What is reputedly the oldest continuously functioning Free Methodist building in Canada is situated in the former hamlet of Armadale, now part of the City of Toronto, Ontario. This historic site is situated close to Milliken Park.
Built for William Bentley in 1853-55, this Italianate building — a Recognized Federal Heritage Building — in Brougham, Pickering, Ontario was inhabited by members of the same family for over a century.
With its massive trees stretching heavenward — typical of the Pacific West Coast — Lincoln Park helps to make Blaine, Washington State a place at which to stay and spend time exploring, and not simply a place of transit.
Flemish belfries, including the looming structure at Comines, France, close to the Franco-Belgian border, can at times seem strongly to evoke the idea of a silent sentinel.
Extreme triumph and extreme tragedy: though poles apart, they met at Le Pont Victoria / Victoria Bridge at a crossing — completed in 1859 — over the Saint-Laurent / Saint Lawrence at Montreal, Quebec.
The Cathedral at Ventimiglia, Italy, is set conspicuously upon a hill overlooking the city; its history and associations are set deep in obscure allusions.
The Lanesborough Hotel, in Central London, England, commemorates, through the name of a family which was formerly prominent socially, a vibrant town in the Republic of Ireland. It lies a fairly short walking distance from the Embassy of Ireland.
A National History Site of Canada, with nationally acclaimed Second Empire architecture; it contains artifacts including the Sir Mackenzie Bowell Collection, named for a 19th century Prime Minister of Canada whom — oddly — Canadians have seemingly spared no effort to try to forget.
Carved by Nathan Jackson, this eagle on display in Front Street, Ketchikan, Alaska is the embodiment of the name of the City in the Tlingit language.
Mature London plane trees provide a canopy for Leicester Square, in the heart of the English capital. Its history provides memories of the heights and depths of achievement and even excess.
A crossroads in a state long known as the Crossroads of the American Revolution, New Jersey's Parsippany-Troy Hills Township encapsulates a strong historic sense of transition.
Once known as Avenue Adolphe, this important thoroughfare in Luxembourg City has been known since 1925 (with a break in World War Two) as Avenue de la Liberté; these names reflect historical developments in the Grand Duchy.
An ornate building, formerly belonging to the Bank of Toronto (amalgamated in 1955 with the Dominion Bank) is located at Dundas Street West's intersection with Keele Street, in the Toronto, Ontario suburb of The Junction. The building, dating from 1911, was designed by Eustace Bird (1870-1950).
Noted for extensive catacombs, St. Patrick's Church, facing Soho Square Gardens, London, England, dates from 1893, the work of John Kelly. It is noted for a number of interesting features, including its unusual, elongated shape and its conspicuous tower. It has a strong musical tradition.
Inaugurated in 1950, the reservoir area known in German — the local, official language — as the Wesertalsperre is a focus for healthy, outdoor activities; it also may be said to recall obliquely the institutional fluidities of contemporaneous developments in Belgium.
The building of the former Victoria Presbyterian Church, in Romanesque Revival Style, was completed in 1891 and was designed by Messrs. Knox and Elliot. Its history reflects a former influx of immigrants to the suburb of West Toronto Junction, formerly a separate jurisdiction from Toronto.
With an imposing frontage and a small octagonal tower, the French Protestant Church in London overlooks Soho Square. Executed in terracotta to the design of Sir Aston Webb (1849-1930), the building was completed in 1893. The congregation itself dates from 1550, founded under the reign of Edward VI.
The grounds of Kasteel Eijsden in Limburg, The Netherlands, contain mature landscaping and make for peaceful scenes close to the Maas and Voer rivers, while these rivers have some tumultuous, historical associations.
The Campbell Block, at The Junction, Toronto, Ontario, dates from 1888. Recently restored, the building, designed by James A. Ellis, exhibits some Romanesque styling and is of historical significance in the development of the neighbourhood.
In Soho Square, London, England, its market cross centrepiece is a heritage building dating from 1926, in Tudor Revival style.
Maison Bryson / Bryson House, dating from 1854, at Mansfield-et-Pontefract, in the Municipalité régionale de comté de Pontiac / Pontiac Regional County Municipality, within Quebec's Outaouais region, significantly encapsulates the history of the Pontiac region.
Endowed by the Carnegie Foundation, Annette Street Public Library, The Junction, Toronto, Ontario, dates as a structure in Beaux-Arts style from 1909. Its origins lie in a Mechanics' Institute library founded nearby in 1888.
With good views of Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Mount Pleasant has some very steep gradients, so walkers: be warned...!
