991 Beach Blvd...

Collings

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Dec 24, 2004
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#1
Does anyone know what happened to 991 Beach Blvd.?...I grew up in that house - 1959-1970...I hope it wasn't simply demolished as there was a bit of history in those walls....

Bob Collings, Winnipeg
 

scotto

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#2
Hi Bob;
Thanks for taking the time and joining up. I will check later on my way to work, but I think that 991 is one of the brand new houses just built down here and in my opinion, the nicest.
If it's the one I'm thinking of, it is (or was) located beside Pandora Ave and was kind of a log cabin. I will post a picture of how it looks now.
Bob, lets us know if you have an oldie pic around.
Thanks Scotto :D
 

Collings

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#3
You are quite right..the new house at 991 is wonderful...imagine my surprise when I saw it instead of the log house I grew up in...and the house across pandora where the Mattinsons lived has really been nicely upgraded....I chatted with the fellow who lives there when I drove through the area last summer...
The log house had started off as one wing of the old Hamilton Fort..which was built prior to the war of 1812...It was moved by teams of horses, a trip which took 6 weeks around 1918, to the location on the Beach Strip where it was turned into a gentlemans club..hence the Moose above the front door..My parents bought it around 1960, enclosed the porch and rented out the 2 apartments...We lived there until 1970...
 
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scotto

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#5
For a then picture of 991, or until Collings possibly comes up with one, page 103 from Gary Evans book "Prints Along the Beach" is the same house dated 1908 and Gary writes that the house was demolished . Thanks again to Gary.

991 BeachBlvd.jpg


Another picture from a postcard shows the front porch again but with a different set of guests, two look like they are paid staff.

KnockaboutClub.jpg
 
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eeoj

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Dec 24, 2004
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#7
Photo of 991 Beach Blvd.

Here is a picture we have in the family archives of our former home. I remember it had a stone flower garden in the front yard, and the tracks and sand dunes right out back. Every room had a door leading to the outside.

Elise (Collings) Leung


(Edit, our site was hacked and most pictures were removed, I have added two to replace Elise's donation, hopefully one is the right one, Scott.)
 

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scotto

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#8
eeoj said:
Here is a picture we have in the family archives of our former home. I remember it had a stone flower garden in the front yard, and the tracks and sand dunes right out back. Every room had a door leading to the outside.

Elise (Collings) Leung
Hi Elise; :wavey:
Great first post, that's just how I remember that house. The early guests must of had their own room, therefore they needed their own door. I wonder what famous people did stay there and where did those antlers end up??? Elise, if you have find anymore good ones, please post them.
Thanks, Scott :D
Just to add to Collings claim of the log house being delivered by a team of horses. I was thinking how difficult a task this would been, moving a large structure through Hamilton past bridges and all those wires across the streets. Now I have been informed that it was brought across the harbour during the winter when the bay was frozen solid.
Fire Insurance maps from 1900 show the property to be empty with no structures shown, Gary Evans book photo was dated 1908, therefore the house could of been set there after the map date. The map would have the original street name, before 1958 it was named 2nd Ave then changed to Pandora Ave after the Beach becoming a part of Hamilton. Also, anyone checking the Insurance Maps would see that the addresses are not in line for what we have today, in 1900 the Beach addresses started at the canal and not the Van Wagner's cut off.
 
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Collings

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#9
Not that its terribly important now...but there was 2 bedrooms, and both had doors that exited to the front hall....there were 3 doors..one on the front..or south wall..one on the east wall..and the last was on the west side of the house, but faced south - it being a door off what we used as the laundry room.
The picture was taken in the very early 60's when my father was still driving the 2.5 litre Riley that spent most of life in the garage...the upstairs apartment had 2 doors, one facing south and a fire exit facing north, while the "back apartment" had but one door
 

eeoj

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#10
If I remember correctly, all the doors were because it was a log cabin- everyone needed a quick exit route in case of Indian attack. At least this was the story I was given as a child.
 

scotto

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#11
eeoj said:
If I remember correctly, all the doors were because it was a log cabin- everyone needed a quick exit route in case of Indian attack. At least this was the story I was given as a child.
So, the Indians only attacked log cabins??? :DGood one Elise. :laugh3:
 

David O'Reilly

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Dec 15, 2012
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#13
Collings
"You are quite right..the new house at 991 is wonderful...imagine my surprise when I saw it instead of the log house I grew up in...and the house across pandora where the Mattinsons lived has really been nicely upgraded....I chatted with the fellow who lives there when I drove through the area last summer...
The log house had started off as one wing of the old Hamilton Fort..which was built prior to the war of 1812...It was moved by teams of horses, a trip which took 6 weeks around 1918, to the location on the Beach Strip where it was turned into a gentlemans club..hence the Moose above the front door.."

