This document provides an overview of the history of Gore Park in Hamilton, Ontario through a series of images and captions spanning from the 1800s to present day. It describes the individuals and events that have shaped the park, including its founding, the addition of monuments and statues such as the Sir John A Macdonald statue and Cenotaph, and the evolution of the central fountain area over time. A walking tour is provided with insights from the archivist at the local history archives.

1. Walking the Gore

2. Gore Park Walking Tour
with Margaret Houghton
Archivist, Local History & Archives
Hamilton Public Library

3. George Hamilton (1788-1836), the founder of the City of Hamilton

4. Edward, Prince of Wales during his tour of Canada in 1860

5. Opening of the Gore Park Fountain on May 24, 1860

6. The Kerr Drinking Fountain at the west end of Gore Park, donated in 1860 by Archibald Kerr

7. Gore Park in the 1870s with turnstile gates

8. Gore Park in the 1880s with locked gates

9. Gore Park in the 1880s

10. Gore Park and James Street South in the 1890s

11. A drawing of night time revelry in Gore Park in the 1890s

12. Soldiers drilling on King Street East beside Gore Park

13. Mayor James Vernall Teetzel in 1898

14. New electric light standards in Gore Park, 1909

15. The Gore Park washrooms in Gore Park at Hughson Street

16. Gore Park in the 1930s

17. Benches in Gore Park in the 1940s

18. Gore Park decorated for Hamilton Centennial in 1946

19. An aerial view of Gore Park in the 1960s

20. Chopping down the trees in Gore Park in 1983

21. Demolishing the proposed concession buildings in Gore Park in 1983

22. Gore Park in the late 1980s

23. A nude statue placed in Gore Park in April of 1985 was removed after 6 hours for lack of a permit
to display in a public park

24. Art show in Gore Park in the 1990s

25. Gore Park Summer Promenade, 2012

26. Sir John A. Macdonald (1815-1891) First Prime Minister of Canada

27. The Macdonald Committee, chaired by Senator William Eli Sanford, who planned the memorial
statue to Sir John A.

28. Before the Sir John A. Macdonald statue was unveiled in the intersection of King and Hughson,
November 1, 1893

29. After Sir John Thompson, the current prime minister, unveiled the Macdonald statue on November
1, 1893

30. The two cannons flanking the Sir John A. Macdonald statue are British 24-pounder naval guns
from the War of 1812

31. Fire Chief Alexander Aitchison (1855-1905) died of injuries sustained in a collision with the Sir John
A. Macdonald statue

32. The Sir John A. Macdonald statue was moved into Gore Park in 1907

33. Laying wreaths at the Sir John A. Macdonald statue on the occasion of the 150th birthday of
Macdonald in January of 1965

34. The ‘oil derrick’ flagpole in the Gore Park extension stood from 1900 to 1921

35. William Russell Souter (1894-1971) was the architect of the Cenotaph in Gore Park

36. The Cenotaph in Westminster, London, England which was the model for the Cenotaph in
Hamilton

37. Governor General, Viscount Byng of Vimy unveiled the Cenotaph on May 22, 1923

38. Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph

39. Major John Weir Foote, V.C. speaks at the Cenotaph on the anniversary of Dieppe, August 19, 1946

40. Veterans’ Place was dedicated June 5, 2006

41. The opening ceremonies for the original Gore Park fountain on May 24, 1860

42. The Kerr Drinking fountain, west end of gore Park, was donated by Archibald Kerr in 1860

43. The Gore Park fountain was decorated for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation on June 2, 1953

44. Dismantling the original Gore Park fountain in September of 1959

45. The three circular fountains donated by the Kinsmen Club in 1960

46. The Hon. Ellen Fairclough (standing in for Prime Minister Diefenbaker) with Mayor Lloyd D. Jackson
at the official dedication of the Kinsmen fountains on February 19, 1960

47. Problems with the Kinsmen fountain in 1960

48. The Kerr Drinking fountain just before removal in the 1960s

49. The new oval fountain with coloured lights was officially turned on October 23, 1970

50. On October 30, 1970 the new fountain was full of soap bubbles

51. Archie McCoy’s foundry cast the replica fountain for Hamilton’s Sesquicentennial in 1996

52. The replica Victorian fountain erected for Hamilton’s Sesquicentennial was turned on October 19,
1996

53. The rusting fountain before it was disassembled for repairs in 2009

54. The restored fountain was turned on again May 8, 2010

55. Queen Victoria (1819-1901)

56. Louis-Philippe Hébert of Montreal designed the Queen Victoria statue

57. Governor General Lord Earl Grey arrived to unveil the Queen Victoria statue on May 23, 1908

58. School children under the direction of Professor James Johnson sing O Canada at the unveiling

59. Adam Brown gives a eulogy for the late Queen at the unveiling

60. Cleaning Queen Victoria in 1958

61. Cleaning Queen Victoria in 1988

62. Governor General Jeanne Sauvé at the rededication of the Queen Victoria statue on June 20, 1988

63. Leo the lion had his tail broken off in 1967 and restored in October of 1988

64. Questions?
For more information visit
Local History & Archives at the Hamilton Public Library