# Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in Winter 2013; Downtown



## Jaybird (Sep 8, 2003)

I paid my first real visit to the nearby city of Hamilton, Ontario (120 km or about 70 miles) on the weekend of February 1, 2013. I spent the weekend in the city of 520,000 taking a picture tour of downtown, toured the city's famous historic 19th century mansion, Dundurn Castle, attended a Hamilton Bulldogs AHL hockey game (they are the farm team of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens), toured Durand, one of Canada's most architecturally diverse neighborhoods, Locke Street Village, and went to a theatrical play at Theatre Aquarius.

Also, I have a statement to make. To anyone who has gotten a negative impression of the city of Hamilton for its steel mills passing by on the PLEASE DON'T LET THE STEEL MILLS FOOL YOU, because behind it is a vibrant growing city with great civic pride and a sense of community with lots to see and do! If you come to this great city with an open mind like I did, I'm sure you will get the same impression.

In the past a long time ago, I know I have said some negative comments about the city, but that's because I didn't know the city well and because I took too much pride in London, the city closest to me, and to the people on the forums who live in or like Hamilton and take pride in their community, I sincerely apologize and take back those comments. 

We start with the Friday portion of the tour, which includes downtown, Dundurn Castle, and the Bulldogs hockey game at Copps Coliseum!

I came to Hamilton by bus from Kitchener and stopped at the former Toronto, Hamilton, and Buffalo railway station downtown, which now serves as Hamilton's GO Transit station and bus depot. Here is the interior of the building.









Exterior of the station on Hunter Street, built in 1933









Here I am greeted nicely by the city's tallest building on the right, Landmark Place and the downtown campus of McMaster University, former Wentworth County Courthouse



























Commercial Block on Main Street, Hamilton Club in the middle









Bank of Montreal building









St. Paul's Church, completed in 1857, with the BDC Building behind









Landed Banking and Loan Company Building









Looking up at Hamilton's oldest skyscraper, the Pigott Building, built in 1929


















Ellen Fairclough Building on the left and Commerce Place Towers on the right


















Downtown from Gore Park, the city's main downtown park...









Effort Square Complex and Landmark Place









Royal Connaught Hotel building, formerly a Howard Johnson hotel, soon to be transformed into a major condominium project. Will be a big boost for downtown Hamilton!




































Looking up at Landmark Place, at 127 metres and 43 storeys, the tallest building in Hamilton.


















Rear of the Royal Connaught Hotel, as you can see by the initials, it was once a Howard Johnson.









Dominion Public Building


















Downtown YMCA









Pigott Building


















HSBC Building









King Street


















John A. Macdonald Statue in Gore Park









Treble Hall Block, I believe this is on John Street









King Street again...













































Queen Victoria statue in Gore Park









The newly-restored Lister Block building









Jackson Square Shopping Mall, part of the large Lloyd D. Jackson Square Superblock









Commerce Place









Looking up at Stelco Tower, tallest office building in Hamilton and second-tallest overall in the city.









My hotel, the recently-opened Staybridge Suites hotel. This hotel was absolutely amazing! Would recommend this to anyone staying in Hamilton!









View from my room, looking south towards Main Street...









Bella Towers under construction, renovating an abandoned building on Main Street near Caroline









New Homewood Suites hotel under construction downtown, I like this, because Hamilton could use some more nicer hotel rooms downtown, IMHO!









Frank and Teressa's Anchor Bar restaurant, home of the original Buffalo wing, it is the first franchise of the famed Buffalo, New York based birthplace of the Buffalo chicken wing. It just opened the day I arrived in Lloyd Jackson Square









Art Gallery of Hamilton









Looking up at Commerce Place









Sheraton Hotel, also part of the Lloyd Jackson Square complex









Standard Life Building and Sheraton









Looking up at the Standard Life Building



























View of downtown from behind the foundation for a McMaster University Medical Campus to built downtown, was on the site of the former Wentworth Board of Education Building









Hamilton City Hall









The renowned Hamilton Place Theatre









Superior Courthouse, former Hamilton Public Library









BDC Building and former Library









Copps Coliseum, the city's 18,000 seat arena, home of the Hamilton Bulldogs AHL hockey team and hopefully soon-to-be home of one of the NHL's money-bleeding franchises!




































