Mountain Memories presented by Bob Williamson
This series of articles relating to people, places and events of historical significance in the Hamilton community are written on behalf of the Hamilton Mountain Heritage Society by Hamilton Historian Robert Williamson. They are presented here with the permission of the author. This is an ongoing series of articles and new entries are being added at regular intervals. Anyone who wishes to contact Mr. Williamson directly concerning these articles may do so via e-mail at robertwilliamson1025@outlook.com.
D-DAY MEMORY, LEST WE FORGET – May 2024
As a boy In 1944, I remember that my uncle sent a souvenir to me from his crash landing in Normandy. It was a pocket-sized piece of broken plexiglass from his glider windshield, engraved with the winged Pegasus symbol of his 6th Airborne Brigade….
THE GREATEST IMPOSTER! January 2024
Peter C. Newman, a famous veteran journalist and author “with no peers”, who died in Belleville at the age of 94. What, you may ask has
that got to do with the Hamilton Mountain?
CHEDOKE’S INUIT REVISIT REVIEWED – September 2023
Some of the most outstanding pages of Hamilton’s medical history can be found in the centennial history entitled, “CHEDOKE, More Than A Sanatorium.” Being the book’s Editor enables me to provide a better interpretation of why fifteen Inuit elders, recently revisited Hamilton in July this year….
HAMILTON’S VERSION OF A” titanic” STORY – August 2023
On Tuesday, August 8, a Naval Memorial Service was held at 7:00 p.m. at Confederation Park for the 1813 sinking of the “Hamilton and Scourge”, two merchant schooners converted to American gun ships, the latter formerly the British ship Lord Nelson…..
THE MOUNTAIN’S HOCKEY DEVELOPMENT – July 2023
The purpose of this story, promoted by Jo Brouwer, is to enrich Hamilton’s Mountain sports heritage……
JUNE 6TH A DEFINING HERITAGE MOMENT – June 2023
When it comes to writing stories about our heritage, the month of June offers many history changing events for Canadians, such the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. Most people tend to overlook the fact that it coincides with another invasion right here in our own backyard, otherwise known as the Niagara Peninsula on June 6, 1813….
OUR LINK TO FAMOUS SONGSTRESS – May 2023
This month’s beautiful Mountain story began when I was doing background research for a song as a member of the mountain’s Kaleidoscope Singers, preparing for an April 30th Spring Concert with the St. Andrews United Church Choir at Upper Paradise and Mohawk roads. You may ask, “What has that got to do with Mountain heritage”? …
OUR MOUNTAIN NAVAL WOMEN OF DISTINCTION – April 2023
Seldom do we have the opportunity to present a story about the Hamilton Mountain that embraces significant National status. However, that is the basis for this submission to the Hamilton Mountain News. …
OUR NAVAL RESERVE CENTENNIAL – March 2023
Woven seamlessly into the social, economic and everyday fabric of our Mountain and Regional community is the national fiber of our Citizen Sailors …
CITY HALL BELL HERITAGE – February 2023
Finding a heritage story related to current events is always a challenge especially for a Community Newspaper like the Mountain News. However, Spectator columnist, Mark McNeil provided an excellent premise for a Mountain related story to start the New Year in a timely fashion …
MOUNT HAMILTON’S OLDEST PARK– January 2023
At the turn of the century, Tom Morris, a city councillor, prodded his fellow councilors to set aside funds to help beautify the escarpment edge overlooking the city from the Albion Ravine in the east to Chedoke Falls in the west…
THE MERRY SIDE OF CHRISTMAS– December 2022
Hamilton Mountain has one of the oldest Community Choirs performing Christmas music in four part harmony. They are called the Kaleidoscope Singers indicative of the great variety of their music program and colorful sound. They have been performing for the last forty years at a wide selection of venues. …
REMEMBERING A FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR’S STORY – November 2022
On Remembrance Day we are asked to remember the dangers that were faced by our veterans in war zones. We seldom give a thought to the dangers faced while under training. Accidents, particularly when flying, are invariably deadly as the cemeteries associated with the 107 British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) airfields located across Canada will attest. …
SOUTHAM PARK UNDER-UTILIZED – October 2022
Recently described by a landscape architect firm as lacking in amenities, Southam Park, on the very edge of the Niagara Escarpment at the top of the Claremont Access, once known for its magnificent city views, now has very little scenic visibility. Accessibility of any kind is limited and made unsafe by five lanes of high speed traffic. Is it any wonder that to observers it gives the impression of a passive under-utilized neighborhood park! …
OUR OBSCURE NAVAL HERITAGE IS GOOD READING – September 2022
In his well written and timely FLASHBACKS Column in the Spectator, Mark McNeil recently reviewed the August 8, 1813 sinking of two merchant schooners, converted to American gunships for the War of 1812 on Lake Ontario. He raised a very relevant question. How did two 1812 American warships named “Hamilton” and “Scourge”, sunk eleven km off the entrance to the present Welland Canal, somewhat remote from the City of Hamilton, end up on the city’s heritage inventory in Confederation Park? …
MEMORABLE NAMES AT CRESMOUNT – August 2022
To add more dignity to the visitation facilities at Cresmount Funeral Home on Fennell Avenue, Manager Phil Seagrove decided to give his conventional viewing rooms and parlors, memorable names associated with the history of the Hamilton Mountain community…
Remembering Col. Wm Gourlay– July 2022
The Dictionary of Hamilton Biography, Volume 1 tells us that Gourlay emigrated to Canada in 1836, settling in Binbrook. He joined the Gore Militia as second in command under Allan MacNab becoming Lt. Colonel in command after MacNab’s retirement in 1841. …
