Posts Tagged Mining

Photo Credit: Claybank Brick Plant National Historic Site

Okay all you industrial built heritage experts out there, what do the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City, the Canadian Corvette HMCS Sackville, the rocket launch pad at NASA’s Cape Canaveral in Florida, numerous sugar refineries in Cuba and dozens of vintage steam class Canadian Pacific and Canadian National locomotives all have in common? Stumped? Read on and you’ll learn about a very interesting National Historic Site in Saskatchewan that links these places and objects together.  (more…)

Photo Credit: Brandon Godfrey

School is back in session this week for hundreds of thousands of young students across Canada which includes university students. This is a perfect segueway into our next instalment of “Canadian Castles”. Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia is one such place that will see thousands of students on its campus this week to begin classes. Considered to be one of the most beautiful campuses in the country for its location as well as its splendid architecture, Royal Roads started out in a much different way. It is the former home of James Dunsmuir; coal baron, BC Premier and Lieutenant Governor. Not to be outdone on any level by his father Robert, James set out to build the finest Edwardian mansion of its time in western Canada; Hatley Castle.  (more…)

Photo Credit: OurBC

I bet when you think of Canadian built heritage and industrial history, a castle is not the first thing that comes to mind. However, Canada does have a number of “castles” that acted as stately homes. In fact, some of these Canadian castles are so grand that they equal, perhaps even surpass, their British and European counterparts in both design and elegance. These castles, as with many stately homes across Canada, had been built by industrialists as a testament to their power and wealth during the Victorian and Edwardian periods. For many, when that power and wealth faded, the families were forced to sell these homes. Fortunately, they have all been saved and are now spectacular museums or public institutions that have earned Canadian National Historic Site status. In the first part of our series on “Canadian Castles”, we’ll go out west to Victoria, British Columbia and feature the first of two castles built by the Dunsmuir family: Craigdarroch Castle. (more…)