Hamilton Public Library









View of downtown on York Boulevard from Dundurn Park









Dundurn Park


















Gates leading to...









Dundurn Castle!









Dundurn Castle was the home of former Prime Minister Sir Allan Napier MacNab. Was built from 1832-1835 at a cost of $175,000. At the time it was built, it was the largest private mansion in Canada. The building is owned by the city of Hamilton and it serves as a living museum. Side note: the duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles, is an ancestor of Sir Allan Napier MacNab and his daughter, Sophia.









Dundurn Castle Historic Plaque









Bust of Sir Allan Napier MacNab


















Inside the castle...































































Those lights on the right you see are gas lights...




































The magnificent front of the Castle...






















































Rear of Dundurn Castle...









Awesome view of Lake Ontario, looking towards Burlington



























This logo appears on almost all the city's lights, at least downtown...









Downtown in the early evening...


















City Hall









Canadian Football Hall of Fame









Whitehern Historic Site and House









Tailgate Charlie's Sports Bar downtown









Hope you enjoyed part one of my Hamilton trip! Part two coming soon with Durand and Locke Street Village!


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## the_sage (Nov 27, 2009)

Nice robust town, i'm convinced the hammer will rise again!


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## marlonbasman (Apr 21, 2012)

wow! this city is surprisingly large and beautiful, I'm completely amazed.


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## Mr.Falcon (May 1, 2012)

My goodness, what a grey place!! For a country so cold as this, the city should be more colorful!!


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Really great, very nice photo-presentation of Hamilton. Well done :cheers:


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## Chadoh25 (Dec 28, 2007)

Great photos! Wish I got to spend more time there in Sept!


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## Jaborandi (Nov 19, 2006)

Excellent tour Jaybird. Thanks!


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## capricorn2000 (Nov 30, 2006)

its nice of you of showing us around the city which I never thought it's this big.


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## Jaybird (Sep 8, 2003)

Mr.Falcon said:


> My goodness, what a grey place!! For a country so cold as this, the city should be more colorful!!


It is when it's sunny out. It was overcast, cloudy, and snowing on/off all day.

Thanks for good comments, everyone!


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## MilbertDavid (Nov 23, 2012)

I'm surprised that this city has old high-rise art decos, and the new buildings are impressive.


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

All cities in the Northern Hemisphere are kind of grey on a cloudy cold winter day. Can't be helped. Beautiful pictures, Jaybird! Really enjoyed that tour! :cheers:


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## Jaybird (Sep 8, 2003)

Here is the second part of my visit to the city of Hamilton, Ontario on the weekend of February 1, 2013. I toured the neighbourhoods of Durand and Locke Street Village.

Durand is one of the city's oldest neighbourhoods, located south of downtown. It contains some of the most architecturally diverse collection of homes in the country.

Durand is named after James Durand, an Upper Canada businessman. The neighborhood's population is about 12,000.

Starting just south of downtown on Hunter Street… here is the start of Part 2 of my Winter 2013 Hamilton photo tour… as you can tell, it was cold and dreary day with flurries, but that didn't stop me!

Hamilton Central Public School, built in 1853, was the largest school in Upper Canada when built and could accomodate 1,000 students. Still used today.









Looking up at one of Hamilton's many apartment buildings









Historic house where CHCH-TV first started. Located at 163 Jackson St. West









CHCH-TV, Hamilton's TV Station









Front entrance to the house









Side of the CHCH-TV building


























Another empire home across from CHCH-TV on Jackson Street









Bella Towers construction on Main Street, it was formerly an abandoned municipal building









With all these tall apartment buildings and old houses, it reminds me a bit of Chicago's Gold Coast


























High-rise apartments on Bold Street



























































































































































Condominium development in Durand


























































Durand Park


















































































































The more south you go towards Aberdeen, you'll run into some of the city's oldest mansions like this one...

















































































































































































































































