Antediluvian Garneau:
A short walk in the northern part of the Garneau in
May 1915
For the
Preserve Garneau (River Lot 7) Society
Contents
Preface
1. St. Stephen’s College
2. The Arts Building, University of Alberta
3. Rutherford House
4. The Garneau Tree
5. Houses on 90 Avenue
6. The High Level Bridge
7. Houses on 89 Avenue
 The Cecil Burgess House
 10944-89 Avenue
8. Emily Murphy House
References
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Preface
The Great Flood of June 28 and 29, 1915, dampened the economic boom which
had come to Edmonton with the twentieth century. The Pollard brickyards and
John Walter’s sawmills and log-booms were destroyed; optimism left town with
the men returning to Europe to fight in the Great War.
To return to a more innocent time, imagine you are standing on the southwest
corner of the intersection of 112 Street with 89 Avenue. It is a warm day in May
1915. Immediately to the south is the impressive bulk of St. Stephen’s College,
your first visit on a short walk through the northern part of the Garneau district,
River Lot 7 on the first Dominion Land Survey of Edmonton.
The western boundary of River Lot 7 is 112 Street. The new University
buildings, the Arts Building, for instance, your second visit, are on River Lot 5
(purchased by the Province for the University). The former Premier of the
Province who guided this purchase has had his own house built, your third visit, in
the northwest corner of River Lot 7, at the top of the bushed slope that leads down
to the river and Pollard’s brickyard.
112 Street is graveled with a wooden sidewalk on the east; the boulevard trees
are shoulder high, outlining the new subdivision without obscuring it. From
Achnacarry (now Rutherford House) you turn east on Saskatchewan Drive,
crossing 91st Avenue, then on to 111 Street to visit Garneau’s abandoned cabin
beside the Manitoba maple he planted.
Turning down 90 Avenue to admire some of the newly constructed residences,
you head towards the High Level Bridge. Maybe you’ll see a CPR train crossing
the bridge from the 109 Street station; more likely an electric streetcar slows at the
south end of the bridge before starting the steep climb to the 88 Avenue stop.
From there, you wander back past the new houses on 89 and 88 Avenues to what is
now Old St. Stephen’s College. There, buses (or a more modern electric railway)
await to take you 90 years or so back to the future.
If you drive, visitor parking is available in the University of Alberta lots
between 112 and 111 Streets, which can be approached from the east along
90 Avenue. There is metered parking on Saskatchewan Drive and on 110 Street.
On street parking is permitted only at weekends in other areas along the route of
the walk. Directions to the next view are found at the end of each description in
bold text. Sights en route are listed as they come into sight.
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The directions given depend on the street grid in the Garneau. Streets run
north/south and decrease in number eastwards. Most of the remaining houses are
on the Avenues, which run east/west and decrease in number southwards. On the
Avenues, house numbers start with the number of the street to the east, followed by
a two-figure number. House numbers increase westwards. Odd-numbered houses
are found on the south side of the block, even numbers are on the north side. For
example, 10945-90 Avenue is a house on the south side of 90 Avenue between 109
and 110 streets. I would welcome comments, additions and corrections to this
draft sent to me there.
My thanks to many friends and neighbours who have already contributed. In
particular, Dr. G. Hoye provided much of visit 7. The text has been improved by
K. White, F. Cruden and S. Petaske.
D. Cruden
October, 2004
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1. St. Stephen’s College
This five-storey red brick structure, T shaped in plan, was the first building
erected on the University of Alberta Campus. Its twin octagonal turrets and the
crenellated parapets at the roofline are elements from the Victorian College Gothic
Style in which redbrick universities were built. Designed by Edmonton architect,
H.A. Magoon, the college was constructed for $130,000 (Macdonald, J., 1987,
p.127) in 1910.
This was Alberta College South, named to identify the building with Alberta
College, a Methodist Church college opened in Edmonton in 1903 and affiliated
with McGill University, Montreal. Relations among the McGill alumni, the first
Principal of the College, Dr. J.H. Riddell, Premier Rutherford (see Rutherford
House) and the first President of the University of Alberta, Dr. H. M. Tory “were
particularly cordial at this time. The Premier showed his appreciation of this
goodwill by giving the college a recognized place in the university system and
afterwards sponsoring a bill in the legislature making a gift to any and all
accredited denominational colleges of a site of ten acres on the University
grounds” (Johns, W.H., 1981, p.5). When the Methodist and Presbyterian
Churches in Canada joined in 1925 to form the United Church, the College became
the United Theological College and then St. Stephen’s College.
