Hamilton: A People?s History
Pioneers, soldiers, merchants, murderers, workers and bosses--all contributed to the colourful history of the tough, attractive city of Hamilton.
Dundurn Castle is a historic neoclassical mansion on York Boulevard in Hamilton. The 18,000-square-foot (1,700 m2) house took three years and $175,000.00 to build, and was completed in 1835.
Designed by a young English Architect, Robert Wetherall, Dundurn was built around the brick shell of Colonel Richard Beasley's colonial home. Designed as a fashionable Regency style villa, Dundurn (Gaelic for "strong fort") was nicknamed "Castle" by the citizens of Hamilton. The Castle, with its gardens, grounds and many unusual outbuildings, was one of the finest estates in the province.
Today, Dundurn Castle has been restored to the year 1855 when MacNab was at the height of his career as a lawyer, landowner, railway magnate and Premier of the United Canadas (1854-56). Over forty rooms, above and below stairs, have been furnished to compare the life of a prominent Victorian family with that of their servants. Costumed staff guide visitors through the home, illustrating daily life from the 1850s.
Pioneers, soldiers, merchants, murderers, workers and bosses--all contributed to the colourful history of the tough, attractive city of Hamilton.
From the Hermitage ruins to Dundurn Castle, from the Customs House to Stoney Creek Battlefield Park, the city of Hamilton, Ontario, is steeped in a rich history and culture. But beneath the surface of the Steel City there dwells a darker heart ? from the shadows of yesteryear arise the unexplainable, the bizarre, and the chilling.
Beach Boulevard, Mud Street, Sulphur Springs Road, Paradise Road, the Jolley Cut -- street names are a vivid and living embodiment of a city's history, of the dreams, passions and workaday concerns of its citizens. Love, murder, betrayal, political intrigue -- all are present in this engaging new book about Hamilton's past.
One of the most fascinating figures in Canadian history, Hamilton's Sir Allan Napier MacNab, was a charismatic character who lived large in the political and business world of his day. Born into a genteel family on the fringe of the powerful Family Compact, MacNab began his career as a boy soldier in the War of 1812, then dabbled in the theatre before beginning a law practice.
Tours featuring this location.
Castles in Ontario? Okay, it's a bit of a loose definition for Open Book Explorer. Ontario may not be Scotland or England or any other European country, and we may not actually have authentic castles but we do have massive houses once designed to look like castles. And these places have some great history and stories of their own. That counts for something right? We think so and it's why we've got a tour set up with some good books to go with it.