Format: Photographic Prints
Number: 20,000
Dates: 1850s to present The images are predominantly from Hamilton and date from the 1850s to the present. They are arranged geographically and then alphabetically by subject and are indexed, making them publicly accessible. Only a sampling of images has been digitized to date.

Baker Collection

Format: Photographic Prints
Number: 285
Dates: 1939-1945

Geoffrey Baker was an airplane mechanic with the Royal Air Force who was stationed at Mount Hope Airport during World War II. This collection is a good overview of the activities of Baker during the war including shots of the airport as well as the Hamilton area.

Canadian Eclipse Expedition

Format: Photographs (in an album)
Number: 85
Dates: 1905

This album records the activities of the Canadian Eclipse Expedition to Labrador in 1905. The eclipse took place on August 30th and was photographed by astronomers from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, the Dominion Observatory at Ottawa and the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England.

Cochran Album

Format: Photographs
Number: 84
Dates: 1886-1902

These images are from an album containing contact prints of some of Charles Schriber Cochran’s (1854-1933) finest photographs taken when he ran a photographic studio in Hamilton. Many of them were never published and are available here for the public for the first time.

 

Hendrie Album

Format: Photographs
Number: 17
Date: ca 1930

The Holmstead was originally built in 1830 and was owned by the Hendrie family from the 1860s until its demolition in 1936. This album contains a series of exterior and interior shots of the home allowing us a personal glimpse into the lifestyle of one of Hamilton’s more prominent families.

 

Mountain Sanatorium

Format: Photographs
Number: 26
Dates: 7 January 1939

This photograph album was put together to commemorate the opening of the Wilcox Pavilion at the Hamilton Sanatorium. The album was made by a patient and it is quite possible that this is the only copy of the proceedings of an important event in the development of health care in Hamilton.

 

Spectator – “S” Files

Format: Negatives
Number: 1,000 +
Dates: 1939-1957

The S Files were kept separated from the Hamilton Spectator Daily Files and filed under subject names. Some specific topics of interest in these files are the Royal Visit of 1939 and the Dick Murder Trials of 1946-47 as well as many other interesting and diverse events covered by the newspaper.

 

Superior Engravers

Format: Photographic negatives
Number: 10,000
Dates: 1930s to 1950s

Superior Engravers was established in 1921. They took photographs to use etchings used in the printing of posters or newspaper and magazine advertisements. This collection is particularly strong in covering Hamilton’s commercial and industrial sectors, particularly during the years of World War II and immediately afterwards.