The Cossart Exchange

Historical Hamilton is proud to announce that we have enrolled with the Imperial Cotton Centre for the Art’s new Cossart Exchange program.  http://www.cossartexchange.com/

“Bringing together the Imperial Cotton Centre for the Arts’ understanding of space, creative business, artist development, project management and community networking, The Cossart Exchange is a new and dynamic space designed for emerging ideas, organizations, businesses and creative entrepreneurs.”

The grand opening of the Cossart Exchange space will be occuring this weekend, with an event called “IgniTED”

Grand Opening Info

IgniTED info

Hamilton Transit History

I nearly had a cardiac episode when I tried to visit Hamilton Transit History’s site from my bookmarks and was informed that the site no longer exists.  After a bit of frantic searching I found that it is up at a new address:

http://hamiltontransithistory.host-ed.net/index.html

This site is amazingly in depth and gives lots of great information and photos about the history of transit in Hamilton. I love the site and we’re all very lucky that it survived the implosion of Geocities, the sites previous hosting provider

The Women of Auchmar

Dr. Christine Lei and Dr. Mary Anderson will speak about the various women who have called Auchmar home at this month’s Head-of-the-Lake Society meeting.

Date: Friday, January 8, 2010, 7:30pm

Location: The Canadian Football Hall of Fame on Jackson Street beside City Hall.

Auchmar Estate

New Photo Contributors

We’ve added photos from two new contributors.  We’re proud to feature photos by Stephanie Bell and Jeff Tessier.

Their photos can be seen in these locations:

http://historicalhamilton.com/central/harmony-apartments/

http://historicalhamilton.com/central/roach-house/

http://historicalhamilton.com/corktown/rock-castle/

We look forward to more photos from both of these awesome local photographers.

Return to Map Feature

We have added a nice little feature to the site.  When browsing a location, you can now click the “View this location on the large map” link underneath the map.  This is useful when you want to jump in between Map mode and Browse mode without losing your place.

Thomas Building faces Demolition

Downtown demolition fears
Downtown councillor Bob Bratina fears that partial demolition work on the Thomas Building could force the entire structure to be torn down.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/568118

Christie Antiques Show

There will be a huge antique show at Christie Conservation Area in Dundas tomorrow, Saturday, May 23 2009.

http://antiqueshowscanada.com/christie-antiques-show/

Info from the site:

“Rated by collectors and dealers as Canada’s favourite antique show!”
“Canada’s largest selection of antiques for sale. More than 300 dealers, almost 10 acres of antiques.”

Hours: 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., rain or shine
Admission: $8 per person, free on-site parking. Please, no dogs on show field.

Where: Christie Lake Conservation Area
1000 Highway 5 W.
Dundas, ON L9H 5E2
Canada
On Highway 5, west of Highway 6

We’re in H Magazine

Hi. We’re in H Magazine this month. Go check us out!

Jane’s Walk

To add more great events to an already busy weekend, 2 Jane’s Walks will be hosted in Hamilton.

What’s a Jane’s Walk?
Let me quote liberally from the Jane’s Walk website:

Jane’s Walk is a series of free neighbourhood walking tours that helps put people in touch with their environment and with each other, by bridging social and geographic gaps and creating a space for cities to discover themselves. Since it’s inception in 2007, Jane’s Walk has happened in twelve North American cities: Toronto, New York, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Halifax, Guelph, Charlottetown, Thornbury, and Salt Lake City. More partner cities and towns are being added in 2009 including Montreal, Regina, Boston, Chicago and New Orleans.

Jane’s Walk honours the legacy and ideas of urban activist and writer Jane Jacobs who championed the interests of local residents and pedestrians over a car-centered approach to planning. Jane’s Walk helps knit people together into a strong and resourceful community, instilling belonging and encouraging civic leadership.

Hamilton Area walks are:

Jane’s Walk of Westdale with Councillor Brian McHattie
Saturday, May 2, 2009 @ 11:00am
Meeting Place: Westdale Library, 955 King Street West, Hamilton.

Jane’s Walk on James North with Charlie Mattina
Sunday, May 3, 2009 @ 1:00pm
Meeting Place: Mixed Media, 154 James North (at Cannon)

Robin McKee’s Cemetery Tours

Last year, I had the pleasure of attending one of Robin McKee’s guided tours of Hamilton Cemetery (the big one on York Street, across from Dundurn Castle).

I highly recommend these tours for anyone interested in Hamilton’s history. For those not sure what to expect, let me give you my impressions. Robin takes the group around the cemetery, showing the graves of prominent Hamiltonians. At each grave, Robin tells the story of the people, their impact on Hamilton and their connections with other people and places. Robin sees the cemetery as a vast archive of history. The graves act as a starting point for a discussion of the people who have shaped our community. Each tour is themed and explores a different aspect of our heritage.

The tours take place on Saturdays at 11 AM, Rain or Shine. They last approximately 2 hours. Meet at the Hamilton Cemetery Gatehouse (across from the Dundurn Park parking lot.)

Here is the tour schedule for 2009:

May 2-3 (Doors Open - Hamilton 1st Tour)
May 9 (Power Tour)
May 23 (Civil War Tour)
June 6 (Hamilton Firsts Tour)
June 20 (Masonic Tour)
July 4 (Firefighters Tour)
July 18 (Power of the City Tour)
August 1 (Civil War Tour)
August 15 (Firefighters Tour)
September 5 (Masonic Tour)
September 19 & 20 (Hamilton 1st Tour)
October 3 (Past Mayors Tour)
October 17 (Power of the City Tour)
November 7 & 14 (Veterans Tours)

For more information, visit Robin’s website Historical Perceptions