REMEMBERING HAMILTON’S D-DAY VETERAN ARTIFACTS– June 2022
Examples of large military machines surviving World War II are rare in Canada, especially those that are veterans of major battles on distant shores such as Normandy. With the Anniversary of D-Day, June 6th 1944, approaching, what better time to take an inventory of our local military heritage. …
INVERNESS SPELLS “DEDICATION, ROMANCE AND LONGEVITY” May 2022
In a tight-knit Concession Street community like Mount Hamilton, one can expect to find a storied past of dedication. Naturally that may be found in association with a former neighborhood school like Inverness just as we have seen more recently in the struggle to save Sherwood Secondary School. …
MOUNT HAMILTON’S OLDEST SCHOOL – April 2022
The increase in the number of school age children on Hamilton Mountain was inevitable. In 1920 there were rumors of expropriation of Barton Township property
south of Concession Street and the Province had raised the mandatory school age from 14 to 16 years. …
EDUCATION ON MOUNT HAMILTON PART 1– March 2022
Schools in 1860 were few and far between in rural areas where funds were limited. That was the year when the Bray family on Stone Road, now the Mountain’s Concession Street, donated land to build a Union Mission as a meeting hall for protestant denominations. It served as a church, community hall and classroom until Barton Township could afford to build a public school …
A MOUNTAIN PARK AVENUE STORY – February 2022
At the beginning of the 20th Century, City Councillor, Tom Morris, made himself a constant thorn in the side of fellow legislators over funds to beautify the escarpment edge …
HISTORIC SITE LOST IN PLAIN VIEW – January 2022
Along Mountain Park Avenue, virtually on the edge of the escarpment, east of Juravinski Hospital, is a string of substantial apartment buildings with a magnificent view of the city. Unexpectedly, a landscape curiosity appears on the road side. It is an old crumbling garden wall with a wrought iron gate and driveway entrance going nowhere. …
MOUNTAIN RESIDENT JACQUELINE FORTUNE – December 2021
Jacqueline, an ardent student, earned her teacher’s license in 1881 and was hired by Adam Inch of the Barton Township Board to teach at “The Mission”, a multi-purpose hall serving as a school and church on Concession Street across from the present-day library. …
MOUNTAIN’S ROLE IN REMEMBRANCE DAY CREATION – November 2021
For the month of November, it is now appropriate to show how these stories brought to light the role that Hamilton Mountain played in the creation of Remembrance Day…
IF A FAMILY PORTRAIT COULD TALK – October 2021
When looking at a family portrait, I feel that the individuals are looking back at me. Their faces and body language tell me a story and with research I try to uncover their life experiences. …
SHARING ENTERTAINING MEMORIES – September 2021
According to Glenn Simpson who lives a short walk from the Mountain Brow near Sam Lawrence Park, memorable experiences are a blessing to be retrieved and shared with others. All you need is an ignition point. …
HOW AN ARCHITECTURAL GEM WAS SAVED – August 2021
In June, for the 155th anniversary of the Battle of Ridgeway, this heritage column connected Hamilton’s Mountain militia volunteer, Captain William Wells and
the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry to that significant 1866 historical event. This month we’ll follow that same William Wells as a contractor to the often overlooked
mountain community of Hannon at the intersection of Rymal and Dartnall roads to investigate the mystery of one of the city’s missing 150 year old architectural gems …
MOUNTAIN MEMORIES IN OLD THEATERS – July 2021
The Incline Railway reminded Sharon about how her father as a boy used it to deliver movies from downtown theaters to a new theatre on Concession Street in the 1920s. I said, “How interesting! I think you have just given me a story idea.”…
RIDGEWAY 1866: A MOUNTAIN MEMORY – June 2021
Hamilton, so close to the American border, inevitably became a significant part of Canada’s legacy of invasions across the Niagara frontier. The first week of June is celebrated annually for the Battle of Stoney Creek victory on June 6, 1813, but sadly the significant Battle of Ridgeway fought on June 2, 1866 is all but forgotten. …
A TRAGIC DAY IN MOUNTAIN HISTORY – May 2021
June 3, marks the anniversary of the Mountain’s most ghastly 1914 accident. It would be all but lost in time if it had not been for Ken Babin’s curiosity about his old
Mount Hamilton house. ..
HOSPITALS MUST GROW AND ADAPT – April 2021
In May 2020 this Mountain Memories column told the story of the Long and Bisby Building. It serves as an important reminder of the Chedoke Hospital’s Legacy
with that hospital’s demise. On December 8, 2020 Mark McNeil’s Spectator Flashback column alerted readers to the doubtful future of the former Maternity Hospital as part of Mount Hamilton Hospital’s legacy. …
RYCKMAN NEIGHBORHOOD How It Became A Loyalist Nucleus – March 2021
Part of our Mountain Memories mandate has been to trace the ethnic heritage of groups who pioneered the virgin expanse of the Hamilton Mountain. In the beginning it was Loyalist refugees escaping the turmoil of the American Revolutionary War, by following the Mohawk Trail to 100 acre of free land grants from the
Crown.. …
DOWN MEMORY LANE – February 2021
Hidden away in the prominent Centremount neighborhood at the top of the Claremont Access east of Upper James Street, you will find the innocuous sounding “Bull’s Lane”, wedged against the escarpment edge by streets with more ostentatious names like; Rosedene, Wycliffe, Harbourview and Belvidere.. …
BECKETT HOUSE 1900 – 2020, A Captivating Sequel – January 2021
In our October 2020 column the Henry Beckett family history was narrated, setting the stage for the visionary construction of Beckett Drive by the oldest grandson, Fredrick Henry Beckett ca. 1900. Hedy Kral, the current owner of the old Beckett house on West 18th Street saw that story and came forward providing more details to help flesh out the Beckett House saga. …