L'Île-du-Grand-Calumet is both an island and a municipality situated in the Rivière de l'Outaouais / Ottawa River; a noted feature is a 19th century, Gothic-styled church building with an octagonal tower.
At Robinson College, Cambridge, on Bin Brook, Thorneycreek is an Arts and Crafts building dating from 1895. The College grounds give a strong sense of tranquility and seclusion.
Main Street, at Alexandria, Ontario is dominated by the spire of the Paroisse de Sacré-Coeur. The village is located in the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry United Counties. Locally, the population is about 50% Francophone.
A property with a somewhat elusive past and identity — influenced by a rather unusual man, Prime Minister of Canada William Lyon Mackenzie King (1874-1950) — la Ferme / The Farm is today the official residence of the Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons.
Geographically, Nose Creek has long been central to the rising fortunes of Airdrie, a small city close to Calgary, Alberta. Airdrie is known as Canada's highest city, given its proximity to the Rockies.
Designed by Aston Webb and completed in 1910, the imposing Admiralty Arch, close to London's Trafalgar Square, The Mall and Whitehall, was once the official residence of First Sea Lord The Earl Mountbatten.
Strongly Francophone in character, and with a conspicuous parish church building — dating from 1866 — characterized by an octagonal tower, Sainte-Justine-de-Newton was formerly influenced by a Scottish settlers and was never organized according to the French seigneurie system.
At Tweed, Ontario, Victoria Street has many properties with ornate cornices, recalling life at a small, Ontario town 100 years ago.
Seaplanes, based at Ketchikam Alaska, are both a vital lifeline to isolated Alaskan communities and also the means of tours to the Misty Fiords National Monument. Statistics shoq no less than 51 seaplanes based at Ketchikan Seaplane Based.
Quebec's Gare de Témiscaming / Témiscaming Station dates from 1927 and has some ornate features. It is now an historic monument and houses a museum, with strengths in the history of immigration to western Quebec.
Tweed, Ontario, has a small Jailhouse — said to be North America's smallest — dating from 1898, which had to close in 1950 for lack of a 'clientele'...
The juxtaposition of snow capped mountains and a bustling Downtown area at Ketchikan gives honest meaning to the word 'unique', here, at Alaska's First City.
Norway Bay, in Quebec's Bristol municipality, in Outaouais, has long had a transient population; it was formerly linked across the Rivière des Outaouais / Ottawa River to Ontario by a regular ferry.
The domed Église Saint-Vincent at Liège, Belgium dates from 1930, the work of architect Robert Toussaint. It variously exhibits Neo-Byzantine, Art Deco and Modernist styles. Its proximity to the Meuse River makes it a memorable footfall in the consciousness of visitors to the city.
Dating from 1862-1866, the Renfrew County Courthouse was designed by Architect Henry Hodge Horsey (1830-1911), and executed in limestone quarried in Canada-Est / Canada East (Quebec), in Neo-Classical style.
The Manège Militaire Salaberry / Salaberry Armoury, Gatineau, Quebec, dates from 1938, the work of Architect Lucien Sarra-Bournet (1896-1992). It is named for Charles-Michel d'Irumberry de Salaberry (1778-1829), who served with distinction at the Battle of Chateaugauay, 1813.
Calm as a millpond — seemingly sometimes — but the rough weather off the port of Calais, France is a constant down the centuries.
One of the University of Brighton's main buildings is Mithras House, overlooking Lewes Road, Brighton, East Sussex, England. The structure dates from 1939. The University was chartered in 1992, but its origins lie in a School of Art founded in 1858 at the Royal Pavilion.
This covered bridge in Municipalité régionale de comté de Pontiac / Pontiac Regional County Municipality, named for a Quebec Premier, dates from 1898 and is the longest of its kind in Quebec.
Audus-le-Tiche, in eastern France, exhibits lush transformations at a former industrial site.
Designed by architect Thomas Fuller (1823-1898), Pembroke's City Hall dates from 1889. It formerly served as a post office until 1958.
Chapeau is a village in l'Isle-aux-Allumettes, Quebec; its situation gives rise to a number of intriguing anomalies.
The imposing Cardston Alberta Temple dates from 1913-1923. The work of Pope and Burton architectural partnership of Salt Lake City, its profile has the Rockies as a striking backdrop.
Strongly Gothic features characterize this building in Montevideo, Uruguay, dating from 1870, and designed by French architect Victor Rabú (1834-1917). It is named for an historically prominent Uruguayan family.
At this peaceful Quebec village on the Rivière des Outaouais / Ottawa River time and isolation are seemingly telescoped. Visitors will maybe spot...eagles.