If it was the owners of the current house that tore down the log structure, they should know what year that was. And with that date, there must have been a Hamilton Spectator article written about it. And maybe the article would indicate if any of the logs were saved. Maybe by the Hamilton Conservation Authority for something at the West Field Heritage Centre?
 

scotto

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#14
If it was the owners of the current house that tore down the log structure, they should know what year that was. And with that date, there must have been a Hamilton Spectator article written about it. And maybe the article would indicate if any of the logs were saved. Maybe by the Hamilton Conservation Authority for something at the West Field Heritage Centre?
Like many of the houses on the Beach, they were demolished by the City and the lot left vacant for many years, so the current owners would not of been in the picture when the log house was removed.
 

scotto

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#16
I was under the impression that the logs were saved and moved to a museum somewhere on Lake Erie and reassembled.
There are a few on Lake Erie, if it is still around then it shouldn't be too hard to find. We had a sub get refurbished here in Hamilton and sent to a museum also on Lake Erie, could be the same place.
Good to hear from you again.
 

David O'Reilly

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#17
Collings
12-24-2004, 04:24 PM
“You are quite right..the new house at 991 is wonderful...imagine my surprise when I saw it instead of the log house I grew up in...and the house across pandora where the Mattinsons lived has really been nicely upgraded....I chatted with the fellow who lives there when I drove through the area last summer...
The log house had started off as one wing of the old Hamilton Fort..which was built prior to the war of 1812...It was moved by teams of horses, a trip which took 6 weeks around 1918, to the location on the Beach Strip where it was turned into a gentlemans club..hence the Moose above the front door..My parents bought it around 1960, enclosed the porch and rented out the 2 apartments...We lived there until 1970...”

Collings, I find this really interesting. I have several questions.

(1) Where was the old Hamilton fort located
(2) ? was the log house moved to the beach by the owners of the gentlemans club?
(3) Did the gentlemens club own the log house and the land where it was located on the beach?
If it did, it would be interesting to resurch land records to find the name of the gentlemens club.

Finally, I have a hard time believing that a log building built before 1812, would have survived in to the 1970s. if it did, it must have undergone a lot of restoration.

scotto
10-28-2013, 08:42 PM

“Like many of the houses on the Beach, they were demolished by the City and the lot left vacant for many years, so the current owners would not of been in the picture when the log house was removed.”

Scott, why ddid the city remove houses just to leave the land vacant?
It would be interesting to know exactly when the house was torn down. And then to find out if at that time there was a local historical board. And if there was, if it had any objection to the distruction.

And if the house was drawn across the harbour rather than around it, why did it take six weeks?






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scotto

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#18
scotto
10-28-2013, 08:42 PM

“Like many of the houses on the Beach, they were demolished by the City and the lot left vacant for many years, so the current owners would not of been in the picture when the log house was removed.”

Scott, why ddid the city remove houses just to leave the land vacant?
It would be interesting to know exactly when the house was torn down. And then to find out if at that time there was a local historical board. And if there was, if it had any objection to the distruction.

And if the house was drawn across the harbour rather than around it, why did it take six weeks?

__
The City had big plans to make the whole Beach Strip one big park and started buying up properties as they came up, which wasn't an issue as many wanted to sell because of the ongoing flooding and pollution problems. The Burlington side of the strip is going through the same problem now with the City trying to change what little residential housing that is left to parkland. There is now a big push back by the area residents which is what happened on Hamilton Beach back in the early 80's. The Hamilton Beach Preservation Committee was born and the rest is history, the Beach was saved.

As for taking six weeks to move, I can only assume the jacking up and removal from foundation was included in the move, that would take most of the time involved.
 

David O'Reilly

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#19
Scott,

“The City had big plans to make the whole Beach Strip one big park and started buying up properties as they came up, which wasn't an issue as many wanted to sell because of the ongoing flooding and pollution problems. The Burlington side of the strip is going through the same problem now with the City trying to change what little residential housing that is left to parkland. There is now a big push back by the area residents which is what happened on Hamilton Beach back in the early 80's. The Hamilton Beach Preservation Committee was born and the rest is history, the Beach was saved.

As for taking six weeks to move, I can only assume the jacking up and removal from foundation was included in the move, that would take most of the time involved.”

Scott, rather than buying the properties as they came up for sail, do you know why the city didn’t just expropriate all of the houses that it wanted?

I would think that The city must have records regarding the number of houses that it bought and tore down in a file or department on this proposed park project.
 

David O'Reilly

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Dec 15, 2012
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#20
Collings
12-24-2004, 05:24 PM
“You are quite right..the new house at 991 is wonderful...imagine my surprise when I saw it instead of the log house I grew up in...and the house across pandora where the Mattinsons lived has really been nicely upgraded....I chatted with the fellow who lives there when I drove through the area last summer...
The log house had started off as one wing of the old Hamilton Fort..which was built prior to the war of 1812...It was moved by teams of horses, a trip which took 6 weeks around 1918, to the location on the Beach Strip where it was turned into a gentlemans club..hence the Moose above the front door..My parents bought it around 1960, enclosed the porch and rented out the 2 apartments...We lived there until 1970...”

Collings,

Do you know when the house was moved to the beach?
It sure would be interesting to know what happened to it.

Scott, were there ever any other log houses on the beach? either built on site, or moved from other locations?



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