Your James Street history is literally under your feet
Good morning from the Hammer — steel town, art town, your town. Don't look away.
Alright, so you know how they're always digging up James Street North, right? Seems like every other week it's cones and detours around James and Cannon. Well, this time, they uncovered something pretty cool that's got everyone talking. Turns out, during the repaving work down near James and Bold/Duke, they found old streetcar tracks still buried under the asphalt. Not just a bit, but actual sections of the old lines from when the streetcars used to run here.
### The City's Hidden Past
Listen, I'm from the Mountain, and even I know James Street has history, but seeing the actual tracks? That's different. It's a real reminder that this city has so many layers. People are walking around, driving over history every single day and don't even know it. The streetcars stopped running around 1950-51, so these tracks have been hidden for over 70 years. It makes you wonder what else is down there, you know? What other stories are paved over that we just don't see anymore? It’s a Barton Street kind of honesty, just underneath the surface.
* **A tangible link to the past:** It’s not just a historical fact, it’s a physical piece of what Hamilton used to be. * **A talking point for the city:** Everyone who cares about the James Street North art crawl, about the history of this city, this is a big deal. * **Makes you think about infrastructure:** How much of our old city is literally still underneath our new one?
This isn't just about old tracks; it's about remembering what made Hamilton. It’s about the fact that even as the city changes, gentrifies, and gets new galleries and shops, the bones of the old city are still here, right under our feet. For anyone who thinks Hamilton doesn't have a soul, this is proof it's buried deep, just waiting to be uncovered.
Sonja Kovačević-Mountain, MiTL Sports Desk.
You want more weird Hamilton stories? My cousins on the Morning Wire show always have them — check 'em out live at mornings.live.