By: Ashleigh Patterson & Geoff RoseThe Durand neighbourhood began in 1791 as 274 acres owned by a few wealthy speculators, including George Hamilton who founded the city. Interestingly, James Durand, for whom the neighbourhood is named never actually owned any of this property. (Peace, 1996)From the 1840s to the mid 1870s the population of the Durand exploded from just a few buildings to being over fifty percent developed by the mid 1870s and fully developed by the end of the 19th century. (Peace, 1996; Peace, 2012)Of course, during this time the use of the land moved out of the hands of only wealthy speculators and the trend of Durand being a very economically diverse area began. This continues today as you walk from Main Street West toward the base of the escarpment, the single family homes grow exponentially in size, as do the pocket books of their owners. (Peace, 1996)
| 0: Hamilton City Hall Ver detalle |
| 1: Bank of Montreal Building Ver detalle |
| 2: St. Paul's Presbyterian Church Ver detalle |
| 3: Whitehern Historic House & Garden Ver detalle |
| 4: Sandyford Place Ver detalle |
| 5: MacNab Gallery Ver detalle |
| 6: Ballinahinch Ver detalle |
| 7: Inglewood Estate Ver detalle |
| 8: Central Presbyterian Church Ver detalle |
| 9: Central School Ver detalle |
| 10: St. Mark's Church Site Ver detalle |
| 11: The McElroy House Ver detalle |
1Main Street West
Whenthe cornerstone for this branch of the Bank of Montreal was laid, thevice president of the bank intended for it to be the finest bankbuilding in Canada. It would seem his vision succeeded as at itscompletion in 1929 The Hamilton Herald stated thatit was a "beautiful temple to modern business on one of thecommanding sites in the heart of the city" (Henley, 1993,p. 45). The upper floor of the bank was dedicated to housing itsstaff – with twenty bedrooms and a dining hall that could seatsixty. The bank was quite successful in this location until they leftit in 1972. The City of Hamilton used the location as a referencelibrary from 1972 to 1980. After that the building was primarilyvacant with the exception of two failed nightclubs that attempted touse the space (Henley, 1993).
Thebuilding has been occupied by Gowlings, an international law firmsince 1995. They currently employ more than thirty lawyers as well assummer students and are the largest law firm in Hamilton (HamiltonLaw Association, 2012).
St.Paul's was originally formed as St. Andrew's with a congregation ofScottish immigrants in 1830 and the current grey stone English Gothicrevival church, designed by architect William Thomas, was builtbetween 1854 and 1857 (St. Paul's, Undated).
Thebells of St. Paul's have a rich history. The 160 kilogram bellhanging in the belfry of the Sunday School building was the originaltown bell in Hamilton and rang for the first time in 1834 (Henley,1993). It was moved from the 180 foot stone spire to it's new home in1906 to make way for the eleven bells weighing a total of 4488kilograms now residing in the spire. These bells are played everySunday morning to call the congregation in and sound quite beautiful(St. Paul's, Undated).
Atthe south-east corner of the church there is a large Celtic Cross –The Cross of Sacrifice. It was carved in Scotland and placed here in1921 to commemorate those of the congregation who had fallen inbattle (St. Paul's, Undated). Near Remembrance Day you will findwreaths and poppies at the base of the cross and the church holds aService of Remembrance on the Sunday closest to November 11theach year.
St.Paul's was originally formed as St. Andrew's with a congregation ofScottish immigrants in 1830 and the current grey stone English Gothicrevival church, designed by architect William Thomas, was builtbetween 1854 and 1857 (St. Paul's, Undated).
Thebells of St. Paul's have a rich history. The 160 kilogram bellhanging in the belfry of the Sunday School building was the originaltown bell in Hamilton and rang for the first time in 1834 (Henley,1993). It was moved from the 180 foot stone spire to it's new home in1906 to make way for the eleven bells weighing a total of 4488kilograms now residing in the spire. These bells are played everySunday morning to call the congregation in and sound quite beautiful(St. Paul's, Undated).
Atthe south-east corner of the church there is a large Celtic Cross –The Cross of Sacrifice. It was carved in Scotland and placed here in1921 to commemorate those of the congregation who had fallen inbattle (St. Paul's, Undated). Near Remembrance Day you will findwreaths and poppies at the base of the cross and the church holds aService of Remembrance on the Sunday closest to November 11theach year.
FollowingJackson Street to the west you will find a large tree and benchesnear the rear of the church, a wonderful spot to rest and engage inquiet reflection.
Thisis one of very few row houses built in Canada during the 1800s forhigher-income citizens. Built in 1856, Sandyford Place wasbeautifully constructed by Scottish masons and is one of many stonebuildings in the area. Each home is three storeys in height withmultiple bay windows. (Parks Canada, 2008) It is another example ofarchitect James Balfour's work in the area, and showcases locallymined limestone (Shaughnessy, 2008).
