John Street (Hamilton, Ontario)

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John Street at King, looking North JohnStreetHamilton.JPG
John Street at King, looking North

John Street is a Lower City arterial road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Originally it was known as Mountain Road or Ancaster Road. It starts off at the base of Arkledun Avenue, a Mountain-access road in the city, just east of St. Joseph's Hospital, where it is a one-way street going north and tunnels underneath the Hunter Street Railway bridge and continues onward to the city's North End at the waterfront, where it ends at Guise Street East, the site of Pier 9.

Contents

History

Talk of creating a townsite at what is now the intersection of John and Main streets arose as early as 1809, but the war delayed the scheme until 1816 when George Hamilton and Nathaniel Hughson successfully promoted Hamilton as the judicial centre for the counties of Halton and Wentworth (the Gore District). [1]

GO Transit station, view from John & Haymarket Streets JohnHaymarketHamilton.JPG
GO Transit station, view from John & Haymarket Streets

When the Town of Hamilton was incorporated in 1833, one of the first orders of business was to find a suitable place for the town board to meet. For the first few years they made do with meeting in local taverns such as Thomas Wilson's Inn on the corner of John and Jackson Streets. [2]

John Street is also one of the original native pathways in the area. In 1837, the police commission officially named it John Street - a name originally chosen by George Hamilton (City founder), apparently in honour of a family of early settlers. [3]

The John A. Macdonald Statue at Gore Park arrived in Hamilton from London, England on 30 October 1893. Official dedication of the statue took place 1 November 1893. Originally, the statue was located at the intersection of King and Hughson Streets and pointed West. Prime Minister Sir John Thompson was in attendance. [4] Alexander Aitchison, a local Hamilton Fire Chief, died of injuries he sustained from crashing into the base of the statue with his horse and buggy and because of it, the statue was then relocated to Gore Park near King and John Streets only this time the statue instead of pointing West, now points East. [5]

Ronnie Hawkins came to Canada in 1958. His first gig was at the Golden Rail in Hamilton near the corner of King and John Streets where he became an overnight success. It was a result of Hawkins success in Hamilton that he decided to move to Canada permanently. His career spans over five decades and 25 records. His hits include, "Forty Days", "Mary Lou", and "Hey Bo Diddley". [6]

Landmarks

John Street South, walking tour JohnSouthHamiltonB.JPG
John Street South, walking tour
John Street South, walking tour JohnSouthHamiltonC.JPG
John Street South, walking tour
Hamilton Central Fire Station HamiltonCentralFireStation.JPG
Hamilton Central Fire Station

Note: Listing of Landmarks from North to South.

Communities

Note: Listing of neighbourhoods from North to South [9]

C.N. Railway tracks, LIUNA Station in background CNRailwayTracksHamilton.JPG
C.N. Railway tracks, LIUNA Station in background
Hamilton Hydro-Electric System Building HamiltonHydroElectric.JPG
Hamilton Hydro-Electric System Building

Images

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of events in Hamilton, Ontario</span>

Below is a timeline of events in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hughson Street</span>

Hughson Street is a Lower City collector road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It starts at Charlton Avenue East at St. Joseph's hospital and runs north to Haymarket Street in the downtown where it's cut off by the Hamilton GO Transit station. Up to this point it is a two-way street. It then starts up again north of the station on Hunter Street East, where it then becomes a one-way street going north just past Barton Street East to Murray Street where it's cut off again by a parking lot for LIUNA Station. It then starts up again one block north past the CN railway tracks on Strachan Street and from this point onwards becomes a two-way street again that extends to the city's North End to the waterfront on Guise Street West, the site of the Canada Marine Discovery Centre and Pier 9.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Street (Hamilton, Ontario)</span>

James Street is a Lower City arterial road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It starts off at the base of the Niagara Escarpment from James Mountain Road, a mountain-access road in the city. It was one of many arterials in the central business district converted to one-way operation in 1956 when the city retained Wilbur Smith and Associates to develop a Traffic and Transportation Plan. Parts of it were restored to two-way operation in 2002. It extends north to the city's waterfront at the North End where it ends at Guise Street West right in front of the Harbour West Marina Complex and the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Locke Street (Hamilton, Ontario)</span> Canadian road

