Take a look at some old pictures of the Hamilton Radial Railway that used to run from Oakville to Hamilton and see how it looks today.

(Click on the photos below to enlarge them)

The Radial Railway

1906 - 1925

This is the only remaining station of the Hamilton Radial Railway which carried people (like a San Francisco Cable Car) from Oakville to Hamilton. For years after it shut down, people would walk across this radial bridge to get downtown or to school. In 1960 it was torn down and replaced by the Anderson Bridge (that is why we have the parkette on the corner of Rebecca and Forsythe called Anderson Bridge Parkette).

Electric Trolley Bridge

This bridge was in place before Randall Street and Rebecca Street were linked up with the new road bridge over Sixteen Mile Creek. It used to carry electric trolleys from Hamilton until their cessation in 1926. Until 1960 it was used as a pedestrian footbridge.

 

1962 World Pairs Skating Homecoming

Following their 4th place finish in the 1960 Winter Olympics in Sqaw Valley, US, Canadian skating siblings Otto and Maria Jelinek went on to become the Canadian and North American Champions in 1961.  They topped this in 1962 by becoming the Canadian and World Champions.  Here's a photo of their homecoming on Rebecca Street following that World Championship gold medal and another picture of how the same spot looks today.

 

Bond Street Orphanage and Central Command

It has had many uses over the years, serving as a regional army command headquarters, and today as part of the Oaklands Centre, but when it was built, this massive building on Bond Street was home to the orphans of IOF
(Independent Order of Foresters) members from across the country. The main building was built as an orphanage (and it is still standing, directly across from Wilson Street). For a number of years this massive complex on Bond Street was the Canadian Army's Central Command headquarters. The other buildings were administrative and barracks. Today we have Westwood Park, but back then half of the park property was covered with greenhouses.  The pictures below show it in a number of different stages.  The early post card, the building, although just a short distance from Oakville's downtown core, was in a rural setting with a large parcel of farmland as part of the property.  The newspaper clipping gives a little more information and the final picture is an aerial shot showing the many additional buildings that were in use during its years as Central Command.

 

Then and Now - Homes Around West River

Prince Charles Drive

River Side Drive

Stewart and Queen Mary

Then and Now - Development

The following black and white pictures are from a book titled "The Prints of Oakville", courtesy of North Shore Publishing, Burlington, Ontario.

Clock Tower - Kerr and Rebecca

St. Aidan's Church

Fortser Park Washrooms