The design of this Greek Revival building, in Peterborough, Ontario almost recalls New England rather than pre-Confederation Canada West. Built circa 1847, it is thought to follow a design by Minard Lafever dating from 1833
3 Cleveland Row, London, SW1, close to St. James's Place, has an interesting history; its 'Maisons de luxe' features by Architect Frank T. Verity form the frontage to the Sudanese Embassy.
When one studies some linguistic features of Dorval, on Île de Montréal / Montreal Island, Quebec, historical complexities emerge.
The original site of the 1879 Church of the Redeemer at the intersection of Bloor Street and Avenue Road in Downtown Toronto, Ontario has changed beyond recognition but the stone features of this Neo-Gothic building are virtually identical.
The main Gothic parts of Southwark Cathedral, London, date from 1220 until 1440, with 19th century restoration, particularly in the nave. Today the building is a widely used venue for many events.
Bagnolet, on the outskirts of Paris, France, is the first locality in the region of the French capital at which many international travellers arrive. Its international and multicultural character is far from limited to those for whom it is a place of transit.
The Amphitheatre Cascade Fountain at Waterfront Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, seems to combine ancient and modern design ideas.
The Metropolitan (Spurgeon's) Tabernace at Elephant and Castle, London, England, was designed in Neoclassical style by William W. Pocock, and completed in 1861. Four towers which were part of Architect Pocock's original design, were never built. The building was restored after WW2 bomb damage.
Some of the best views of Gatineau, Quebec are to be obtained from the Ottawa, Ontario side of the Rivière des Outaouais / Ottawa River; the distinctions between the two sides of the River should, however, never be forgotten.
As a building, St. Alponsus Church, on St. Clair Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, dates from 1911; it was previously used by Presbyterians and by the United Church. Its features are strongly Neo-Gothic.
In England's London Borough of Southwark is London South Bank University, a now mature seat of learning with its origins in the 19th century; a short travelling distance from its site at Elephant and Castle are various cultural and architectural visitor attractions.
Something of the history of France and of the town of Givet, at a northern extremity of French territory, can be taken in at a glance from the quayside, beside the historic Meuse River, known to the Romans as the Mosa.
Three domes are a very visible part of the profile of St. Volodymyr's Eastern Orthodox Cathedral, in Toronto, Ontario, dating from 1946.
The former Charing Cross Hotel building in a central London, England location, close to Trafalgar Square, is often overlooked; but its fine features date from 1865, the work of architect Charles Barry, from a distinguished family of building designers.
History and topography can be deeply intertwined in northern Luxembourg; time spent years ago in an Oesling region locality is — perhaps subjectively — recalled.
Named for a somewhat enigmatic fur trader, this stone building dates from 1814/1823, and forms part of a National Historic Site of Canada.
Orange Street Chapel, London, England, was founded as a Congregational church in 1787; the current structure dates from 1929, featuring a Neoclassical pediment; the site has a number of interesting, historical associations.
The twin towers of the Église Saint-Charles are very conspicuous at the Pointe Saint-Charles neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec. Dating from 1914, the building replaced a previous structure destroyed by fire.
Scenic — and historically at times tragic — Lake Nipissing has played a major role in defining the character of the Northern Ontario city of North Bay.
Completed in 1894, Charles Trubshaw's Leicester Station incorporated red brickwork and many arches in its striking design.
The Église de Saint-Joachim, in a village of the same name, north of Quebec City, dates from 1779, the scene of poignant, historic events.
With its gardens, Eldon House, London, Ontario, is a fine piece of architectural and historical heritage; it was named for a jurist with a reactionary reputation who opposed the 1832 Reform Bill.
Widnes's Victoria Park is a well regarded facility which provides a cameo of Great Britain's past at this Northern England town.
A brief look at the life and times of Gustave Dron (1856-1930), a long serving Mayor of Tourcoing, provides a window on the history of this major French city and of France.
Dating from 1856/59, F. W. Cumberland's University College, Toronto exhibits Romanesque Revival style. The College was the result of Provincial preferences for funding non-denominational higher education; many graduates of the College have been highly distinguished.
E. M. Vaughan's St. James the Great Church, Cardiff, Wales, was completed in 1894; its features are Neogothic, with its spired tower particilarly conspicuous.
King Louis XIV, Jesuits, developers and others have exercised influence on Île Charron / Charron Island in the Saint-Laurent / Saint-Lawrence, as island which has been known under successive — and alternative — names.
The Old Post Office at Sault-Ste-Marie, Ontario exudes a solidity identified with the authority of the Federal Government; designed by David Ewart, Chief Dominion Architect, it was completed in 1906.
