scotto
07-07-2013, 12:51 PM
“From the book, "The Sand Strip" by Dorothy Turcotte.
As the years went by, a number of hotels sprang up along the Beach. The best known, and still the oldest operating tavern in Ontario is Dynes, established in 1846. City folks gladly braved the deplorable dirt road or the choppy ride
across the Bay in order to enjoy one of John Dynes' famous fish or duck dinners.
Dynes Hotel was destroyed by fire in 1882, but was quickly rebuilt. Its grounds were the site of many large picnics and sports events. For example, when the plumbers and gasfitters held their picnic at Dynes, about 600 people attended to enjoy baseball, swimming races off the floating wharf, a fishing match, and dancing to Makins' string band. For many years, Dynes was headquarters for the Annual Beach Fete which featured swimming and boating races, sports, and even in later years, aviation stunts over the lake. When Dynes discontinued the Fete, it was carried on by another group of people under the name of Beach Day.
Other hotels along the Beach were Wells' Tavern, the Lakeside, the Sportsman's Arms, Corey House owned by Jake and Lou Corey, Perry's Hotel and Martin's Pleasure Gardens. The best of these hotels had wharfs on the bayside of the beach strip. Steamers from Hamilton brought boatloads of fun-seekers to these wharfs and, the proprietors hoped, into the hotels. Ontario and Mazeppa were two of the popular ships on this run.
On one occasion, the steamer Ontario had trouble docking at Martin's in rough weather. Some of the passengers were impatient and began to jump from the ship onto the wharf. Rotten planks on the dock gave away, plunging some of the people into the bay. Three children were drowned. At the investigation which followed, emotions ran high with the proprietor being accused of neglect and even murder. In the end, however, no charges were laid.
On December 20th, 1874, George Thompson wrote that "The Old Tavern burned." The embers glowed until the 30th. About a month later, three men from Hamilton came to look at the site, and within four days work had begun on a new tavern. "The Old Tavern" was Baldry's. From its ashes, like the phoenix, rose a new hotel, the Ocean House.
When the Ocean House opened for business in May of 1875, Captain Campbell, who replaced George Thompson as lighthouse keeper, reported that more than 430 vehicles crossed the Canal by ferry to visit the new establishment.
The following year, the Birley brothers added an annex to the Ocean House. It contained a bowling alley, billiard room, a bar, and a ballroom.
The new hotel brought so many excursionists to the Beach that a writer in The Times on August 21st, 1879
complains that "the sidewalks from the Canal to the Ocean House are blocked by a lot of hucksters, targets for shooting and other obstructions . . . the hucksters come not only from Hamilton and vicinity, but from Toronto, Caledonia and other places. . . If the annoyance is allowed to go on it will seriously affect the popularity of the Beach."
In the spring of 1895, however, steps were taken to tidy up the Canal Reserve. A photographer's gallery, an ice cream stand, an ice house and a candy shop were ordered removed. Seats were placed under the trees, and orders were given that swimming in the Canal and camping were forbidden.
The Ocean House was a popular resort until Wednesday, July 17th, 1895. On that day, the hotel was unusually busy as the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club and the Victoria Yacht Club were having" a joint regatta.
According to the Hamilton Herald report, when one of the Ocean House bartenders opened the cellar door, smoke and flames poured out. Within minutes, the whole annex was ablaze, and soon after the entire hotel went with it. Hamiltonians could see the flames across the Bay. Many watched from the tower of the City Hall and other vantage points in the city. Those who owned boats went out onto the Bay to watch the conflagration. The resort was never rebuilt.”
It seems that the Ocean House Hotel had an outdoor skating rink (for some reason called ‘the New York Skating Rink’). In 1885 , the rink was redesigned by architect Charles Willer Mulligan.
http://dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/architects/view/1496
I wonder when the skating rink was first built.