Historic Happenings ‘History of Hamilton’ excerpt from Wikipedia.org
What was happening in Hamilton Ontario in 1906-1918?
International Harvester Company plant and waterfront in Hamilton c. 1907
Hamilton had a momentous year in 1906: local boy Billy Sherring won an Olympic gold medal at Athens for the marathon.[20] The Amalgamated Transit Union struck against the HSR in a bitter labour dispute. The working class voters of Hamilton East, sympathetic to the ATU, elected Allan Studholme as their Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. For… years he stood as the lone labour representative in the legislature, championing the eight-hour day, workmen’s compensation, the minimum wage and women’s suffrage.
The steel industry continued to grow and finally consolidate through this period, some combining to form the Steel Company of Canada in 1910 and others Dominion Steel Casting Company in 1912. Stelco and Dofasco, as they became colloquially and then legally known, were located in the north end to take advantage of the transportation and cooling opportunities provided by access to the water.[18]
The infant science of aviation found early and enthusiastic supporters in Hamilton. Jack Elliot established an airport in the north end near Stelco which in 1911 hosted the first Canadian Air Meet. Pioneering aviator J.A.D. McCurdy won that contest, sponsored in part by the newly minted Hamilton Automobile Club (now CAA South Central Ontario).
Emigration continued from Britain and the United States (chiefly blacks) during this period as local museums show, but also began from other countries such as Italy and Austria-Hungary. Remarkably, thousands of Italian Hamiltonians are descendants of emigrants in this period from a single Sicilian town, commemorated by the dual naming of Murray Street as Corso Raculmuto.
Increased population and prosperity prompted a building boom. As a publicity stunt and raffle, workers and contractors built a house in a day in 1913 which was later featured in a Ripley’s Believe It or Not cartoon. The same year, the Hamilton Public Library opened its new building funded by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. (The site was renovated and now houses the Family Court.)
Hamiltonians participated in the First World War as combatants, but due to Col. Sir Sam Hughes’ mobilization plans for the Canadian Expeditionary Force, there were no major battles associated purely with Hamiltonians. The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry later perpetuated the battle honours of four of these consecutively numbered Overseas Battalions of the CEF.
Heavy industry boomed as the Canadian and British governments’ war driven demands for steel, arms, munitions and textiles increased. Unfortunately, in their quest to expand, the twin steel giants damaged the land by infilling Hamilton Harbour and burying or diverting many creeks which formerly flowed into the bay. War profiteering by manufacturers dampened some of the mood, but generally Hamiltonians pulled together.
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(Wikipedia.org / History of Hamilton Ontario)