These homes are on Ravenscliffe Avenue

































































As you can tell, these homes are on a hill with Hamilton Mountain (part of the Niagara Escarpment) behind

















































Homes on Turner Avenue

















































































Looking towards downtown from the area of Durand on Hamilton Mountain

















































Ballhinich House on James Street

















More homes on Aberdeen Avenue

























































































Homes on Herkimer Street

















Hamilton Central Presbyterian Church, completed in 1908

































Locke Street Village is a business district located on Locke Street South in the city's west end, founded in 1850. It contains numerous boutiques, stores, shops, services, and restaurants, as well as a number of churches.


















































Chuck's Burger Bar, where I ate lunch, I believe this was on a show on the Food Network, along with a few other Hamilton restaurants...



































































These are back downtown, La Cantina Italian Restaurant, where I ate a delicious supper that night! This restaurant has been rated tops in "Toronto Life" magazine and voted best Italian Restaurant in the GTA (even though Hamilton isn't in the GTA).









Theatre Aquarius, one of Hamilton's Performing Arts Centres









Hope you all enjoyed part two of my Hamilton Winter 2013 tour! COMING SOON: night shots of the city!


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## Jaborandi (Nov 19, 2006)

Once again Jaybird, thanks for a very impressive tour of Durand. What an incredibly elegant and stately neighbourhood.


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## Jaybird (Sep 8, 2003)

Here is the third and final part of my Hamilton Winter 2013 Phototour. This is the NIGHTTIME phototour! These are all shots of downtown taken during the evening of a cool, clear night. I had a tripod with me at the time and most of these shots came out great! I took all these after the Bulldogs' hockey game @ Copps Coliseum

Without further ado, here's my night pictures of downtown Hamilton!

City Hall









Hamilton Place Theatre









BDC Building with Landmark Place in the distance









Hamilton Convention Centre and Ellen Fairclough Building









Standard Life Building and Sheraton Hotel


























Art Gallery of Hamilton









Historic Whitehern House









McMaster downtown campus and Landmark Place

















Hamilton GO Centre, former Toronto, Hamilton, and Buffalo railways station









Stelco Tower, Commerce Place, and a church









Stelco Tower and Commerce Place









These shots were taken from the City Hall parking deck 

































BDC Building and St. Pauls Church










































Commerce Place

























Gore Park and Downtown from above Jackson Square


















Looking up at the Stelco Tower

























Jackson Square


























Pigott Building


















King William Street, one of downtown Hamilton's artsy streets









Theatre Aquarius









Landmark Place and Effort Square

















Rear of the Hamilton Public Library in Jackson Square Plaza









Sheraton and Standard Life Building 









Back of Copps Coliseum

















Hamilton Public Library and Farmers Market

















Copps Coliseum and Standard Life Building on Bay Street

































Standard Life Centre @ Lloyd D. Jackson Square

















Inside the Standard Life Centre

















This building has a remarkable atrium









































Now for skyline shots galore! These were taken from Sam Lawrence Park on Hamilton Mountain, I played with different settings and angles






























































































































































































Hope you all enjoyed my night shots of Hamilton!


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## softee (Mar 6, 2003)

Great pics!


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## Magnum PEI (Mar 17, 2013)

Great tour. Thanks so much for showcasing this fine city.


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## flar (Mar 7, 2006)

The old girl's looking pretty good. 

Thanks for the excellent tour!


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## isaidso (Mar 21, 2007)

One of my favourite places in Canada. Thanks for the tour.

*GO TI-CATS!*


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## DaveF12 (Nov 25, 2011)

nice city and I particularly love those old quiant houses.


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## Jaybird (Sep 8, 2003)

Thanks for all the great comments, everyone! Hamilton is, indeed, a gorgeous city!


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## MyGeorge (Mar 4, 2012)

quite a nice city - the old heritage buildings and houses are truly beautiful.


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## Linguine (Aug 10, 2009)

thanks for the great photos from Hamilton, more please.


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## paul62 (Jan 27, 2012)

Interesting.


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