Followingover one hundred years of private ownership the historical value ofthis building was recognized in 1975 and it was designated a NationalHistoric Site (Parks Canada, 2008). The City of Hamilton purchasedthe site in 1976 in order to restore it. Restorations were completedin 1980 and the building has been returned to use as four privatehomes since that time (Henley, 2012).
Locatedin a quiet part of the Durand neighbourhood, set back from majorstreets, if you wish to reside in this historical treasure you willneed to save your pennies. One of these homes is currently listed at$349 000 with maintenance fees of $797 per month (Folsetter, 2012).
Thishouse is currently owned by Len Jessome, a well-known Canadian artistwho was born in Hamilton in 1963. His mixed-media paintings hang ingalleries and private collections throughout the world and at leastuntil 2007 this served as a local gallery and showcase of his latestand in progress works (Jessome, 2011).
Thehouse itself is a great example of a home built for a middle classfamily of the time and is listed along with its neighbours as part ofthe Durand-Markland Designated Heritage Conservation District underthe Ontario Heritage Act. (City of Hamilton, 2004)
Itwould seem that one of the owners, past or present, had a desire tostand out much::text like the streets namesake – Sir Allan MacNab, forwhom Dundurn Castle was constructed (Houghton, 2002). The bright reddouble front doors make the house difficult to miss!
Accordingto the plaque at the entrance gates this pre-Confederation stonemansion was built for Aeneas Sage Kennedy in 1850 by architectWilliam Thomas with carpenter Peter Balfour. William Thomas alsodesigned St. Paul's Presbyterian Church seen earlier in the tour.(Historical Hamilton, Undated) It was purchased from Kennedy by alocal lawyer, Edward Martin in 1870 and his family lived there for 46years (McMaster University, 2012).
Themost interesting use of this building was as a temporary isolationhospital during the Spanish Influenza pandemic in 1918-1919. Theclose proximity to St. Joseph's Hospital (opened 1890) made themansion a natural choice for this use (McMaster University, 2012).
FollowingWorld War I, William Southam who was the publisher of The HamiltonSpectator at the time, purchased the house and rented it to hissuccessor until the end of World War II. At that time the house wasseparated into apartments to combat the cost of rising taxes(McMaster University, 2012).
Inthe 1980s the eight apartments were converted into luxurycondominiums (Peace, 1996). At the time of writing, one of thesecondominiums was listed for sale at $289,000 (Caplan, 2012).
Inglewoodwas designed by architect William Thomas and constructed in 1855. Itwas,::text like Ballinahinch and many other large homes in theneighbourhood, converted first into apartments and later luxurycondominiums as property taxes rose following World War II (Peace,1996). It is currently owned by Wentworth Condo Corp and divided intofive separate homes (Yellow Pages, 2012).
Thehome was originally built for Archibald Kerr, who was one of thewealthiest residents of both the Durand neighbourhood and all ofHamilton (Peace, 2012). According to the plaque located on the stonewall the house contained 28 rooms and was situated on 12 acres ofland with a view of the city and the bay not obstructed by thehighrises of today. This twelve acres has since been divided severaltimes, beginning when the estate was owned by John Stuart who addedthe large home now located at 105 Aberdeen at the edge of theproperty in 1893 for his daughter and son-in-law (HistoricalHamilton, Undated).
As one of the grandest homes in the Durand ithas played host to royalty on multiple occasions including PrinceGeorge of Wales, later King George V, during his visit to Canada in1883 (Peace, 2012). Located at one of the southernmost parts of theDurand neighbourhood, Inglewood is a stunning example of both thepopular Gothic architecture of the area and the incredible economicdiversity. One of the five condominiums was listed for sale inSeptember, 2012 for the sum of $699 900 and condominium fees ofnearly $1000 per month (Parker, 2012). Be sure to keep those figuresin mind as you travel north again to the lower income parts of theDurand.
St.Mark's serves as an example of a building close to demolition byneglect. Thankfully this Ontario Heritage site, constructed in 1878is being rescued thanks to lobbying by local residents. In 1994 theproperty was purchased by the City of Hamilton for $425,000 (DurandNeighbourhood Association, 2008) and after decades of being boardedup the summer of 2012 saw construction and restoration work beingdone to the church. The Sunday School which was likely added by thecongregation in 1925 had to be permanently removed as it did not havea foundation, however, the remainder of the church is beingstabilized from the inside out (Brassington, 2012).
Oncethe stabilization work is complete, the project will be reassessed todetermine how the space can be best used to serve the needs of thecommunity. The Durand Neighbourhood Association has lobbied for thegardens to be preserved and expanded to add more green space to thearea which currently contains just one park, as well as using thebuilding as a community space for local residents, another featuremissing from the neighbourhood (Durand Neighourhood Association,2008). As of this writing, most of the garden area is open for publicuse so please feel free to enjoy it. While walking through thegrounds, take a look up at the relatively recent additions to theDurand neighbourhood. St. Mark's and Central Public School now lookout of place on a block where they were once the dominant features.