Canadian skylines of the past

[SignalHillHiker]

Today is the anniversary of the Great Fire of 1892. The Newfoundland Historic Trust is tweeting the events from the perspective of a kitchen maid, at the time they actually happened.

They mention one of the bigger losses:



And a few pictures from MUN's archives.

The view from the Athenaeum's roof, pre-1892:



The Athenaeum after the Great Fire:



The rest of the city.

East End, looking West:



Central, looking East:



Quick update:

I always knew that only four people perished in the fire, which was considered a miracle at the time. But I've never, not once, learned their names:



And another tidbit:



Tent cities were constructed in various parks throughout the city to house the homeless - 12,000 people.

[Chadillaccc]

Installation of the Olympic Cauldron in 1987

Source: ATCO Gas - http://www.atcogas.com/Our_Centennial/Timeline



Calgary during the 1988 Winter Olympics

Source: Windsor Star - http://www.windsorstar.com/sports/20...047/story.html

[SignalHillHiker]

Vintage St. John's is trying to figure out where this photo is from. It was in a collection from Newfoundland, but it's not. We weren't part of Canada at the time, and drove on the opposite side of the road. Any ideas?

[SignalHillHiker]

Watched a bizarre Canadian documentary clip that seems to imply Newfoundland was part of Canada during the First World War, and incorrectly states that this was when the Royal Newfoundland Regiment was created.

BUT two interesting bits. A view of the massacre at Beaumont Hamel being announced to the people in St. John's from the steps of the Supreme Court on Water Street:



And a clip from that day's edition of The Telegram, with The Battery neighbourhood in the background:

[kwoldtimer]

An aerial shot of industrial Kitchener from the late 1950s or early 1960s. King St runs diagonally from lower right to upper left and the CN line cuts across the upper part of the picture. Kaufman Rubber (now Kaufman Lofts) can be clearly seen, as can the Lang Tanning Company (now the Tannery high tech hub - lower left). Many of the large factories, including B.F. Goodrich (now the site of UofW School of Pharmacy), Kitchener Button, and the Blue Top (later Dow) Brewery are long gone. A number of the factories flanking the train tracks are still there, including Merchant Rubber (now Breithaupt Block) and Krug Furniture (one of the few original plants still in operation).

[Chadillaccc]

A cool comparison, between 1980 and 1989.

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Also note East Vic Park is actually a full community.

Originally Posted by RM14

[SignalHillHiker]

Impressive changes, Chad!

A couple of cute ones from Vintage St. John's lately...

St. John's women performing for American soldiers at the USO building in my neighbourhood:



The very first letter issued out of Newfoundland upon joining Confederation with Canada in 1949.



And some of the houses at the edge of the Central Slum that were good enough to keep when the neighbourhood was bulldozed in the 1950s, but quickly fell into disrepair throughout the 60s-80s.

[Chadillaccc]

and from the exact same vantage point as the two most recent pics I posted... the "city" of Calgary, as it appeared in 1885, with a population of around three thousand. This is a year before the "great fire" which destroyed a large part of downtown, and led to the mandate that all large downtown buildings must be built of Paskapoo Sandstone. Thankfully the fire killed no one, and without it, we may not have the beautiful sandstone structures that line many of the inner city streets today.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgary

[ue]

The East Vic Park part of those photos is amazing. It's so different today. What happened to that area to become a sea of parking lots? Clearly not just the Saddledome as it was still intact in 1989.

[Boris2k7]

Originally Posted by ue

The East Vic Park part of those photos is amazing. It's so different today. What happened to that area to become a sea of parking lots? Clearly not just the Saddledome as it was still intact in 1989.

A lot of the houses were boarded up already in those photos or were being rented out by slumlords. The Stampede went around buying up the properties from landowners (many of whom were happy enough with being able to get out of there) and knocked down a lot of the buildings. The parking lots are a result of over three decades of failed redevelopment planning. As stated several times on this board (by myself in this thread, but several pages ago), the Stampede is largely incompetent as a land developer... whether that's because they've been unable to secure funding or they just can't get their ducks in a row doesn't really matter.

[drawarc]

Ottawa Postcard, circa 1970:


https://www.facebook.com/LostOttawa/...type=3&theater

[Architype]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Vintage St. John's is trying to figure out where this photo is from. It was in a collection from Newfoundland, but it's not. We weren't part of Canada at the time, and drove on the opposite side of the road. Any ideas?

http://i61.tinypic.com/mmgdbd.jpg

That house style doesn't look like Newfoundland at all, it certainly would be more typical of western Canada.

[onanewday]

It would be great to put up a picture of Calgary from today to see how much more the downtown has changed since then... for perspective.

I love seeing pictures showing the evolution of cities and seeing how much they have changed over time. Toronto blows me away for how much their skyline has changed over time. But that could be said for many Canadian cities.

[beatlesque]

The ongoing transformation of The Forks and Upper Fort Garry area of WPG - National Historic Site and Provincial Park. This area is found at the confluence of the Assiniboine (left) and Red (right) rivers. Historical anecdote: The name Winnipeg comes from the Western Cree words for "muddy waters".



Before - rail yard area:


More recent - Canadian Museum for Human Rights (scheduled to open September 2014), Forks market and Children's Museum, Inn at the Forks, riverside walkway and boat landing, Esplanade Riel pedestrian bridge re-establishing historic link to French St.-Boniface district at right across the river, Shaw Park baseball stadium, extensive green spaces and First Nations areas, revitalized Union Station:



Proposed re-development of shaded area above, including residential and green spaces to replace surface parking lots beside the museum:











Across the street to the left of the Forks Market, the former Upper Fort Garry site is being re-developed as a provincial historical site, with part of the old wall and a new green-roofed interpretive centre:

Painting of historical fort:




http://www.theforks.com
http://www.upperfortgarry.com

[Calgarian]

The Forks really is a phenomenal urban space, especially for a smaller city!

[SignalHillHiker]

It really is. And it's a success. It's busy, it's packed, it's used. It's not deserted like similar developments can unfortunately sometimes be.

[Coldrsx]

Forks are quite envious by many of us.

[Xelebes]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Vintage St. John's is trying to figure out where this photo is from. It was in a collection from Newfoundland, but it's not. We weren't part of Canada at the time, and drove on the opposite side of the road. Any ideas?

The architectural style does not scream St. John's.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

It really is. And it's a success. It's busy, it's packed, it's used. It's not deserted like similar developments can unfortunately sometimes be.

It's interesting to see how many railyards were repurposed in the 80s into successful urban redevelopments. Winnipeg has the Forks, but Toronto has a new high-density urban neighbourhood anchored by a stadium and an arena, Edmonton has a university, housing, office towers and soon an arena, Montreal has a dense urban neighbourhood... it's pretty impressive. A lot of these projects have done quite well.

[Deepstar]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

The Forks really is a phenomenal urban space, especially for a smaller city!

Agreed!