* Monuments * Memorials * Statues * Commemorative Plaques *
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
About
Hamilton, Ontario is home to steel mills, a football team, parks and wetlands, a university, the ‘Hamilton Mountain’, and more than a half-million people. This area was first settled more than 200 years ago and has a rich history. Hamilton is also home to a large number of statues, monuments and memorials commemorating and remembering those that have helped build the city, those that have given their lives to defend our city and country, and others that commemorate accomplishments and events from Hamilton’s past.
I pass by two impressive statues and a war memorial every day on my way to work. On the way home I pass three statues given to the City of Hamilton by grateful immigrant groups. I had seen these so many times that I didn’t notice them anymore. I didn’t know when they were built, who built them, and in some cases I didn’t know why!
I became curious, and decided to find out more. I also suspected there might be a couple more statues or monuments in Hamilton, but didn’t know how many or where they might be. I decided to find and document any I found, and was amazed by how many there are – more than 125 Statues, Monuments, Memorials, and Commemorative Plaques are documented here. I wanted to find out about these, first of all for my own interest, and then also to share the history and heritage of Hamilton with others. I also hope to make others aware of the history around them that they either haven’t noticed or take for granted. I hope this can be a starting point for others to find out more about the people, places, and events that have shaped Hamilton into what it is today.
While working on this project it became evident that the lines between statues, monuments, memorials, plaques, cairns, and sculpture become blurred. I chose to exclude sculptures that were created for arts sake, but have included sculptures that were created as a memorial or monument. I also chose to (mostly) include only items that are outdoors and easily accessible. With only a few exceptions they can all be seen at any time of day, at no cost, and are either on public property or can be easily seen from a public roadway.
While searching for material I found that many statues of a religious nature can be found around our city churches. There were so many that I decided to leave these for another chapter at another time.
I also chose to leave out National, Provincial, and City Historic Plaques. The National and Provincial plaques have been well documented elsewhere, and the City of Hamilton is working on what will be a publicly accessible database of City Historic Plaques.
Information about National Historic Plaques can be found here: www.pc.gc.ca/chmhc-hsmbc
Information about Provincial Historic Plaques can be found here: www.heritagetrust.on.ca
and here: www.ontarioplaques.com
Information about Hamilton’s Historic Plaques can be found here: www.hamilton.ca
If you are interested in works of sculpture, there are many places in Hamilton where they can be found, including the grounds of McMaster University, the Art Gallery of Hamilton, and the Irving Zucker sculpture court across from City Hall. There are also many other pieces of sculpture throughout the city for you to find.