1890s Hamilton

 It was a prominent home of a prominent Hamilton family. A fixture on the east side of Catharine Street south, south of Hunter street, the O'Reilly Homestead was in October 1899 soon to be demolished. On October 9, 1899, the Hamilton Times published a fond farewell to the house : “Houses made with hands are not eternal. Some of them stand a long time, however. Before the snow flies, a house which has stood the cold blasts of winter and the scorching suns of summer for nearly a century will be gone : another of Hamilton’s landmarks will have passed away. The house is the O’Reilly homestead at the northeast corner of Catharine and O’Reilly streets. It will be torn down in a few weeks by Thos. Allen & Son, contractors, who intend to erect a number of modern brick houses on the site. “Few, if any, of Hamilton’s oldest citizens can recall when the house came into the possession of the late Justice Miles O‘Reilly , father of Major J.E. O’Reilly, Master-in-Chancery, the present oc...

  The end was near for the major railway construction project in 1895 Hamilton. A tunnel right through the heart of the city was nearing completion. However, it all had to be done by January 1, 1896 for the railway to earn the substantial bonus which had been agreed upon by the City of Hamilton. In mid-November, a reporter for the Toronto Globe came to Hamilton. His extensive summary of everything related to that line, the Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway was published in the  November 16, 1895 Saturday edition: (Special Correspondence of the Globe.) “Hamilton, Nov. 16. – The construction of the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway through the City of Hamilton, now nearly completed, photogravures of which appear in this issue, is one of the largest undertakings that has ever taken place within its corporate limits, and when completed will mark a new era in the City’s history. In fact, the beneficial effects have already been largely felt by the results from the fin...