Submitted by Brian Roulston
In an age where constant communication spans the globe, the personal touch and warmth of handwritten correspondences appear to have vanished into the shadows of time. Hastily created emails and texts, despite their proficiency, often fall short in conveying the depths of the sender’s thoughts. Written letters, now considered relics of a bygone era, were not just about exchanging information for the purpose of billing or banking, but about sharing part of our lives, our dreams, our fears, and our joys. Let’s remember the Post Office, the vessel that carried our hearts across the grand prairies, the great mountains; vast oceans and through devastating wars in spite of what mother nature threw at them.
On August 3, 1527, the first known letter written in English, was sent from North America at St. John’s, Newfoundland by Captain John Rut to King Henry VII of England, informing him of his discoveries and his intended expedition southward to Cape Breton to meet up with a fellow explorer.
In 1780, four or five families set up the first permanent residences in Upper Canada at Niagara-on-the-Lake. By 1784, the population had increased to over 600 people owing to the loyalist militia of Butler’s Rangers, a ruthless and feared provincial military force of the American Revolutionary War. With loyalists travelling north from the states, the land flourished swiftly, and Hamilton was quickly populated.
Wandering priests on horseback would often deliver letters from the 1800s until the mid-1810s whenever they travelled through the Port of Hamilton, which was more or less once a month.
The necessity for a post office in Hamilton was first explored during the War of 1812. For the majority of the soldiers of this area, overseas was considered home. Relatives would often send their sons letters, money and other comforts. These deliveries took weeks if not months and in some cases they would never receive their deliveries due to the hazard of loss or theft when sailing across the oceans, bateaux then by stagecoach. Often these letters or packages would sit in the office at York (Toronto) for months before they could find anyone to forward them to the Head-of-the-Lake. In many cases it was probably quicker for the soldiers to travel to York to pick up their letters or shipments. However, the troops found this difficult if not impossible, possibly due to their short leave times or the difficulty of travelling there. It was also expensive for soldiers of humble means to send mail. Canada to England cost six shillings for just one single sheet of paper and some simply could not afford it. Letters returning home were sometimes blocked in Montreal or Quebec City unless they had contacts or relatives who could pay for the postage of in-land and overseas mail. This caused distress to many families. They had no idea if their loved ones were dead or living.
In 1814, the Upper Canada government organized weekly mail service from Montreal to Niagara. Government postal contracts became a significant source of revenue for stagecoach lines, allowing them to subsidize passenger service year-round, especially during the winter.
Dundas would build a post office with John Second as postmaster, and this office would become the distribution hub for the Niagara Peninsula when Dundas Street was extended from Toronto and the Beverley Road to Amherstburg.
Before we proceed, there seems to be some confusion regarding the establishment of Hamilton’s first post office, founded in 1819 with James Bethune as the inaugural postmaster. This is however incorrect. The town of Cobourg, initially a cluster of smaller villages such as Amherst and Hardscrabble, was later renamed Hamilton, and subsequently became known as Hamilton Township in Northumberland County; this is the location of that post office. Toronto was still called York at the time.
When construction on the Burlington Canal began in 1823, hundreds of migrants and their families arrived at the Port of Hamilton in search of work on the project while the elites settled at the Gore. They built homes, shops, warehouses, taverns, and inns. During the summer of 1924 local mail from Kingston through Niagara was delivered aboard the steamer FRONTENAC.
In 1825 a rickety old corduroy road led from wharves on Burlington Bay up to the top of a hill and past a tiny unassuming house on the east side of what is now James Street, overlooking the bay, an area surrounded by cedar swamp. Past that at today’s Main Street stood a one storey wood frame building, Hamilton’s first post office. In 1825, William B. Sheldon, who lived on 13 Catherine Street, became the village’s first postmaster. He also kept a cow and continued as a barber. That same year; postal franchises were also awarded to Ancaster, London, Brantford, and St. Thomas.
This post office was then relocated to the south side of King Street near Hughson before being relocated again to the north side of James Street. In 1879, the post office moved into the McInnes Building at King and John Streets, which also housed the first Bank of Hamilton and several other offices and businesses. Unfortunately, that structure would be destroyed by fire later that year.
After the McInnes fire debris was swept away, plans emerged for the new Dominion Public Building and land was purchased for $45,000 on the corner of Main & John Streets. Red sandstone was used to construct a stunning structure that was a modern marvel for its time. The new Post Office was regarded as one of the finest public buildings of the entire British Empire. Construction began on August 1st, 1882, and the doors opened on June 1st, 1886.
However, as Hamilton’s population reached over 41,000 people, this structure became too small and antiquated and closed in November 1934. A temporary post office was established in the Duffield Building once located on the corner of John and Jackson Streets. Demolition of the once magnificent Dominion Public Building started in April 1935. Because the stone in the main tower was three to five feet thick, demolishing this historic structure took considerably longer than expected. Wreckers estimated that this structure would have lasted for hundreds of years.
The cornerstone of the old Dominion Public Building was discovered on May 3, 1935. Inside was a large glass candy jar containing $1.20 in 1882 coins and paper money. The jar also had several publications tightly rolled inside. Copies of the 1883 Canadian Almanac, The Canada Gazette, The Ontario Gazette, and the Evening Tribune which was published in Hamilton at the time. Copies of the Labour Union, the Globe Daily, the Hamilton Times, and The Hamilton Spectator were also discovered. The latter publications featured either write ups or notices of the huge ceremony that took place when this cornerstone was laid. Another festival was held at Dundurn Park with massed bands, a string orchestra, Chinese lanterns, and (possibly) free beer.
This new six-storey federal edifice was constructed as a relief project for construction workers who were struggling during the Great Depression. All the materials used in the building’s construction were Canadian made. On September 19th, 1936, the RCMP were the first tenants to move into the sparkling new $1.6 million Federal Public Building offices, followed by gas, hydro, and electric inspectors. Other tenants quickly followed, including the National Health Department, Tax Inspectors, and the Marine, Agriculture, and Immigration Departments. Finally, the postal workers moved into their new offices in October.
Land adjacent to the post office was soon acquired for $150,000 in order to construct a new $300,000 trucking facility to transport mail. George H Lees and his family owned the property for almost a century. George was born on the site and eventually established a jewellery business under his name.
In 1971, the Hamilton Post Office was one of three postal facilities in Canada to launch a new coin-operated photocopying service on a six-month trial basis, which proved to be successful.
On March 23, 1976 computer aided mail sorting began in Hamilton, allowing for 500,000 pieces of mail to be sorted daily at 36,000 pieces an hour. Similar equipment started operating in Ottawa, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton and Calgary.
In May 1990 the automated mail processing facilities in Hamilton, Burlington, and St. Catherines were deemed outdated and closed in May 1990. Employees were relocated to a more modern facility in Stoney Creek. The post office closed a year later.
The historical core of the old federal building was retained throughout a $77 million renovation that included the addition of a seventh floor and a west-facing tower. On May 1, 1999, the 63-year-old former post office building was converted into the John Sopinka Courthouse named after a Hamilton lawyer chosen by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to serve as a puisne justice on Canada’s Supreme Court. He was also a CFL player, having played 29 games for the Toronto Argonauts from 1955 to 1957 and 8 with the Montreal Alouettes in 1958. John Sopinka passed away on November 24th, 1997, in Ottawa.
With thanks to Canada Post for their informative email. They report that they currently have 35 postal outlets in the Hamilton area. These consist of corporate post offices and locations within various Hamilton-area businesses. The activities of Canada Post are supported by about 900 employees.