Haven Green, Ealing, London, England, lives up to its name: a haven of nature amidst historically encroaching influences and a crossroads for millennia — literally.
Pont du Portage / Portage Bridge which links Gatineau, Quebec with Ottawa, Ontario dates from 1973. a brisk walk across the Bridge from one city to another brings one into a very different environment.
Timmins Victor M. Power Airport opened in 1955 and has since then supplied vital service to communities in the Timmins area of Northern Ontario, including Cree First Nations customers.
Tredegarville Baptist Church, Cardiff, Wales, was completed in 1862. Executed in limestone, its design in Neogothic style was the responsibility of W. G. Habershon. Noted individuals associated with Tredegarville Baptist Church have included Henry Richards of the Livingstone Inland Mission.
Dating from 1781, le Manoir Montmorency began its existence as the villa residence of Governor Frederick Haldimand. Later it was used as a residence by Edward-Augustus, Duke of Kent, who has gone down in history as the father of the future Queen Victoria. It was refurbished in 1901 and 1994.
At Latchford, Ontario is a bridge named for Sergeant Aubrey Cosens (1921-1945), who died in Germany while serving in The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada during World War Two and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions.
When Sheffield Hallam University. Sheffield, England, achieved its Royal Charter of Incorporation in 1992, it was already as a seat of learning the heir to longstanding, local educational establishments, some with their roots in the 19th century.
Some reflections on Marchipont, with its profusion of red brickwork, a border village in northern France, liberated by Canadian troops in 1918.
The work of John M. Ryle, Cobalt Station in Northern Ontario served rail passengers for 102 years, prior to the withdrawal of rail services in 2012. Features include a curved, overhanging roof and a conspicuous Flemish gable.
Executed in Bath stone ashlar, the Queen's Building tower at Cardiff University, was designed by E. M. Bruce Vaughan. The structure dates from 1915 and was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1921.
With its historic canal, rapids and bridges linking Île de Montréal / Montreal Island with Île Perrot / Perrot Island, Sainte-Anne-de-Belleville is seemingly defined by water.
In 1883 women medical students from the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons, Kingston, Ontario, were organized — in the West Wing of the City Hall — of the Women's Medical College.
Liberty's was founded by Sir Arthur Liberty in 1875; the department store moved to its Tudor Revival Great Martborough Street building in 1924. Its architecture and the crafwork and products that it has sold for many years beg reflection on the nature of styles deemed to be 'traditional'.
Between 1825 and 1970 the the 14 kilometre Canal de Lachine / Lachine Canal made a huge impact on transportation in the Montreal, Quebec area, until made obsolete by the Voie maritime du Saint-Laurent / Saint Lawrence Seaway.
Dating from 1914, the Old Evangelical Church, as it is sometimes known, is situated in St. Jacobs, in Ontario's Waterloo Region, where there is a strong sense of German heritage.
The Allders Cupola at the former Arding and Hobbs Department Store is a well-known landmark in the vicinity of Clapham Junction Station. It has been regularly floodlit at night.
Boulevard Robert-Bourassa / Robert Bourassa Boulevard contains a green and welcoming public space in Montreal, Quebec; its name recalls a long-serving Quebec Premier who dominated the era in which he held office.
In a highly picturesque setting, close to Rocky Mountain peaks, the community of Blairmore, Alberta has had an interesting and sometimes turbulent history.
Dating from 1914, the Church of St. John the Divine is a building executed in Neo-Gothic style, now located within the London Borough of Merton, but at its construction it was in a rural setting.
Square Sir-George-Étienne-Cartier / Sir George-Étienne Cartier Square, Montreal, Quebec, was the brainchild of Montreal Mayor Hormidas Laporte and dates from 1912, recalling an architect of Confederation.
The French River is crossed by Highway 69 by two spans; various Francophone and — later — Anglophone explorers are known to have passed through the district.
The steep gradients of France's Beausoleil municipality are among the most striking features of this locality. These are definitely not for the faint of heart among those intending to explore on foot!
L'Île-Dorval / Dorval Island in the Saint-Laurent / Saint-Lawrence, off Dorval, Quebec, is truly an odd place. This is for several reasons, which this short article attempts to enumerate.
Pennock Island lies in the Tongass Narrows, in Alaska, visible from the City of Ketchikan. It has strong Native Alaskan associations; the name of the island remembers prospector Homer Pennock
12th century in origin, St. Giles' Church was damaged in the English Civil War and restored — with considerable licence — by architect James Piers St. Aubyn in the 19th century, from which restoration its massive spire is the most conspicuous feature.
