A Virtual Tour of Downtown Hamilton

THE HEART OF THE CITY

HAMILTON SPECTATOR

26-32 James Street South

CURRENT STATUS (1999) Demolished in mid-1970s

BUILDING INFORMATION
Date Built: 1898
Original Owner: Hamilton Spectator
Original Use: Printing House
Subsequent Uses: N/A
Previous Building on Site: N/A

ARCHITECTURE
Size: Six-storeys
Design and Style: N/A
Architect, Builder: W.P. Wilton, architect
Construction Materials: Rubbed Connecticut brown stone and manganese pressed brick
Architectural Features: N/A

In the early days of local journalism, there were many newspapers of varied types in circulation. At that same time, a group of Hamilton men wanted a newspaper that was more moderate in outlook than the very conservative Hamilton Gazette. A young master printer by the name of Robert Reid Smiley was called to Hamilton and, above a drug store located on James Street North, he published the first edition of the "Hamilton Spectator and Journal of Commerce", using a second hand press capable of turning out 200 copies an hour. The first edition was published on July 15, 1846, as a semi-weekly, having a modest four pages. In the short span of a decade, the number of subscribers grew from a few hundred to thousands. This increase changed the paper from a semi-weekly to a daily. By 1856, the publishers claimed to have one of the largest circulation of any Canadian newspapers west of Toronto.

IMAGE: The Spectator Building on James Street (39104 bytes) After the death of Robert Smiley, the Spectator passed into the management of his brother, John Smiley who unfortunately sold his interest in the business and left for Chicago as there was not enough capital to back up the business. Alexander Robertson then joined the company, under the firm name of Gillespy & Robertson. For a few years they struggled, rather unsuccessfully, to keep the company going. Some years later, the White Brothers, proprietors of the Spectator, gave the business the financial strength it needed, returning the Spectator to a more solid foundation. The White Brothers eventually sold the Spectator to Alexander Lawson, David McCulloch, and Alexander Mars. It was under their editorial management that the Spectator flourished. In 1873, the United States and Canada were hit with a financial panic whose effects were felt immediately. Lawson, McCulloch & Company did not have enough money saved to support the paper and were compelled to sell the business. The ailing Spectator was put on the market, and was purchased by William Southam.

Southam, superintendent of the Free Press, held a third of the shares of the company, which he sold. Using this money and money he borrowed, he entered into a partnership with William Carey. Together they, and a group of more than a dozen prominent Hamiltonians raised enough funds to purchase the Hamilton Spectator. Both Southam and Carey invested $4,000 with an additional $1,000 to be paid within a year. The balance of the required funds was provided by the other members. In 1925, Southam fully owned the Spectator.

Over the years, the Spectator faced fierce and stiff competition from many other notable papers, which included the Times and the Herald. It was under the management of Southam that the Spectator, Hamilton’s twenty-third newspaper, flourished. Their success resulted in the bowing out of their competitors, leaving the Spectator as the sole survivor on the local journalism scene.

Over the course of the company’s career, the Spectator frequently changed locations, each time securing both better equipment and better facilities for their growing industry. The first printing office of 1846, was located the second floor over IMAGE: Spectator delivery boy (46908 bytes) what was then Dalley’s Drug Store and which would later become the Grafton Store, located on James Street North. From there, the company moved to the building on James Street South, which it occupied from 1850 until it moved to the site of the Wentworth Arms Hotel. It then relocated to the corner of James and Main Streets. It then travelled to the Parke & Parke building, located on Market Square.

On January 23, 1884, papers reported that the Spectator had suffered extensive damage from a fire that had broken out the previous night. An hour after the fire alarm sounded, the floor of the job room was completely destroyed by flames which caused the two huge printing presses to fall through the floor. An investigation into the fire concluded that it began in the stockroom near the building’s elevator shaft. The flames shot up to the roof via the shaft and spread across the length of the building. Sparks had also fallen down the shaft a room where large quantities of newsprint were being stored. Within minutes, the interior of the building was an inferno and beyond rescue. Despite the tragedy, the morning paper made its appearance.

Within days, the management of the Spectator had purchased the building and equipment of their former rival, The Tribune, located on James Street North, just north of Vine Street. The paper was printed on this site for a short time.

In June of 1898, the Spectator moved into the six storey building on James Street North where it remained until 1921. The building, designed by W. P. Wilton, and built in 1898, was the first modern office building on the block. This six-storey building was said to have been one of the finest office buildings in either Toronto or Hamilton at the time of its erection. It was 75 square feet and the height of the front from the sidewalk to the top of the cornices was 92 feet. The front of the building was constructed with rubbed Connecticut brown stone and manganese pressed brick, and was topped with a copper cornice. The IMAGE: Men making newspaper(12300 bytes) main entrances on James Street were ornamental, while the halls were faced with enameled brick, and the floors were finished in a marble mosaic construction. The staircase had carved mewels and turned balustrades, while the offices were furnished in native woods. The then modern building was equipped with electricity. The upper floors were rented out as office space, the second floor housed the editorial staff, and the ground floor contained the Spectator’s main offices. A three-storey building, located behind the main building, housed the type setting machines and the printing presses. An editorial appearing in the paper of April 9, 1898, referred to the Spectator office as "the newspaper palace."

In 1921, the company relocated to a building on King Street East, across from the Royal Connaught Hotel, where it remained until their final move. This location provided for plenty of highly visible downtown frontage on the north side of King Street. The majority of the building occupied the entire block between King Street East and King William, from the Loew’s Theatre to Catharine Street. On April 1, 1953, the paper announced that the building formerly occupied by the Spectator, located at 24 James Street South had been had been purchased by the Royal Bank and was slated for demolition to make way for a modern office building, which was to be ready for occupation on January 1, 1955. On October 14, 1976, the Spectator held its official grand opening of their new location, and present home, located at 44 Frid Street, in West Hamilton. The value of the plant was estimated to be worth $23,000,000.

The Spectator has always sought to "provide readers with a daily package of information, background, analysis and IMAGE: Spectotor Building 1956(15842 bytes) interpretation" (Spectator, April 24, 1995). As a paper, they desire to inform, educate, and entertain their subscribers. The Spectator’s policy has always sought "to present world-wide news carefully edited and from the most authoritative sources." Today, their goal is no different.

From the early days to the present, the Spectator has seen a continual increase in subscription. Today, the Spectator is delivered to an extensive area encompassing Hamilton, Burlington, Ancaster, Dundas, Stoney Creek, Waterdown, Winona, Grimsby, and regions South of Highway 53.

In 1995, The Spectator, again in keeping with modern demands, changed the delivery times. After having polled readers for two years, the Spectator implemented an early morning delivery time, which changed from the previous afternoon delivery. Papers were to be delivered by 6 a.m. in order to beat out the competition, which research had shown to have ensured delivery by 7 a.m..

The Spectator is presently equipped with some of the most efficient technology for their industry. According to information printed in 1995, the Spectator’s presses were then capable of printing 50,000 newspapers per hour or 1,700,000 pages per hour. An article in the April 24, 1995 paper highlighted the fact that the presses were capable of covering as much as 160 miles of newsprint every hour.

The Spectator was and is a key element of the City of Hamilton, tirelessly reporting the news that affects the citizens of the region. The great number of subscribers attest to its informative importance and to its journalistic success.