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.

Spring has sprung and so must we

With a week of temperatures hovering above zero and the last few days hitting double digits on occasion, I'm calling it. Spring is here. Snow mould is in the air (hear me sneeze) the rubbish that was thrown into snowdrifts is making its festy appearance known and our snowman has finally breathed his last smoky breath. Here is old Frosty a few days ago.


Melted Frosty

It's all much better than that of course! I'm able to walk to work now which is helping ease away some of the winter buildup and allowing me to capture some of the interesting buildings and things to and from work. And it's no longer quite the same rigmarole getting ready to leave the house, trying to find scarves, gloves, a beanie, a warmer coat, pulling on warm shoes etc. And best of all, I'm not going to be quite so upset about all the good skiing I've missed out on and the cabin at the lake is about to be reopened for the season. All good stuff. It's nice to feel a bit of warmth in the sun again.

We're gonna party like it's 1955

We hosted Heather's 30th birthday party at our place on the weekend and for reasons still lost in the mist of time, it had a 50s theme. Now a 50s theme is great, it allows you to dress up like a greaser, or put on a poodle skirt, play the golden oldies without retribution and really get into the old school hors d'ouevres like celery with cheese whip and olives wrapped in ham with those toothpicks that have coloured cellophane on the end of them. Good fun. Best of all it allows you to see your significant other dressed as a 50s housewife which is probably as good a present as any!


a 50s icon - the housewife

Of course, with a wife like that, a gentleman really should do all he can to impress, which calls for a cravat.


Another relic from the 50s - the cravat