The Prints of King

It's long, very, very long stretching from the McMaster campus right through Stoney Creek.

It's old, dating back to the very roots of the community.

It runs right through the heart of the city.

It meanders through the city, running north of Main Street, then suddenly dipping to the south.

And it's home - or has been - to many of Hamilton's finest buildings, grand churches, various hotels, old schools, several parks, as well as countless stores and commercial buildings.

Of course it's King Street which at one point in time had its source at Cootes Drive - or Highway 102 back then - and goes as far as Green Road. And it can be a bit confusing, going from two-way, to one-way, and then back to two-way as it traverses across the city. A 1947 photograph shows that King Street went halfway across the McMaster Campus coming to an end near the Sunken Gardens. A later photograph shows the roadway dissecting the entire campus. But then, with plans underway for the Mac Medical Centre, Hamilton's main arterial road was stopped up so that today it ends at Forsyth Avenue.

It's a long road, not quite the longest in the city as Barton takes that honour, and wide, especially in the downtown area.

The Prints of King offers a fascinating look at this street, with photographs filled with nostalgia and history.

There are photographs from one end of the street to the other, with old buildings, street scenes, buildings long gone, and a look at parts of the street from the air.

The photographs show a vibrant street, one which has evolved over the years, one filled with memories.

Dettagli