The building has a five-storey centre, four-storey north and south wings and a
five-storey west wing with dormers. The main floor chapel with its noteworthy
stained glass windows was added in 1935. The building, which became a
Provincial Historical Resource in 1983, now houses offices and laboratories of the
Historical Resources Division and Archaeological Services Branch of the
Provincial Department of Community Development.
When you have crossed back to the north side of 89th Avenue, walk north
along the west side of HUB mall, under the elms that lined the west side of
112th Street. Beyond the Rutherford Library, a northwest-trending footpath
has replaced the semi-circular driveway that swept up to the main entrance of
the Arts Building.
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2. Arts Building
The three-storey building in brick and limestone trim is, according to its
Montreal architects Percy Nobbs and George Hyde, in elastic, free classical style.
Built on granite footings, it rises to a balustraded roof supported by brick walls
embellished with carved stone crests. The owl embracing the University Crest
above the Main Entrance is the symbol of the goddess Minerva (or Athene),
goddess of wisdom and patron of the arts and trades.
Inside, a circular central dome illuminates ceramic-tiled corridors and
stairwells. Facing the entrance to Convocation Hall are memorials to graduates
who gave their lives in the two World Wars and the Roll of those who served in the
first World War. The Senate Chamber on the second floor has wooden
wainscoting, ornate sculpted moldings, plaster relief sculptures and a two-storey
oval ceiling with decorative plaster trim.
The building was officially opened on 6 October 1915, “a truly great occasion
… including the conferring of a record number of eleven honorary degrees”
(Johns, W.H., 1981, p.51). It had cost $829,000. A restoration project finished in
1987 was budgeted at $11 million.
From the main entrance of the Arts Building, turn north and then east to
the north end of HUB Mall. Cross 112th Street to the path looping east to the
north side of Rutherford House.
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3. Rutherford House
Alexander Rutherford purchased part of Garneau’s River Lot 7 in 1909 while
he was Premier of the Province. He resigned as Premier in 1910 and lost his
Strathcona seat in the Legislature in the 1913 election. The house, Achnacarry,
was designed by local architects, A.G. Wilson and D.E. Herrald and constructed
from local bricks (from the Pollard brickyard on the river flats of River Lot 7) and
Paskapoo stone by Strathcona contractor Thomas Richardson for $25,000
(Babcock, 1989).
The style is eclectic; the pillared balcony is Georgian and the windows are
Palladian elements in a predominately Jacobethan Revival design. Inside, the
Jacobethan style is echoed in the symmetrical oak-paneled central hall and
staircase, lit by a stained glass skylight (Macdonald, J., 1987, p.119). The house
was heated by hot water radiators fed from a central coal-fired boiler. Coal was
available from the Strathcona Mine in the western edge of River Lot 9. Rutherford
had an interest in the mine, which was sold with the mine in 1911 as part of the
CPR’s land acquisition for the south approach to the High Level Bridge (Cruden,
Rains and Thomson, 1998).
The house was sold to a University fraternity in 1940 and acquired by the
University under threat of expropriation in the late 1960s. Left vacant, it was
vandalized and scheduled for demolition by the University. A public outcry led
the Provincial Government to intervene (Bauer et al., 2002, p.93). Restoration
began in 1971, the house opened as a museum and historic site in 1973 and was
designated a Provincial Historic Resource in 1979.
Walk along Saskatchewan Drive to the pink brick path at the end of the
east side of the Humanities Building. Turn south on the path. Notice the view
to the west through the archway of HUB Mall: the approach to the Arts
Building was aligned with 91st Avenue. The mature trees to the east grew on
the south side of the avenue. Follow the pink brick path onto the parking lot
and head southeastwards to the maple tree on 111th Street.
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4. Garneau’s Tree
The Manitoba maple, (Acer negundo), growing on the west side of 111 Street
between 90 Avenue and Saskatchewan Drive is an Alberta Tree of Renown
(Alberta Forestry Association, 1986, p. 29) A plaque at the foot of the tree on its
east side commemorates Laurent and Eleanor Garneau who homesteaded the
property in 1876 and gave their name to River Lot 7. (MacGregor, 1975, p. 97).
Laurent Garneau, born in 1840 in Mills Bay, Michigan, USA, was the son of an
Ojibway mother and a French-Canadian fur trader who had worked for the North
West Company. Laurent traded for furs on the Missouri and then followed Métis
buffalo hunters to Fort Garry, Manitoba where he met Eleanor Thomas. They
would marry. Garneau served with the provisional government forces in the Red
River resistance of 1869 and was part of the westward migration of Métis that
followed.