Previously known as the Chutes de Lorette, Kabir-Kouba is a waterfall in a First Nations enclave of Ville de Québec / Quebec City, the name of which recalls a legend of a vanquished spirit; comparison is drawn from some of the writer's memories of Uruguay.
Mazinaw Lake has long attracted a seasonal population; but First Nations' presence in the past is evidenced by many examples of pictographs on rocks in this deep lake's vicinity. Some interesting, historical personalities have been associated with the local area.
The former St. Andrew's Hall, Reading is reputed to have been the first university residence dedicated to women students in England outside London. Executed in red brick, its history is associated with various distinguished personalities.
The commanding presence of the Église Saint-Zotique rises above an historically very busy area of Montreal, Quebec. The building dates from 1927; architects Charbonneau, MacDuff and Lemieux were responsible for its design.
The late 19th century Swinging Bridge — repeatedly renewed — at Renfrew, Ontario is becoming a visitor attraction in its own right, as it continues to swing across the Bonnechere River, a tributary of the Ottawa River.
The Card Pioneer Home is a log cabin, now a Registered Provincial Historic Site of Alberta, which was formerly the home of the founder of Cardston, Charles Ora Card and his wife Zina Presendia Young Williams Card and their family.
Completed in 1901, this church building in Dorval, Quebec, on the Île de Montréal / Island of Montreal, has a spire which punctures the local skyline in a very obvious way; its bells have been heard over a wide area.
The pillared spendour of Selfridges, at 400 Oxford Street, London, England, is associated with some interesting World War Two history. The building was designed by Daniel Burnham, and dates from 1909.
Dating from 1909 as a municipality, the latent memories of both the Anglophone and Francophone communities go back to the beginning of the area's European settlement.
Gatineau at night, when the massive Portage Federal complex is largely empty, provokes memories and questions about whether Le Petit Chicago at Hull has indeed now been happily subsumed into Gatineau.
Mount Mansfield, near Stowe, Vermont is the highest peak of the Green Mountains, about which there is is much symbolism that runs deep, back to the 18th century.
Formerly called Thorneville, the village of Thorne is located at an extremity of Ontario — linked since 1937 by Highway 63 — close to the boundary with Quebec at Témiscaming; interestingly, the village is 43% Francophone.
Memories of parallel and divergent histories of late 19th and early 20th century settlement of Western Quebec and Northern Ontario come together at Ville-Marie, on Lac Témiscamingue / Lake Temiskaming, revealing submerged Quebec Republican resonances little-known among Anglophone Canadians.
The Ranger Bridge (officially the Veterans Memorial / Ranger Bridge) at Wells River, Vermont dates from 1923, replacing a previous structure — also named the Ranger Bridge — which was swept away by the Connecticut River's rising waters in 1922.
Visible from Vancouver, British Columbia are many peaks of the North Shore Mountains, arguably giving Vancouver a spectacular skyline unrivalled by few other places in the world.
Gatineau's 19th century Église Saint-François-de-Sales has some striking, Neo-Gothic features, including pointed window and door arching, pinnacles and flying buttresses. Its 1917 organ is by Casavant et Frères. The building is situated close to the Rivière Gatineau / Gatineau River.
Dating from 1818, and originally at another location at Stowe, Vermont, this Neoclassical structure was formerly called the Meeting House, and was used by various church groups, serving various other functions also. Known now as the Perkins Building, it is now a ski and snowboarding museum.
Dating from 1911, and designed by Stroud and Keith, the Lee Building was for years the tallest building in Vancouver's Mount Pleasant suburb. Features include a conspicuous cornice and an arcaded walkway which was added in 1953.
A vertical water jet fountain over a flat body of water, with undulating land in the distance, near important human and political boundaries: it could be Gatineau, Quebec...but also Geneva, Switzerland.
Nepean is sometimes thought of as being a western suburb of Ottawa, Ontario, although the geographical feature known as Nepean Point is actually situated north of Parliament Hill, & east of the Rideau Canal. One may surmise how local identities might modify in the event of historical developments.
It is curious that small Fairfield, Vermont is given as the birthplace of no less that four significant political figures, all born in the 19th century. Maybe the fact of having come from a rural State, never a colony, rooted in the Republic of Vermont, could shed some light to this enigma.
Does Boulevard Maisonneuve — a wide, green avenue at Downtown Gatineau, Quebec, named for the historic founder of Quebec's biggest city — represent a gracious homecoming at the Région de la capitale nationale / National Capital Region? or contrived urban planning to thwart Quebec's independence?
