure was demolished (along with the original Eaton's Bldg)only a couple years later (early 90's) to make way for the new Hamilton Eaton Centre, which stands today as The Hamilton City Centre Mall/City Hall.

I believe the Old City Hall was demolished not long after the new one was built in 1960--certainly in time for Jackson Square to be built...

 

[ShonTron]

Hamilton City Hall was demolished in 1960 once the new one was built and open. Ironically, Hamilton's current (temporary) city hall is in the old Eaton Centre where it once stood as the 1959 building goes through extensive, never-ending renovations.

I have two photo books of Hamilton's past from Spec photos: the Prints of Hamilton and the Prints of Time. I had no idea what York Street looked like before the 1970s "grand boulevard" was plowed through until I found those books on display almost 10 years ago (now there are books for Oakville and Burlington in the same series). I guess they needed a grand entrance from the north/east - the trouble was that the scar is still visible 35 years later as development really never filled in the vacant lots where houses were.

 

[DC83]

^^ You guys are right, but I'm still pretty certain that it was replaced with a Parking Garage for Eatons.

Flar, that old YMCA reminds me of the Ghostbusters' Head Office (Old Fire Hall) and the Piggot Bldg reminds me of the Bldg at the end of Ghostbusters movie. Ha!

SOurce

That white, deco'ish structure (new Eatons entrance/Parking Garage) is what replaced our Old City Hall

 

[DC83]

More Urban Renewal

From the same mega-block referred to as Jackson Square, around the corner on King West this time:


King St W @ Park St N (now called Summer's Lane):

THEN

NOW

That 'street' the car is pulling out of is not a street at all, but rather an entrance to JS's underground parking jungle.

 

[Jonny5]

All true, I estimate that about 80% of the buildings in Hamilton's core that existed pre-1950 are gone. The sad thing is Hamilton doesn't have much in the way of postwar architecture to be proud of.

The old York St:

I showed this picture to my mother and she had some memories to share about York. She worked for an optician at a store on the street.

Right away she spotted "Fischers Hotel" which she recalled as a busy place and a landmark on the street. She also rememberd a Jewish Deli which was reputed to make the best sandwiches west of Montreal (aren't they all). There is a sign for "Elestien" right below Fischer's and I'm guessing that is it. She did not remember it as a seedy neighbourhood, but very lively all day and night, though she said the optician liked to flirt with the pretty young girls he hired to work in his store.

 

[DC83]

More Urban Renewal

^^ Ya, I've actually heard about that Deli too from my parents.

York St was probably awesome in the era the above pic was taken, but I'm sure around the time of the JS Masterplan that the hood wasn't the nicest.

Sad thing is, I don't think Hamilton has learned from the York St/York Blvd lesson. More surface lots than ever in our core

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Some more long demolished buildings in Hamilton, the last two are different photos of ones Hipster Duck posted above:

Loew's Theatre

Now ??

Loew's was Hamilton's largest vaudeville and moving pictures theatre designed by Architect Thomas Lamb (Uptown, Elgin/Wintergarden, Pantages/Canon) with around 2300 seats opening in 1917. Located on King Street near John, it was renamed the Capitol in the early '20's. The auditorium was demolished in the early 70's to make way for a parking lot which is still in use to this day. The lobby was eventually converted into a restaurant (two levels if I recall) which I believe is now one of those roadhouse diners.

 

[flar]

^^Thanks!

I have a more recent photo that shows some of the details remain:

I think the grungy roadhouse "Joe Buttinsky's" and its nasty patio is now closed.