After the Garneaus settled in Strathcona and planted the maple in the backyard
of the homestead, Laurent Garneau worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company as a
herdsman and freighter on the Athabasca Trail. He sold 1.25 acres of River Lot 7
to Rutherford in 1909.
In 1952, the City of Edmonton Archives and Landmarks Committee approved
the erection of the cairn and plaque at the intersection of 90 Avenue, 110 Street
and Saskatchewan Drive. The plaque marking the Manitoba maple was erected
with a grant from the University of Alberta’s Skarin Fund in 1982.
Cross 111 Street to the south side of 90th Avenue.
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5. Houses on 90 Avenue
Four of the houses on the southern block face between 111 Street and
110 Street were built before 1915. The remaining houses and those on the north
side of the block date from the 1920s and 1930s (Murray, Tingley and Luxton,
2003).
11049 – 90 Avenue was built in 1913 in Craftsman Style. Special features
include flanking, eyeball windows on the front façade, prominent soffit brackets
and a side dormer window. The front porch has been enclosed and the lower wood
siding covered with stucco.
11019 and 11023 – 90 Avenue share three of the typical narrow Garneau lots.
Each lot was a half chain wide (33 feet or about 10 metres) and 2 chains long
(132 feet, about 40 metres). Each lot was thus a square chain, 10 of which would
occupy an acre. These dimensions simplified the surveying of lots with a standard
surveyor’s chain.
These two houses are excellent examples of the Arts and Crafts Style (a
Victorian design movement stressing craftsmanship and organic forms). The
elliptical arches are noteworthy. The houses are 36B and 37B on the City’s
Register of Historic Resources in Edmonton.
11007 – 90 Avenue is 35B on the Register as a handsome example of the
foursquare style of construction, so-called from its square plan. The broad porch
with triple columns and pediment is impressive. Notice the hipped roof with front
dormer and the brick cladding.
The triangular park on the north side of the Avenue at its east end was
purchased by the City of Edmonton from the University of Alberta with the
proceeds of the redevelopment levy in Garneau. In September 2003, it was
named Adair Park. Plaques on the sign commemorate the contributions of
Joseph and Dorothy Adair to Garneau and the City of Edmonton, who lived at
11027-88 Avenue.
Continue east to the wooden stairs at the east end of the next (109 Street)
block. These stairs lead down to the High Level Bridge and the Kinsmen Park
beneath.
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6. The High Level Bridge
The first train crossed the Bridge on June 2, 1913. This unique structure had an
upper deck for the CPR trains and the Edmonton Radial Railway streetcars; the
lower deck carried vehicles and pedestrians. With approaches, the bridge is 850
metres long and 46 metres above mean river level, still among the longest, highest
and heaviest spans in Canada.
Construction of the four, 38 metre high, reinforced concrete piers, two of which
are founded in the bed of the North Saskatchewan River, began in August 1910.
Steel for the superstructure was fabricated at the Canadian Bridge Co.,
(Walkerville, Ontario) and shipped by rail to the south end of the Bridge. There a
large steam-powered crane traveling on the railway positioned the steel for
riveting. (Herzog, L., Lowe, S., 2002, p.49). One million, four hundred thousand
rivets are said to hold the steel together, “a dollar for each rivet” because the
contract for the bridge had been let at $1,428,793. The City of Edmonton
contributed $238,000, Strathcona, $50,000, the Province, $175,000, and the
Federal Government $125,000. The CPR paid the rest. (MacGregor, 1975, p. 182)
Streetcar service on the High Level Bridge began on August 11, 1913. The
service was at 15-minute intervals from 110 Street and 82 Avenue to Jasper
Avenue and 101 Street.
The Edmonton Journal commented, “From the streetcar, one looks from a dizzy
height down into the murky waters of the Saskatchewan without so much as a
handrail to break the gaze into the abysmal depths below. Many people will suffer
that dizzy feeling as they look out of the streetcars passing over the bridge. The
cars run so near to the outer edge…”
When the wooden trestle that carried 109 Street traffic over the CPR tracks at
88 Avenue was replaced by a concrete structure in 1918, the street railway tracks
on 109 Street were crossed over at the approaches to each end of the bridge. So, if
a car became stranded on the bridge passengers could step down onto the CPR
tracks (Hatcher, C.K., Schwarzkopf, T., 1983, p. 93).