Completed in 1913, the Customs Examining Warehouse was designed by Dominion Architect David Ewart (1841-1921). Features include a prominent cornice and variable window patterning. Symbol of the Federal Government's role sometimes perceived controversially, does it mask early vibrations of "Wexit"?
Pronounced Gothic Revival styling — and memories — abound at Ottawa's Christ Church Anglican Cathedral.
The expanding Quartier DIX30 / TEN30 District commercial complex lies within sight of Mont Saint-Hilaire, a popular hill and hiking venue close to Montréal.
Calgary's Centre Street Bridge, which has seen coming and going at the very centre of things since 1916, is one of Alberta's most well-known structures.
The Gilmore Hotel, in Ketchikan, Alaska, dating from 1926/27, recalls its sponsor Patrick J. Gimore, a prominent Ketchikan and Alaskan businessman, politician and judge.
The design of Architect Archibald Campbell Hope (1870-1942), Heritage Hall displays Beaux-Arts Neoclassicism at Mount Pleasant, Vancouver, British Columbia
Named for Gregory the Great, this 251-metre hill in Montérégie, Quebec, looms large over the landscape.
John Richardson House, at 27 Old Kingston Road, West Hill, Toronto, Ontario, has ornate features and historical associations which have for many years earned the property its heritage status.
A smooth and aerodynamic triangular building and a clock now symbolic of the neighbourhood are situated at the intersection of Kingsway and Main Street, Vancouver, British Columbia
Gatineau's Terrasses de la Chaudière, at 124 metres, the tallest building complex in the region, is located close to the Pont de la Chaudière / Chaudière Bridge — or the Traverse des Chaudières / Chaudière Crossing — is an historic entry point into Quebec, the meeting point of three cultures.
The tunnel at Knob Hill — 83.5 metres / 274 feet long — created in 1954, has come to be seen as a symbol of Downtown Ketchikan, Alaska.
Heritage features dating from the late 19th century are visible at the intersection of West Main and South Lake Streets in North East, Pennsylvania.
The tower of Montreal's Olympic Stadium reaches for the skies at an unusual, inclined angle, making it the world's tallest inclined building at 175 metres. It may be viewed to particularly good effect from Longueuil, across the Saint Laurent / Saint Lawrence.
Vancouver's Pacific Central Station, by Pratt and Ross, was opened in 1919; its memorable and grand Beaux-Arts features have for generations made for impressive departures and arrivals in British Columbia's largest city.
'The Rock', a sculpture unveiled in 2010, is by Dave Rubin, and stands at a prominent location in Ketchikan, Alaska, known as the State's First City.
An event on Quebec's Rivière Gatineau / Gatineau River in 1896, which prompted the naming of a bridge for Lady Aberdeen, prompts wider reflection on aspects of the role of the holders of the Vice Regal office and their consorts.
The author of a mistaken and soon corrected identifying of a Pacific inlet — thought to be a creek — at what became Vancouver, British Columbia, Admiral Sir George Henry Richards also participated in a less innocent — and more far reaching - mistake.
Deer Mountain towers 915 metres / 3,001.97 feet over Ketchikan, Alaska, on Revillagigedo Island in the Alexander Archipelago.
The village of Portage-du-Fort, centuries back, had some distinguished visitors in past centuries
A former stage coach staging post, Le Vieux Soldat Farmhouse evidences a distinctive red brick and limestone striped building procedure.
Claresholm, Alberta is noted for both physical and metaphorical landmarks. Its water tower, dating from 1909/10; now preserved; and Louise McKinney (1868-1931) represented Claresholm Electoral District in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and was involved in the 1929 Persons Case.
Linking Gatineau, Quebec, with Ottawa, Ontario, the Pont Alexandra / Alexandra Bridge (or the Pont interprovincial / Interprovincial Bridge) evokes past — and future — and spatial — complexities of naming: monarchical? interprovincial? international? entry point to a future republic?
Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica, Ottawa, is the expression of a Neogothic flavour of spires and pinnacles. The building dates from the era when Ottawa was called Bytown.
Dating from 1912/13, the Federal Building at Lethbridge, Alberta has fine, Beaux-Arts stylistic lines.
The riverside skyline of Portage-du-Fort, Quebec, is dominated by the spire of the Eglise St.-James / St. James's Church.
First Baptist Church, Ottawa, has stood at 140 Laurier Avenue West since completion in 1878. Two Prime Ministers of Canada have been included among prominent historical figures with links with the building.
A study of the background to the 1911/12 Sun Tower — or World Building, as it was originally known — and its architect W. T. Whiteway gives a flavour of their times.
