What is the Oldest Building in Your City? - Page 4

lio45 · #61 Posted **Apr 8, 2014, 1:34 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by someone123

I think it's interesting though to see when settlement reached different parts of the province.

It's more of an "oldest and notable buildings" list, but that's true of all the other provinces as well.

I'm not familiar with Manitoba, and that list at a glance had the side effect of making me tend to believe that buildings from the 1910s could stand a chance of being the province's oldest... well, I mean, they're listed as the province's oldest, so I was like 'damn, that's young!', then Andy6 chimed in...

In the same way, from the POV of any outsider looking at that list, the presence of that Rimouski house on it tends to not convey the fact that houses from the mid-1700s are so plentiful that no one's actually counting them or bothering to put them on lists.

someone123 · #62 Posted **Apr 8, 2014, 2:01 AM**

Quote:

In the same way, from the POV of any outsider looking at that list, the presence of that Rimouski house on it tends to not convey the fact that houses from the mid-1700s are so plentiful that no one's actually counting them or bothering to put them on lists.

Maybe the right thing is to fork off an "Oldest building in Quebec by region" page. That way you'd be adding more information to Wikipedia rather than removing it by pruning out some of the buildings.

Metro-One · #63 Posted **Apr 8, 2014, 2:14 AM**

I would like for someone from Victoria to post on here. While far younger than anything in the east I do believe that Victoria has the oldest brick / stone buildings in the 3 western most provinces. I have no idea which buildings though (or their age). The internet is giving really poor information on this.

Chadillaccc · #64 Posted **Apr 8, 2014, 2:20 AM**

The Victoria Board of Trade Building is the oldest multi-storey surviving structure I know of in Victoria. It was completed in 1892. That and the Bank of Montreal Building are the only two hefty stone structures older than the provincial legislature.

Board of Trade Building - 1892

Bank of Montreal Building - 1896

British Columbia Legislative Building - 1897

Metro-One · #65 Posted **Apr 8, 2014, 2:21 AM**

That is a nice one, but there are ones decently older (not as big though I believe).

someone123 · #66 Posted **Apr 8, 2014, 2:24 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metro-One

That is a nice one, but there are ones decently older (not as big though I believe).

Victoria has at least one building from the 1850's: http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-...u.aspx?id=2350

Metro-One · #67 Posted **Apr 8, 2014, 2:26 AM**

I found one from 1874, the 3 story customs house.

source: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/80584112

Also, as posted above, I am surprised how long some of these simple wood structure houses can last.

PS - Love that Bank of Montreal building.

Chadillaccc · #68 Posted **Apr 8, 2014, 2:28 AM**

Found the oldest ones, they are still around but not stone or tall.

St. Anne's Schoolhouse - 1844

Craigflower Manor - 1853

Helmcken House - 1852

Fisgard Lighthouse - 1860

davidivivid · #69 Posted **Apr 8, 2014, 1:34 PM**

For obvious reasons, Quebec City has a very important collection of patrimonial houses and sites. I'll post some more later on but I'll begin with the Duke of Kent House.

The foundations and the walls of the first floor were built around 1650 while the other floors were added at the end of the 17th century. It has a fantastic history. In 1759, the Articles of Capitulation of Quebec were signed within the house. Several important notables lived there but the house owes its name to the father of Queen Victoria, the Duke of Kent, who lived there from 1791 to 1794. The fact that his mistress lived with him was supposedly quite the scandal. It now serves as one of the two French consulate in the city. Due to its important history, it was classified as an Historical Monument as soon as 1952.

http://www.ameriquefrancaise.org/fr/...l#.U0P5H_l5MhE

Andy6 · #70 Posted **Apr 8, 2014, 5:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by lio45

I wouldn't dream of messing with provinces I'm not familiar with, or more generally any subject on wiki that I'm not familiar with, though I agree with Andy6 (a Manitoban originally IIRC) that buildings from the 1910s shouldn't be there at all (which I believe is what he was saying).

I understand why they're there ... those are buildings that have a historical designation and are arguably the most important historic buildings in the province, and the most significant on a national or international scale (as important examples of the spread of the skyscraper form from Chicago to other boomtowns of the Midwest and Great Plains, including, in Winnipeg's case, Canada's first and oldest steel-frame skyscraper, constructed in 1903-04).

Having said that, these are obviously not the oldest buildings in the province -- there are dozens of buildings in Winnipeg alone that would date to the 1870s and early 1880s, such as the Woodbine Hotel and Winnipeg Hotel, and very substantial buildings like the Archbishop's Palace and the Grey Nuns' Residence in St. Boniface that date from the 1840s and 50s. North of the city there are several important structures from the 1820s-40s, including Lower Fort Garry and St. Andrew's Church.

Chadillaccc · #71 Posted **Apr 8, 2014, 5:23 PM**

Oldest buildings of Alberta...