The south approach for vehicles was modified in 1931 and lighting was
upgraded in 1939. Extensive repairs to the lower deck were carried out in 1971
and the girders rearranged. The CPR discontinued passenger service to its north
side station in 1972 and had transferred most of its operations to the South
Edmonton Terminal by 1984. The lower deck became one way southbound in
1980 as an important part of the Project Uni transportation plan. The Great Divide
Waterfall, now a feature of holiday weekends in River City, also made its debut in
1980.
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The asphalt path we follow southwards, up a constant gentle slope, is the
former route of the streetcar to 88th Avenue. When the path intersects the lane
between 88th and 89th avenues, the Garneau Monument is only a few steps off
our route.
The Garneau Monument, designed by F. H. Norbury, was erected in 1929. The
Bulletin’s long list of contributors to the Garneau Improvement Club, which
erected the monument, include such familiar names as then Premier J.E. Brownlee,
the former Premier A. C. Rutherford, Magistrate Emily Murphy, geologist P. S.
Warren, and Emil Skarin. Skarin’s firm, Crown Paving, “donated much material
and labour” (Edmonton Bulletin, June 25, 1929.)
Turning northwards on the east side of the lane brings us to a view down
89 Avenue, where the older houses cluster towards the west end of the block.
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7. Houses on 89 Avenue
Llanarthney School, 10944 – 89 Avenue
Gladys Maddox, an Oxford University graduate, who came to Canada in 1912
to teach in a private girls’ school in Montreal, founded the Llanarthney School for
Girls here in 1914. Perhaps she was attracted here by the Welsh settlers on 89
Avenue; Llanarthney is a town in south Wales about 10 km east of Carmarthen on
the River Towy.
The school moved to Oliver, Gladys returned to Britain in 1936 and the school
closed in 1941 (Herzog and Lowe, 2002, p.74). The house is in foursquare style,
comparable to 11007-90 Avenue (View 5.)
The Cecil Burgess House, 10958-89 Avenue
This house, built in 1911 or 1912, is recognized by the city as a Municipal
Historical Resource and by the province as a Registered Historical Resource.
Two distinguished Albertans have lived in this residence: Percival Warren and
Cecil Burgess.
The property is also the home of an elm that, according to a City inventory,
has one of the largest diameters (1.24 metres) of elm trees in Edmonton. Though
it is not know who planted the tree or when, the current owners have informally
christened it the “Michelet Tree” in honour of Frank Michelet, the first resident.
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Percival Sidney Warren (1890 – 1970) and his family lived at this address
from 1926 – 1940. Dr. Warren joined the University of Alberta in 1920 as a
member of the Geology Department and acted as its chair from 1949 to 1950.
He retired from the University in 1955, but continued to lecture and conduct
research until his death.
His research focused on Alberta stratigraphy and western Canadian fossils,
one of which bears is name. Active with the Research Council of Alberta and
with the Geological Survey of Canada, he built the extensive biostratigraphic
collection at the University and published widely on the Paleozoic and
Mesozoic rocks of western Canada. He was often consulted during the
post-war oil exploration boom and his work provided one of the cornerstones
for the building of the petroleum industry in Alberta.
The P.S. Warren Society, the student geological society at the University of
Alberta, was named in his honour (Godfrey, 1993, p.8).
Cecil Scott Burgess (1870 – 1971) lived here from 1941 until 1971. He
was born in Bombay, was educated in Scotland, and trained as an architect
with Sir George Washington Browne and at Heriot Watt College and the
Edinburgh School of Art. He imigrated to Canada in 1903 and taught at
McGill University under Percy E. Nobbs, who was the first architect for the
University of Alberta.
Burgess was appointed professor of architecture at the University of
Alberta in 1913, where he was also superintending architect. He designed
Pembina Hall and the Ring Houses and collaborated with other architects in
the construction of the Arts Building and other buildings on campus. He was
in charge of the Department of Architecture, created within the Faculty of
Applied Science, until 1940. His legacy is further evident on campus in
Rutherford Library and the Students’ Union Building, which were designed by
his students. In 1958, the University of Alberta awarded Cecil Burgess an
honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
Burgess’ influence was felt beyond the borders of the campus. He was for
thirty years a member of the Council of the Alberta Association of Architects,
where his experience and guidance were invaluable. He designed the Bowker
Building and the Birks Building, recognized as significant contributions to this
city’s architecture. He was also Chairman of the City of Edmonton Town
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Planning Commission, where he was instrumental in acquiring land for a town
centre and in setting aside parcels of land which city community leagues now
develop and use for community and recreational needs. After his retirement
from the University, Burgess continued in private practice and was retained by
the National Parks authorities to develop plans for the towns of Banff and
Jasper.
Crossing to the sidewalk on the west of 110th Street and turning south
brings us to the walkway through the housing erected for the 1983
Universiade Games. Some older houses on this block still survive.
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8. Emily Murphy House, 11011-88 Avenue
The Reverend Arthur Murphy, his wife, Emily, and their daughter Evelyn
moved into this house in 1919. Emily has begun her work as a City of
Edmonton magistrate in 1916, the first female magistrate in the British
Empire. She documented here concerns about the growing trade in opiates in
The Black Candle (Murphy, 1922). Her brother William, a Justice of the
Ontario Supreme Court, suggested a response to challenges of her status as a
magistrate. The Canadian Supreme Court Act allowed 5 interested persons to
seek interpretation of a constitutional point. The interested persons, 5 women
with some expectation of appointment to the Canadian Senate, met here in
August, 1927 to plan their query as to whether … the word persons in Section
24 of the British North America Act (1867) included female persons? The
Supreme Court of Canada unanimously rejected this suggestion in 1928.
However, in 1929, the British Privy Council reversed the decision, calling the
exclusion of women from public office, “a relic of days more barbarous than
ours.” These legal actions were supported by the Provincial Government –
one of the interested persons, Irene Parlby, was a Cabinet Minister (without
portfolio) in the United Farmers of Alberta government.
The Premier, J. E. Brownlee was living one block west at
11151-88 Avenue. Allegations about later activities at that house led to
Brownlee’s own affairs being discussed by the Privy Council in 1940 (Foster,
1996, chapters 17 and 18) with a less positive result.
The Persons judgments are recorded under Henrietta Edwards' name.
(Mander, C., 1985, p. 115) Another record of the Edwards family’s
contribution to the Province is in the Arts Building (visit 2). A plaque
memorializes the service of her son, William, dead from the Spanish influenza
epidemic in 1918; he nursed the sick in the University’s Pembina Hall. He
was the first Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Alberta,
recruited by H. M. Tory from McGill University in 1908.
Continuing west along 88th Avenue leads back to St. Stephen’s College
and the starting point of the short walk.
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References
Alberta Forestry Association, 1986,
Alberta Trees of Renown: An
Honour Roll of Alberta Trees,
Alberta Forestry Association,
Edmonton, 63 p.
Herzog, L., Lowe, S., 2002, The Life of
a Neighbourhood: A History of
Edmonton’s Oliver District, 1870
to 1950. Oliver Community
League, Edmonton, 166 p.
Babcock, D.R., 1989, Alexander
Cameron Rutherford: a
gentleman of Strathcona,
University of Calgary Press,
Calgary, 193 p.
Johns, W.H., 1981, A History of the
University of Alberta, 1908 –
1969, The University of Alberta
Press, Edmonton, 478 p.
Bauer, M., Blackley, B., Boytzun, A.,
Kostash, M., Mellon, W.,
Reynolds, F., Robinson, R.,
Rootes, M., Scafe, G., 2002, By
degrees: The First 90 Years of
the Canadian Federation of
University Women Edmonton,
CFUW Edmonton, 246 p.
Cruden, D.M., Rains, B., Thomson, S.,
1998, The Valley Beneath Our
Feet, Edmonton Geological
Society, Edmonton, 44 p.
Foster, R., 1996, John E. Brownlee, A
Biography, Foster Learning,
Lloydminster Alberta, 314 p.
Godfrey, J., editor, 1993, Edmonton
Beneath our Feet, Edmonton
Geological Society, Edmonton
150p.
MacDonald, J., 1987, Historic
Edmonton: An Architectural and
Pictorial Guide, Lone Pine
Publishing, Edmonton, 206 p.
MacGregor, J.G., 1975, Edmonton, a
history, Hurtig, Edmonton,
340 p.
Mander, C., 1985, Emily Murphy:
Rebel, Simon and Pierre,
Toronto, 150 p.
Murphy, E.F., 1922, The Black Candle,
T. Allen, Toronto.
Murray, D., Tingley, K., Luxton, D.,
2003, Historical and
Architectural Assessment of the
Houses in East Campus Village,
University of Alberta, Report to
the University of Alberta Capital
and Strategic Planning Services,
151 p.
Hatcher, C.K., Schwarzkopf, T., 1983,
Edmonton’s Electric Transit:
The Story of Edmonton’s
Streetcars and Trolley Buses,
Railfare Enterprise, Toronto,
209 p.
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