Key Number:	HS 59159
Site Name:	Hull Block
Other Names:
Site Type:	0104 - Residential: Apartment Building 0400 - Mercantile/Commercial: General and Mixed Use Commercial

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			52	24	4

Address:	10601-07 - 97 Street NW
Number:	1-7
Street:	97 NW
Avenue:	106 NW
Other:
Town:	Edmonton
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:
Plan Shape:	Rectangular
Storeys:	Storeys: 3
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Concrete
Superstructure:	Brick
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:	Massing of Units: Single Detached Wings: Unknown Wall Design and Detail: Decorative Shingle Roof Trim - Eaves: Rafters Exposed Roof Trim Material - Eaves: Concrete Roof Trim - Verges: Flush Verges Roof Trim Material - Verges: Concrete Towers, Steeples and Domes: None Dormer Type: None Chimney Location - Side to Side: Unknown Roof Trim - Special Features: None Window - Structural Opening Shape: Flat Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Keystone Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Material: Wood Window - Sill Type: Plain Slip Sill Window - Sill Material: Wood Window - Trim Within Structural Opening - Head: Plain Window - Trim Within Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Window - Number of Sashes: One Window - Opening Mechanism: Single or Double Hung Window - Special Types: None Window - Pane Arrangements: 2 over 2 Main Entrance - Location: Centre (Facade) Main Entrance - Structural Opening Shape: Flat Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Plain Flat Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening Material: Wood Main Entrance - Trim Within Structural Opening - Head: Plain Main Entrance - Trim Within Structural Opening - Sides: None Main Entrance - Number of Leaves: 1 Main Entrance - Number of Panels Per Leaf: 1 Main Entrance - Leaves - Special Feature: Glass Main Stairs - Location and Design: None Main Porch - Type: Recess Main Porch - Material: Concrete Main Porch - Height: First Storey
Exterior:	Projecting pressed metal cornice; front and side arched pediment with large balls at corners and Name stones 'Hull Block'; store front cornice with dentils; keystones above two over one windows. Keystone; entablature; recessed panels; corbelling; decorated parapet with keystone.
Interior:	N/A
Environment:	Neighbourhood: McCauley Located along a major early Edmonton artery.
Condition:	Good
Alterations:	Store fronts altered; side store front bricked in.

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Built (F.G. Consultants, 1993) Construction Started	1914/01/01 1918/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Apartment Commercial
Owner:	Owner Date:
William Roper Hull

Architect:	Edward C. Hopkins
Builder:	Dunlop-Johnson Construction Co.
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	Old address was 9664 - 106 Avenue. 1910 - 1940 Herb E. Thomson Drugs 1945 - 1960 Hardins Drug # 2 1970 - Vacant 1975 - M. S. Enterprise Used Furniture 1980 - Cosmo Trading ph: 424-7577. Major Commercial Block owned by prominent Calgary entrepreneur. First appears in 1915 Henderson's Directory. Used as apartment block as well. Valued at $35,000. Herbert E. Thompson, druggist, first listed at address in 1915. *** NEW $35,000 BLOCK FOR NAMAYO AVE. W.R. Hull, of Calgary, Building at Corner of Namayo Avenue and Sutherland. W. Roper Hull, of Calgary, formerly of Edmonton, will erect this summer a three-storey store and apartment building on the north-east corner of Namayo Avenue and Sutherland Street, at a cost of $35,000. Plans and specifications prepared by E.C. Hopkins, architect, call for a bath brick and white cast cement exterior. The contract for the basement has been let to the Dunlop-Johnson Construction Company, and completion of the building is expected by the end of August. The contract for the superstructure has not yet been awarded. HISTORICAL CONTEXT With the turn of the 20 th century, Edmonton was beginning a period of rapid development, initiated mainly by its position as the commercial gateway to northwestern Canada . In 1904, Edmonton became a city, and, in 1905, two other events occurred which would solidify its position as a metropolis. First, the city was named the capital of the new province of Alberta, and, second, just as the first Legislative Assembly was convening in September, the tracks of the Canadian Northern Railway were being laid, giving the city a direct line to Winnipeg and the markets of eastern Canada. Four years later, the Canadian Northern was joined by the Grand Trunk Pacific, with a line through the city’s north end and a spur to the city center. The arrival of these railways brought dramatic change to the city center where, to the west end, a large warehouse district evolved. The north side also saw extensive development as many large industries chose to locate plants and warehouses near the tracks. The railways and the industries they spawned brought masses of working class immigrants to Edmonton, most of whom chose to live in neighborhoods near their centers of employment, such as McCauley, Norwood, Riverdale and Bellevue. As a result, small community commercial areas sprang up to provide easy shopping for residents, and facilitate local businesses. Being close to the city center, the McCauley district had little need for a separate shopping district, and yet there remained an inclination for many small businesses to locate as close to the people as possible. As a result, Namayo Avenue (97 th Street) was soon developed into a commercial artery, extending from Jasper Avenue all the way to 111 th Avenue, with sections of the street also holding small dwellings. North of the tracks, the street soon assumed the appearance of a small community shopping district, with grocery stores, drug stores, hardware stores, restaurants, barber shops, laundries and convenience stores predominating over the years. The shops were mostly modest two-storey structures, and often the proprietors would live in the same buildings. In June 1914, when the commercial boom in Edmonton had actually just passed its apex, a headline in the Edmonton Bulletin read “New $35,000 Block for Namayo Avenue.” The owner of the property on the corner of Namayo Avenue and Sutherland Street (9664-106 th Avenue) was the Calgary business tycoon, William Roper Hull, who apparently saw the need for an office complex in the area. As designed by E.C. Hopkins and opened the following year, the building was no doubt expected to facilitate small retail businesses and apartment dwellers, as well as office space. The concept of the combined facility was not unlike the Buena Vista Apartments and the Gibbard Block recently erected among small commercial buildings in other areas of the city that were surrounded by extensive urban development. Among the first tenants in what became known as the Hull Block was Herb E. Thomson Drugs, which would occupy the premises until 1940. Countless other tenants also came to occupy the building, which today appears to be serving the same purpose for which it was built 87 years ago. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE The historical significance of the Hull Block lies in its representation of the tremendous commercial growth of downtown Edmonton during the early part of the 20 th century. It is also representative of the kind of commercial structure intended to evoke the ethos of a large office complex, but, due to its location near an urban population, also made to facilitate small retail businesses and apartment dwellers. It is also a significant landmark in the McCauley district of Edmonton.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
Municipal Historic Resource Provincial Historic Resource	2001/09/11 2003/07/21

Register:	B132

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places:	4665-0843