Parc Jacques-Cartier / Jacques Cartier Park will often be the first area that visitors entering Quebec at Gatineau will see. Its scenic location includes a popular Marina.
Prominent in the Downtown area of Ketchikan, Alaska, St. John's Episcopal Church is also dwarfed by the mountains which overlook the First City, as Ketchikan has been called. The building dates from 1904 and shows Gothic styling.
Pre-World War One solidity is the order of the day at Waterfront Station, in Vancouver's Downtown. Features include its striking Neoclassical pillars.
Boucherville, in Quebec's Montérégie region, is firmly linked with the Saint-Laurent / Saint-Lawrence; it has some notable ecclesiastical architecture; a one of its prominent, historical figures was Louis-Hyppolite La Fontaine (1807-1864)
Newtown in Ketchikan, Alaska, dates from the beginning of the 20th century and was long associated with Norwegians involved in the fishing industry; many Norwegian families were linked with First Lutheran Church, dating from 1930, which displays Gothic features.
What eventually became Toronto, Ontario's Wexford Heights United Church had its origins in 1842, among Primitive Methodists, who met in a delightfully named building called Twaddle's Chapel.
Notre-Dame-de-l'Annonciation is among the most visibly prominent buildings within the municipality of L'Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec, in the Capitale-Nationale region. Its most striking features are its twin, 71-metre towers.
Overlooked by Vancouver's 1977 Lookout, the 1910 Dominion Building was once the British Empire's tallest commercial building. Its hidden history may reveal something of local fears and anxieties more than a century ago, whether paranoid in nature or well founded.
At the intersection of Danforth and Pape Avenues, Toronto, Ontario, stands the Holy Name Church, modelled generally by its architect Arthur W. Holmes (1863-1944) on the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, Rome.
Place de la nation huronne-wendat, Vieux-Wendake is a First Nations enclave within Quebec City, Quebec; it is overlooked by a church building dating from 1722, rebuilt in 1865.
This striking, Neo-Romanesque structure dating from 1909 formerly housed Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church. Its conical tower and Syrian arching are among its striking features.
A strongly Gothic style is evident at this monumental structure on Danforth Avenue, in the East End of Toronto, Ontario. Formerly Danforth Methodist Church, it has long been known as Eastminster United Church.
Dating from 1911, this solid, stone building, formerly a convent, houses an educational institution known as le Centre Saint-Louis. With evident Neoclassical, stylistic influences, conspicuous features include a prominent broken pediment and a bell tower.
Nose Hill Park, Calgary, Alberta extends over 11 square kilometres; and is popular for hiking. Magnificent views of Calgary's Downtown area may be obtained from the Park, founded in 1980; the area is noted for the presence of grassland, aspen, deer and coyote among other flora and fauna.
Features of this church building include a prominent tower and many pointed window arches and flying buttresses, testifying to the influence of Gothic styling. Formerly known as Fairbank Methodist Church — now Fairbank United Church —, the building dates from 1889: Fairbank's oldest surviving one.
Named for a prominent member of the local Sauvé political family, this bridge, which crosses the Mille-Îles River, is situated at a location which is historically and geographically significant to Quebec.
Begun in 1908 and completed in 1910, the former Sir Alexander Galt Hospital now houses the Galt Museum and Archives, in Lethbridge, Alberta. Its Neoclassical features are rather striking.
St. Timothy's Anglican Church, Agincourt, Toronto, Ontario exhibits simplified, but strong, Gothic features.
The building dates from the time of the first municipal meeting in 1855; but human settlement has been driven for centuries by the nearby Rivière des Outaouais / Ottawa River.
In the Historic District of North East, Pennsylvania is situated an Italianate building on a triangular lot, which exhibits a striking, ornate cornice.
Dating from 1903, and originally the property of the prominent Wood family, Falconer Hall (originally Wymilwood) has distinguished associations with women's university education, the beginnings of York University and with the University of Toronto's Law Faculty.
This uninhabited island is in a curious position in the middle of Rivière des Outaouais / Ottawa River. Wholly within Quebec's Municipalité régionale de comté de Pontiac / Pontiac Regional County Municipality, it is situated close to Portage-du-Fort. The wider region has many fishing opportunities.
The U.S. Border Station at St. John's Highway, Rouses Point, New York, which is included in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, is a building in Georgian Revival style, dating from 1931. Its landscaping is significantly attributed to Lady Bird Johnson's highway beautification support.
New Liskeard, in Northern Ontario, on Lake Temiskaming, has a prominent mural, with memories of the steamboat 'Meteor' and the logging industry; the mural dates from 1999.