Rocky Mountain House - Rocky Mountain House - 1799

http://www.rockymtnhouse.com/index.aspx?nid=208

Edmonton - Fort Augustus, Mark IV (Fort Edmonton) - 1846

http://www.fortedmontonpark.ca/image...image-gallery/

Calgary - Hunt House - 1876

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...oomed-1.890180

Oldest substantial buildings of Alberta...

Calgary - Lewis Lofts - 1909

https://www.flickr.com/photos/calgaryphotos/6648240085/

Calgary - Grain Exchange Building - 1910

Edmonton - Alberta Legislative Building - 1912

http://punkoryan.com/2012/09/11/port...100th-birthday
http://onejourney.weebly.com/calgary---the-city.html

I couldn't find any substantial (stone) buildings in Edmonton older than the legislature. I am sure there are some... if anyone more familiar with the topic could shed some light on this.

Boris2k7 · #72 Posted **Apr 8, 2014, 5:46 PM**

One of the oldest historic sites in Alberta is Fort Chipewyan, which was established by the North West Company in 1788. That's before the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company opened up their two trading posts at Rocky Mountain House in 1799. Neither of the original structures still stand, save for some remains -- chimneys and pits and such -- recovered through archaeological excavations. There's not much left of the fur trade era in Alberta. It's a century of history that's been nearly forgotten.

craneSpotter · #73 Posted **Apr 8, 2014, 6:19 PM**

I believe Tod House in Victoria (Oak Bay) is considered the oldest intact house in western Canada. It was started in 1850.

Here is a cool subdivision map (View Royal area today) from 1860:

source

Quote:

Cooper’s 1860 subdivision plan, drawn up by surveyor Robert Homfray, called for large lots on both sides of the wagon road “to Sooke &cc”, now the Old Island Highway at the Four Mile Hill. The plan also shows a proposed canal along an old trail used as a portage by Indians between the Esquimalt Harbour and the Gorge – the origin of the name of Portage Inlet and View Royal’s Portage Park

craneSpotter · #74 Posted **Apr 8, 2014, 6:37 PM**

I believe there has been a restaurant/public house here since about 1856 - View Royal's Four Mile House:

1870s:

1928:

source

2013:

Andy6 · #75 Posted **Apr 8, 2014, 9:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by someone123

I think it's interesting though to see when settlement reached different parts of the province.

It's more of an "oldest and notable buildings" list, but that's true of all the other provinces as well.

I think a list including early buildings in all regions of Quebec is more interesting and informative about the history of Quebec than a laundry list of every 17th/early 18th century building in the Old Town of Quebec, even though technically speaking the latter is what the Wikipedia article calls for.

MonctonRad · #76 Posted **Apr 8, 2014, 11:25 PM**

We've already discussed the oldest building in Moncton (the Treitz Haus, 1769). I now present you the Free Meeting House (1821)

The Free Meeting House was built in 1821, and is one of Moncton’s oldest standing public buildings. It was constructed in the style of a New England Meeting House without steeple, bell or cornerstone. Its purpose was to serve as a home for all religious denominations until such time as individual groups could raise the money required to build their own churches.

The historic building was constructed mainly through the efforts of Ichabod Lewis, a Loyalist from Poughkeepsie New York, and Solomon Trites, whose grandfather Jacob Trites Senior’s land grant contained a large portion of modern Moncton. These two men, together with elder Joseph Crandall, a Baptist missionary, felt a great need for a place of worship opened to all faiths.

The Free Meeting House, and the adjacent original settlers graveyard are located immediately adjacent to the Moncton Museum, and are part of the Moncton Museum complex. Incidentally, the Moncton Museum itself is nearing completion of a major renovation and expansion with the opening of a "Transportation Discovery Centre", which will take place in the next couple of months.

ue · #77 Posted **Apr 8, 2014, 11:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Oldest buildings of Alberta...

Edmonton - Fort Augustus, Mark IV (Fort Edmonton) - 1846

http://www.fortedmontonpark.ca/image...image-gallery/

This is a rebuild, however. I believe the oldest original building in Edmonton is the 1881 Schoolhouse I posted earlier in the thread.

Mongo62 · #78 Posted **Apr 8, 2014, 11:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

I wonder how you'd respond to Calle de las Damas in Santo Domingo (the "oldest street in the Americas" - 1502!)? Off the plaza down from that street is the house of Diego Colon (yes, Chris's kid! - I think it dates to around 1510). It makes one aware of how out on the fringes of European colonization Canada was when you see the mighty civilization that the Spaniards had already build by the time Champlain sailed up the Saint Lawrence.

The Alcazar de Colon:

Sorry to stray from the topic. I adore Latin America's colonial heritage.

Here is a short UNESCO video about earliest colonial Santo Domingo, focusing on the Columbus family. It does simplify the history quite a bit, though.