Turn of the century architecture

Edmonton has been around for a long time and it began as a fort for the Hudson Bay Company back in the 1700s. In 1755 Anthony Henday became the first European to scout the area around the North Saskatchewan in response to the French starting to intercept the routes that the natives were using to get to HBC trading posts in the east. The first of many trading posts that was set up in and around the modern day location of Edmonton was established in 1795 but it wasn't until the introduction of the railway link to Calgary in 1891 that things really started kicking off. Alberta became a province in 1905 and the most prominent building from the time is the Alberta Legislature building on the edge of the valley which was built from 1907 to 1912. This period of about 10 years marks the transition from Edmonton the community to Edmonton the city. There was a boom in both population and construction around that time that is still visible in the daily skyline if you know where to look. It was with this history in mind that I took the camera out on the way home from work and snapped some of these shots of the beautiful turn of the century architecture that is nestled in amongst the more modern skyscrapers of Edmonton.


McKay Avenue Public School, 100th Ave - keystone laid in 1904


Armstrong Block, 104th St - 1912


The Great West Saddlery Co building, 104th St


The side of the Shaw Building, 103rd St - 1913


I don't know what Spot Cars are but at least they have somewhere to park!


Awesome old door closing mechanism behind the Shaw building

Much of the info here about the history of Edmonton was found on this excellent site.