Locke Street is a Lower City collector road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It starts off at Aberdeen Avenue as a two-way street going through the Locke Street shopping district up to Main Street where it then becomes a one-way street until it crosses King Street and becomes two-way again going north past Victoria Park and ends just past Barton Street West on Tecumseh Street, a road that winds West and leads to the back-end of Dundurn Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dundurn Street (Hamilton, Ontario)</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catharine Street (Hamilton, Ontario)</span>

Catharine Street is a Lower City collector road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It starts off at Charlton Avenue East at Woolverton Park in the Corktown neighbourhood as a one-way street (southbound), tunnels underneath the Hunter Street Railway bridge and stretches up to Barton Street East where it then turns two-way and cutoff by the CN Railway lines that cut through Strachan Street Park one block north past Barton. Catharine Street then resumes again on Strachan Street East, north of the Park again as a two-way road for 3 blocks and interrupted again at Picton Street East, the site of St. Lawrence Elementary School and resumes again north of this property on Macauley Street East, again as a two-way street for another 3 blocks where it's interrupted for a third time at Brock Street, the site of Eastwood Park and Eastwood Arena. Catherine Street resumes again north of Eastwood Park on Guise Street East and ends at the city's North End waterfront, the site of a Royal Canadian Navy base and Pier 9.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferguson Avenue (Hamilton, Ontario)</span>

Ferguson Avenue is a Lower City collector road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is a two-way street throughout that starts off at the base of the Mountain on Foster Street. It's interrupted 3 blocks north at Corktown Park where Canadian Pacific Railway lines passes through it. Ferguson Avenue resumes again north of the Park right before Hunter Street East, extending northward past Barton Street East through the city's North End industrial neighbourhood where it ends on Dock Service Road, the site of a Royal Canadian Navy base and Pier 10.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wentworth Street</span>

Wentworth Street is a Lower City arterial road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It starts off at the base of the Niagara Escarpment (mountain) on Charlton Avenue East just south of the CP lines and runs right through the city's North End industrial neighbourhood and ends north of Burlington Street East at Pier 14, which one time was used by International Harvester (1902–1992).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barton Street (Hamilton, Ontario)</span>

Barton Street is an arterial road in the Lower City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It's also the longest street (21.0 km) in the city. It starts at the north end of downtown at Locke Street North and is a two-way street that stretches eastward through a number of different and varied communities in the city and ends in Winona at Fifty Road just west of the Hamilton/Niagara regional boundary. The street is divided in East and West portions, divided by James Street. However, the East designation does not continue through the Stoney Creek district, which was a separate municipality prior to amalgamation in 2001, and the designation as well as the address numbering system were not restructured upon amalgamation, and numbers reset at the former city limits at Centennial Parkway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannon Street (Hamilton, Ontario)</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilson Street (Hamilton, Ontario)</span>

Wilson Street is a Lower City collector road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It starts off at James Street North and works its way East and ends at Sherman Avenue North. The section between James Street and Ferguson Avenue was a one-way road, but was converted to a two-way street at 10 am on December 10, 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King Street, Hamilton, Ontario</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Main Street (Hamilton, Ontario)</span>

Main Street is a street in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunter Street (Hamilton, Ontario)</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">York Boulevard</span>

York Boulevard is a Lower City arterial road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Formerly known as Highway 2 and Highway 6, it starts in Burlington, Ontario at Plains Road West as a two-way arterial road that wraps around and over Hamilton Harbour, enters the city of Hamilton in the west end at Dundurn Park, and ends at James Street North. It has a one-way section from Queen Street to Bay Street North, and continues east of James Street North as Wilson Street.)

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References

  1. Bailey, Thomas Melville (1981). Dictionary of Hamilton Biography (Vol I, 1791-1875). W.L. Griffin Ltd. p. 143.
  2. "City Hall town meetings at local Taverns- 1833". Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-26.
  3. Houghton, Margaret (2002). Hamilton Street Names: An Illustrated Guide. James Lorimer & Co. Ltd.
  4. "Sir John A. Macdonald statue, 1893". Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-26.
  5. Houghton, Margaret (2003). The Hamiltonians, 100 Fascinating Lives . James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers Toronto. p.  6. ISBN   1-55028-804-0.
  6. "The Hamilton Memory Project;" (Press release). The Hamilton Spectator- Souvenir Edition page MP43. June 10, 2006.
  7. "Statue info. at myhamilton.ca". Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
  8. Statue info. at myhamilton.ca
  9. "Hamilton Neighbourhood Boundaries, (map.hamilton.ca)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-05-11.