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After Hamilton was first incorporated as a police village in 1833, business began to expand, particularly because of the canal
that had been cleared through the beach and the subsequent increase in shipping traffic.
The proximity to the harbour made James Street North an optimum place to open a business.
The earliest buildings were made of wood and very susceptible to fire.
In November of 1832, a good portion of downtown was destroyed by fire and further businessmen began constructing of
more substantial materials such as stone and brick.
Provision was first made for a market when the police village of Hamilton was incorporated in 1833 and the market itself
opened for business in 1837. This existed on primarily the same site on the block west of James Street North between
the city hall and Merrick Street ever since, although the layout has changed many times over the years.
This is the market looking east towards James Street prior to 1888.
And this is the market looking east at city hall after 1890.
In this early 20th century view of the market, we can see that a lot of the
farm wagons have been replaced by automobiles.
Standing on the east side of James Street, we have a view of Market Square across the street.
The businesses were expropriated in 1969 for the construction of Jackson Square
and the expropriation sale signs are very visible.
The entire block bounded by King Street West, James Street North, Merrick Street
and Bay Street was scheduled for demolition .
Some of the stores that were vanishing from Market Square included the Cut Rate shoe store,
the Athletic House Hotel and Maher Shoes.
This image of the inside of Jackson Square shows approximately where Market Square and these stores would have been.
Also on this block was the Majestic restaurant, which had been opened by Dan Kuzoff, a Macedonian immigrant,
in 1933. It was a 150-200 seat operation serving good food at good prices.
It was a middle of the road restaurant with no liquor license.
Frequent diners there included politicians such as Mayor Lloyd Jackson and future Mayor Vic Copps.
As with all the other businesses in the area, the restaurant was expropriated for the construction of Jackson Square in
1969. Unlike some other businesses, however, the restaurant was never re-located and closed permanently.
Moving along to the west end of Market Square, some of the other businesses included the Downtown Meat Market,
Reward Shoes, the Bank of Montreal and Parke & Parke Drug Store.
In 1876, Walder Parke and Charles McGregor created McGregor and Parke Drug Store at 1 Market Square.
In 1904, they moved to this four storey building at the corner of MacNab and Market Square.
The thermometer mounted on the corner of the building was used as the official
temperature gauge for Hamilton for many years.
The business incorporated as Parke & Parke in 1917 and they were involved in
manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade. Parke & Parke grew to become the largest
pharmaceutical manufacturer and supplier in all of Canada.
After expropriation, the store moved and eventually Parke & Parke became part of the Big V Drug Store chain.
As we begin our journey down James Street North, we pause at the corner of King and James streets.
This view is pre-1890, and shows the old city hall on the left.
The Hamilton Street Railway's first route in 1874 was 3.5 miles of track on James Street North from Stuart Street to King,
constructed at a cost of $7,000 per mile. There were 6 cars with a seating capacity of 14 passengers each.
Horses were purchased and housed at the stable on Stuart Street.
Here we are standing at the corner of King and James in the 1890s looking north.
The tracks on James Street North with the overhead wires for the trolley cars are clearly visible.
Trolley cars were very popular for a long time but were eventually replaced by diesel buses.
This is a streetcar turning the corner at King and James on its last trip on April 6th, 1951.
The north-west corner of King and James highlights the distinctive Westinghouse clock that was there for many years.
The windows on the top floor were specifically to let the light in for the old photographic studio housed there.
The lower floors housed a variety of offices.
After the expropriations were finished, the buildings on that corner were demolished
for the construction of Civic Square, later renamed after Mayor Lloyd D. Jackson.
This is the current entrance to Lloyd D. Jackson Square.
As we start down James Street, the first block to consider is on the east side, from King Street to King William Street.
In this view, you can see Oak Hall, Stanley Mills, T.H. Pratt and Graftons.
Mills Hardware was one of the many enterprises started by the Mills family of Hamilton.
The first store was located at 94 John Street South and opened in 1906.
They opened branches on King Street East, James Street North, Ottawa Street North, Main Street East as well as
Burlington and Galt. By 1960, there were only two stores left and by 1962 they had all closed.
The James Street North Mills Hardware store appeared in the Hamilton City Directory from 1904 to 1935.
The original Grafton's Department Store opened in Dundas in 1853. It became
highly successful and by 1900 had expanded to Hamilton, Brantford,
London, Peterborough and Owen Sound. The Hamilton store was located on James Street North, just north of King Street.
The four storey building was constructed in 1895 and specialized in boy's and men's
clothing. Later, they added a line of women's clothing as well.
On February 12th, 1917, the store was completely destroyed by fire.
Thousands gathered to watch the fire department fight the blaze in sub-zero temperatures.
As fast as they poured water on the building, it froze. The store and its
contents were completely destroyed. They had to wait until the weather improved and the ice melted
before they could proceed with the demolition and the building of the new store on the same site.
The new Grafton's opened on Saturday, January 5th, 1918. The Grafton's stores were merged with Jack Fraser in 1967
but the opening of Jackson Square, right across the street, marked the death knell for the store.
They couldn't compete when their business dropped by 50% when the mall opened.
They held a closing sale in June of 1973, putting an end to a 78 year tradition in downtown Hamilton.
Zellers opened on March 23rd, 1929 as Schulte-United. The site had been the former T.H. Pratt Company and the new
store was erected, including demolition, in a record breaking 56 days.
In 1931 Schulte-United was declared bankrupt and Walter P. Zeller acquired the rights to the Canadian stores.
It re-opened as Zellers on November 12th, 1931. The store was re-modeled and enlarged in 1951 at a cost of $750,000,
making it the most modern store in the entire chain.
The Zellers lease ran out in 1988 and the owner, Isis, applied for a demolition permit and City Council refused to designate it
as an historic building, as the owner wanted to build a new building on the site.
The last day it was open as a Zellers was September 10th, 1988.
The building was demolished and remains a parking lot to this day.