Castle Kilbride
Castle Kilbride
Castle Kilbride is the former residence of James Livingston, a Canadian member of parliament, and owner of flax and linseed oil mills.
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.
On this tour you'll make your way from Hamilton to Toronto - or vice versa, depending on where you start. Five stops and a bit of driving, but you'll get to visit the home of one of the men responsible for the Great Western Railway, and a mansion that once housed a secret research facility during the Second World War. These places hold many stories - from heartbreak and financial ruin to clandestine fraternities - plus artwork and artifacts.
For reading, we recommend Bill Freeman's well-researched Casa Loma: Canada's Fairy Tale Castle and its Owner Sir Henry Pellat - which offers a throrough history - and of similar ilk, Edward Smith's Dundurn Castle: Sir Alan MacNab and his Hamilton Home.
Other Tours to Consider:
Castle Kilbride is the former residence of James Livingston, a Canadian member of parliament, and owner of flax and linseed oil mills.
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.
One of Hamilton's most prominent buildings on the famous Queen Street, the Scottish Rite Castle was one the home of George Eliot Tuckett - a wealthy Hamilon entrepreneur who co-founded the Tuckett and Billings tobacco company in 1865 with his then-partner John Billings. The building was finished in 1895 and Tuckett lived there until his death in 1900.
Casa Loma is a Gothic Style house with gardens located in midtown Toronto. It was built over a three year period from 1911 - 1914 by Sir Henry Pellatt - who upon its completion only lived there for ten years before leaving. At 98 rooms covering 64,700 square feet (6,011 m2), it was the largest private residence in Canada at the time. It houses bowling alleys, secret passages, stables and grounds, and an oven large enough to cook an ox.
The De La Salle College Heritage House was originally built on land purchased from the Anglican Church by Senator John MacDonald in 1860. Dubbed "Oaklands" due to the abundance of surrounding oak trees, the mansion was completed with a tower observatory that would provide MacDonald with a clear view of Lake Ontario some 5 kilometres to the south.
Enrich your experience by reading books about the places on your tour!
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.
This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of Casa Loma, Toronto's most famous historic site, and its owner, Sir Henry Pellatt.
Pioneers, soldiers, merchants, murderers, workers and bosses--all contributed to the colourful history of the tough, attractive city of Hamilton.
Unbuilt Toronto explores never-realized building projects in and around Toronto, from the citys founding to the twenty-first century. Delving into unfulfilled and largely forgotten visions for grand public buildings, landmark skyscrapers, highways, subways, and arts and recreation venues, it outlines such ambitious schemes as St. Alban's Cathedral, the Queen subway line and early city plans that would have resulted in a Paris-by-the-Lake.
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.
Other tours that might be of interest.
John Goddard's Inside the Museums is the perfect book to accompany this tour of all the designated heritage sites of Toronto. Toronto, as one would guess, is a culturally alive city that has not only lived through but helped foster some of the watershed moments in Ontario history.