Quote:
Originally Posted by Chronamut
so a little history about the building on the corner - in the past hamilton decided they were going to bulldoze a road going through this area, and in the process sheared off an entire section of the building
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Not so. Zoom in on the
1898 & 1911 fire insurance plans and you'll see The Royal Hotel, at 4.5 storeys, ran from 2-12 Merrick Street. That corner building had vanished long before ground was broken on Civic Square/Jackson Square.
Circa 1947, it was a parking lot — 75-87 James St. N. (The Royal Hotel) had been razed and only 89 remained (marked by the fire escape). It was 89 James North that fell in the Civic Square era. The expropriation of properties in the core for Civic Square began in
1965. Merrick was apparently still Merrick
circa 1970.
Related: Vintage Hamilton has a snap of
The Star Theatre, which stood just west of the Royal Hotel at the turn of the 20th century.
Trivia, via
The Spec: "At the Royal Hotel on James Street North, April 29, 1903, nineteen automobile owners met and formed the Hamilton Automobile Club, the first in Canada."
Here's an artist's rendering of what The Royal Hotel looked like circa 1898:
And via
Vintage Postcards of Hamilton, some photos:
