If These Walls Could Talk

It started out as a straightforward architectural inventory of Hamilton Township’s older buildings. The township had never catalogued its heritage and in 2016, Tom Cruickshank proposed that he was the guy to do it. Retired from a career in journalism, he has an abiding interest in local history and heritage architecture which is a subject that he has pursued in no less than five books. His works include Old Ontario HousesOld Toronto Houses and The Settler’s Dream. He also worked as editor of Century Home and later, Harrowsmith Country Life. Currently he freelances for Watershed Magazine.

Tom started to document all the farmhouses, bridges, churches and schoolhouses as a kind of archive of Hamilton’s history. As he toured the backroads and villages along the way, the project quickly took on a life of its own. In addition to cataloguing the wonderful architecture of the township, he also dove into family histories, newspaper searches and genealogical accounts. Now and then, some peculiar facts and even some family secrets emerged. While Tom’s talk will focus on the heritage architecture, it’ll also veer into personal histories and news events from the 19th century. After all, what’s more interesting: a slide show of pretty houses or a slide show of pretty houses that have stories to tell?

Join us for our second meeting of the 2022-2023 season on Tuesday, October 25 in Victoria Hall’s Concert Hall. Doors open at 7:00 PM for coffee and cookies. The meeting begins at 7:30 PM. Guests are always welcome. Admission, including refreshments, is free for members and $5 for non-members. All are welcome so bring a friend or two. See you on Tuesday, October 25!

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