1895 - Hamilton Area (As Seen By an American Visitor)

 

“Thought Well of Hamilton : The Very Favourable Report of an American Visitor.”

Hamilton Spectator. June 01 1895

 

“W. H. Farmer writes from Hamilton to the Rockton Illinois Herald, under the date of May 15, as follows:

“Thinking that some of my friends and the readers of your paper might be interested in a few lines I will jot down, giving you a bird’s eye view of the city of Hamilton as I found it some eight weeks ago.

“When I arrived here I found good sleighing and Hamilton bay completely frozen over. Hamilton is the second city in the province of Ontario, and occupies an alluvial plain lying between the bay and the escarpment, locally known as ‘the mountain,’ being the height over which the Niagara plunges.

“To get a view of the city, you take the incline railway up the mountain. After reaching the top, you can get a splendid view of the city, the bay and Lake Ontario. From the mountain, you look down on the beautiful city with 40 miles of sewer, 99 miles of water main and 25 acres of public parks.

“While standing overlooking the city, you will be struck with the beautiful view before you. First, the city with its 37 church spires pointing heavenward; second, the large number of school buildings which add so much to the city, also the Y.M.C.A. & the Y.W.C.A.

”Next your eye catches the beautiful bay, which in the summertime is dotted with row boats, sail boats and steamers; and looking across it, you can see the shore dotted with little cottages and tents, where the families of businessmen spend the summer months in boating and fishing. 

“One of the most exhilarating of winter sports is ice boating on the bay. When I arrived here on March 15, the ice was thirty inches thick, and I had the pleasure of taking a ride on one of the iceboats with some friends. We went across the bay and back at the rate of over a mile a minute. The boat is built in the shape of the letter ‘V’ the larger end goes ahead with rudder at the small end.

“I had the pleasure of taking a ride out some seven miles on the electric road towards Niagara. We stopped at Grimsby, a small town of about 1,500. About two miles from town is the celebrated Grimsby camp ground, where notable camp meetings are held during the summer months. The tabernacle, as it is called, will seat 4,000 people. It is a beautiful spot with nice trees and lawns and excellent water facilities. When you take the electric road at Hamilton for this place, you pass through the Pasadena and Riverside of Canada for fruit. All along the road you will see nice cottages, and hundreds of acres of land set out in fruit trees. No better peaches can be grown here. 

“Land is selling here from $40 to $500 per acre. Anyone, wishing to secure a home where they can spend a lifetime raising fruit and enjoying life, can do no better than come here. There is easy access to Toronto and Niagara Falls. The electric cars run past the small town of Fruitland (quite an appropriate name for this town every hour. 

“In my travels over the southern states and California, I do not think there is a city that has such comforts and so many facilities for pleasure, and all of easy access for rich and poor as Hamilton. It is eminently a place where people can live and enjoy all the pleasures of home.

‘W. H. Farmer