What is now the Mairie — Town Hall — of Saint-Eustache, Quebec, was formerly a convent. Its styling was influenced by the French Second Empire; the site has strong, historical associations with the Patriotes and the Battle of Saint-Eustache, 1837.
Gildredge Manor, a Georgian building set in parkland in Eastbourne, East Sussex, England, has been known by a variety of names; typically English, it was visited by Queen Mary.
Executed with brick facing, the Liberty Building, Buffalo, New York, dates from 1925 and was the responsibility of architect Alfred C. Bossom, later Lord Bossom of Maidstone, England. The design includes two statues of Liberty at roof level.
Memories of the Patriotes converge on Saint-Eustache, notably at the Neoclassical façade of the Church of Saint-Eustache, where a battle was played out on December 14, 1837.
Mont des Cats (Dutch: Katsberg) is an intriguing — even disturbing? — hill in northern France, situated close to the Belgian border.
This tall building in Gothic Revival style was the tallest in Buffalo, New York between the years 1901 and 1912. Its dimensions still mark the Buffalo skyline today; its ornateness also remains striking.
At Saint-Lin-Laurentides, Quebec, a house dating from 1870, on land which belonged to the family of Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier, is a National Historic Site of Canada / Lieu historique national du Canada. Commemoration of this Canadian historical figure is in some ways surprisingly complex.
Formerly "Smithville", the hamlet of Green River, dating from the 1840s, situated within the boundaries of the City of Pickering, Ontario, has a bookstore housed in the former General Stores dating from 1878.
This range of properties in Eastbourne, East Sussex, dating from the late Victorian / Edwardian era, effuses a quiet elegance at what has seemingly become a sought after address.
Place des Nations-Unies, Liège, Belgium lies on what was known as the Plaine de Vennes, first developed for the Universal Exhibition of 1905, Liège.
Kirk Newman's sculpture 'Community' is a now familiar feature of Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, which exudes senses of movement and variety, seemingly captured as a snapshot, frozen in time.
Morris Castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument recalling the history of the development of Swansea, Wales. It was built by Sir John Morris between 1768 and 1775.
Gothic features of this structure include pointed window arching and flying buttresses. Designed by Werner E. Noffke, the building dates from 1952; a focus of the church has long been German congregants.
These steep Paris streets in the shadow of Sacré-Cœur Basilica recall various artistic personalities.
When one examines some of the influences and professed ideological positions of those who made up the Luxembourg Resistance to Nazi German rule in the period 1940-1944/5 — commemorated by the National Solidarity Monument in Luxembourg City — things on close examination may not be what they seem.
At the intersection of Queen Street East and Broadview Avenue is a recently renovated structure displaying an historic expression of Richardson Romanesque, dating from 1893.
Crumbles Pond — arguably a small lake — is contained within Princes Park. It has an interesting history.
The land on which Gibson Park, North-East, stands was donated to the people of the locality in the 19th century by a real estate investor. The Park features a war memorial dating from 1911. Gibson Park hosts many local activities, including craft exhibitions.
Built in 1897, this restored heritage property, known as the Dineen Building, exhibits Renaissance Revival style, and was designed by F. H. Herbert.
Bradshaw, Gass and Hope completed this fine, former civic building in Wimbledon in 1931, featuring Neoclassical styling, with mansard roofing and large, Doric pilasters. The former Town Hall is now a retail complex.
Toulouse's Allées Jean-Jaurès have undergone many name changes, but for the past century they have commemorated an assassinated leader whose name has come to be synonymous with the cause of the French Republic itself.
A fine Gothic structure by Gordon and Helliwell remains a landmark close to Toronto's Queen Street West; its name recalls the Bonar brothers, who were highly active Free Church of Scotland preachers, one of whom influenced the naming of a British Prime Minister.
The Sackville Street Building, sometimes known as the former UMIST main building, is a fine structure dating from 1895-1902, which befits a distinguished institution of learning.
Living up to its "beau lieu" name, this City of Calgary park is terraced, with many species of flowers and plants. This most peaceful place is located in the Beltline neighbourhood of Alberta's furious, dynamic and fastest growing city.
Pediments and Syrian arches combine eclectically at the imposing, ornate and monumental Central School, in Oxford County's City of Woodstock, Ontario.
What's in a name? The answer: A lot, especially in trilingual Luxembourg, where layers of meaning and historical allusion — hidden to the casual visitor — are exposed upon deeper scrutiny. Basbellain and its municipality of Troisvierges are toponymically — and phenomenologically — surprising.