Canadian skylines of the past

[Chadillaccc]

Most definitely Calgary's, and possibly maybe all of Alberta's, most devastating historic loss, the Southam Building. At around 45 meters, it was the tallest "historic" office building in the province.



http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/postcards/PC010279.html


Also, the Hotel Carlton is a tragic loss as well...


http://www.albertaonrecord.ca/is-glen-1284

[davidivivid]

Great videos about historic Quebec City which can be found on the City's mobile app.


• Video Link


• Video Link


• Video Link

[J.OT13]

Gotta love those Québec videos.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Thanks for posting those videos!

[Chadillaccc]

http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/postcards/PC005274.html

http://calgarypubliclibrary.com/blog...=featured&pg=3

http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/postcards/PC005804.html

[SignalHillHiker]

Awesome Calgary shots!

[MolsonExport]

Great QC vids

[thomax]

Hamilton - 1970's


The tallest building in this photo is the BDC Building, formerly known as the IBM Building, which was brand new at the time of this photo:

Source


The Arkledun Apartments are under construction in the foreground and 100 King Street West (formerly the Stelco Tower) can be seen under construction in the background:

Source

[SignalHillHiker]

A few more from Memorial University's archives. Most of these are 1890-1930:

Tram network and stops:





Cavendish Square:



Back when the British described St. John's as the worst-planned city on earth, and remarked at how the same street could half or triple in width in the span of a block.



View from the Basilica:



Crosbie Hotel:



Look toward Quidi Vidi Lake back in the day. Not how Old Town stops like a brick wall:



And a view up Signal Hill back in the day. That's Cabot Tower in the upper right:



The gritty, industrial West End, centered around St. Patrick's Church:



And the more upper class East End:

[MonkeyRonin]

Really cool pics, SHH. If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought they (especially #4, 5, 7, and 8) were from a city in Central Europe or Scandinavia or something.

Originally Posted by MeIsThomas

The Arkledun Apartments are under construction in the foreground and 100 King Street West (formerly the Stelco Tower) can be seen under construction in the background:

Source

And in another case of mistaken identities, scrolling up from the bottom I seriously thought this was Montreal, with PVM under construction in the background and everything.

[ScreamingViking]

Nice additions to the thread MeIsThomas

That was around the midpoint of Hamilton's 1960s-70s boom, before big industry changed or closed up and the city began its long painful economic restructuring. It must have really been something to see all that happening.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Really cool pics, SHH. If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought they (especially #4, 5, 7, and 8) were from a city in Central Europe or Scandinavia or something.






And in another case of mistaken identities, scrolling up from the bottom I seriously thought this was Montreal, with PVM under construction in the background and everything.

Same here, with a cursory glance.

[someone123]

Looking North from Province House in Halifax on Remembrance Day 1928. The larger building on the right side is the old Royal Bank head offices from the 1870's. I've never seen a picture of the building from this perspective before. The building on the far right was a Bank of Montreal branch. The one with the columns was CIBC and is still there.


Source

Here's another great one. Hollis Street, 1871. The building in the foreground, the Halifax Hotel, was built around the time when steam ship travel became popular circa 1830.


Source

I like this one because these buildings are mostly still around. Granville Street, 1871. Not a lot of cities were building like this back then:


Source

[SignalHillHiker]

That Granville one is impressive!

Even the ceiling height of that British Ware(s/house) on the left side is unusual.

[someone123]

Many of those are cast-iron facades. These were built in the 1850's when Granville was still ahead of Barrington as the prime shopping district in the city. Barrington pulled ahead in the 1880's and 90's.

Here's the same perspective in 2012:


(google streetview)

The buildings at the end are the Pentagon Building and Ordnance Yard. They came down in the 60's. Too bad:


Source

[thomax]

Hamilton, 1920's

The Piggott Building is under construction in the center of the photo. James Street runs down the middle of the photo and the James Street Incline Railway is in the foreground.


Source

[roccerfeller]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/postcards/PC005274.html

http://calgarypubliclibrary.com/blog...=featured&pg=3

http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/postcards/PC005804.html

Wow!! Great finds chad.

The crescent heights shot especially blows my mind

[Chadillaccc]

The once beautiful Cecil Hotel. Now plagued by a history of untold numbers of murders, attempted murders, prostitution, and seediness. It's been closed since 2009, once the city bought the land and had it closed down. In 2008, the police received 1700 calls to the hotel because of stabbings or unprovoked attacks, fights, etc. It is to be redeveloped as part of the East Village. I really hope they restore it to its former beauty.





This is unfortunately what it looks like today...


http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/10...-and-darkness/

[franktko]

Fire station 10 in 1938 (Saint-Mathieu near Maisonneuve):



Same buildings today:
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.4944...yUv1iMRfKA!2e0

[SignalHillHiker]

From Memorial University's archives, one more of St. John's:



And three of St-Pierre, France - on an island just off Newfoundland's south coast.

Palais de Justice, 1903:



Cafe du Midi, 1900:



Square Joffre, Place du Lieutenant Colonel Pigeaud, 1894: