Edmonton Historical Board Recognition & Plaque Awards

The Edmonton Historical Board Recognition and Plaque Awards recognize the contributions that individuals and organizations have made towards our city's history and also recognize the landmarks that have become part of our local history.

2009 Edmonton Historical Board Nominations

Recognition Awards

Nominations will be accepted for an individual or group who has preserved Edmonton's history, or has made a significant contribution to the city's development. Recognition Award recipients will be remembered in the Historical Hall of Fame at the City Archives.

Previous award recipients include Linda Goyette, Paula Simons, Tommy Banks, Legacy Magazine, the Muslim Pioneers of Edmonton, and the Fort Edmonton Foundation.

Recognition Awards Nomination Form

Plaque AwardsJohn Walter's 1884 House

Nominations will be accepted for a historically-relevant building or site. The awarded plaques will be installed at each location so that the public can gain a greater appreciation of Edmonton's heritage.

Previous buildings and sites recognized with plaques include: Low Level Bridge, St. Josaphat Cathedral, Hudson's Bay Company Department Store, McCauley School, Strathcona Library, Strathcona Hotel and the John Walter House.

Plaque Awards Nomination Form

2008 Award Recipients

History Makers

Herb Dixon

Herb's contributions to the museum and archives communities in Edmonton have been outstanding.He has encouraged the collection of archival records on railway history and has been instrumental in the development of the Alberta Railway Museum and the Alberta Pioneer Railway Association.

Jack and Enid Fitzsimonds

Since the early 1950s there is scarcely a museum, archives or historical association in Edmonton which has not benefited from Jack and the late Enid Fitzsimonds' love of history. Tireless volunteers, avid local and family historians and great organizers, Jack and Enid epitomize the kind of dedication to history that the Edmonton Historical Board's Recognition Awards are designed to celebrate.

Paula Simons

Paula Simon's love of Edmonton and its diverse history is reflected in her thoughtful and much read columns in the Edmonton Journal on heritage issues. Over the years she has written on preservation, museum and urban planning issues and their role in ensuring Edmonton remains a vibrant urban centre.

Bert Yeudall

Bert Yeudall is perhaps best known for his remarkable work preserving the history of telephones and other communications media in Edmonton. What is less well known is that from his base with the Edmonton Telephone Historical Information Centre, he has played a significant national and international role in the promotion of science centres and museums.

Historic Landmarks

Northern Alberta Pioneers and Descendants Association Cabin at Northlands

Located at Northlands Park this building has strong associations with both the Edmonton Exhibition and early museum and archives development in Edmonton. In 1926 the building replaced a tent set up to serve refreshments to Edmontonians visiting the Ex. Over time it evolved into an Edmonton institution, offering a place to picnic and socialize while viewing exhibits of documents and artifacts that told the story of Edmonton's early settlers.

Chenier-Beauchamp Residences

In 1910, Eliza Chenier, an early female entrepreneur in Edmonton, obtained a building permit for this duplex. She was co-owner of the Strathcona Hotel for many years with her business partner, Joseph Beauchamp, who lived in the other half of the duplex. In addition to housing several interesting residents, this duplex is an architecturally interesting variation on the four-square house pattern and reflects residential housing patterns in Edmonton in the pre-First World War era.

John Lang Apartments

This distinctive apartment block was built between 1907 and 1910 by John Lang, a local carpenter and real estate investor. It was originally built as a duplex and then later further sub-divided into a fourplex. Between 1919 and 1938 it was used as a nurses' residence for the Misericordia Hospital. It is a good example of speculative housing built in Edmonton prior to 1914 to serve the rapidly growing population of the city.

Lester Allyn House

This house was built in 1907 by Lester Allyn, a local building contractor. In its early years it housed several prominent Edmontonians, but by the 1920s the area was less fashionable and the building’s owners and tenants were less notable. A significant feature of the house is the degree to which it has retained its original building materials and layout, making it one of the most intact houses of its type and period in Edmonton.

William O'Leary/Dr. David Dunn House

This house was built in 1913 but sat empty until grain dealer William O'Leary moved there in 1915. The house was subsequently purchased by Dr. David Dunn in 1922. Dr. Dunn served as the Chief Medical Inspector for Edmonton Public Schools and was a pioneer in public health programs in the city. He is credited, for example, with largely eliminating diphtheria from local schools. The house is a good example of how local builders adapted popular architectural styles of the period such as Arts and Crafts and Craftsman details, to suit the Edmonton market.

Reginald G.J. Smith Residence

This residence is very typical of housing built in the Mill Creek area of Strathcona. Built in 1913, it was originally owned by Reginald Smith, a reporter for the Edmonton Journal. It is a good example of a modest Craftsman style home popular in Edmonton/Strathcona in the pre-First World War period. Its heritage value is enhanced by the way the house retains much of its original character and configuration.

William Blakey Residence

William Blakey was one of Edmonton’s most influential and longest-serving architects. He worked as an architect from 1907 until his retirement in 1960. During his career he designed many of Edmonton’s most prominent schools, churches and commercial buildings. His 1946 family home reflects his changing ideas on architecture and his willingness to embrace modernism in both design and building techniques and materials. Built using slab grade construction, corner windows and unornamented wall surfaces, this is one of Edmonton’s best examples of modernist design in residential housing.

Strathcona Hotel

The Strathcona Hotel is one of Edmonton’s iconic buildings. It dates from the arrival of the Calgary and Edmonton Railway in Strathcona in 1891 and its location adjacent to the railway station helped to establish Whyte Avenue as the main commercial centre on the south side of the river. The building was added to several times to meet demand for more hotel rooms in the growing settlement, and even served briefly as a Presbyterian women's college from 1918-1924. It remains one of the oldest commercial wood frame buildings in the city and given its size and location it has become a genuine landmark.

Connaught Armory

Connaught Armoury was built in 1911-12 in the then separate city of Strathcona. It served as the base for one of Alberta's most famous regiments, the 19th Alberta Dragoons. The regiment served with great distinction in the First and Second World Wars. Like many cavalry regiments it was reorganized as an armoured regiment, and after 1945 it became known as the 19th Alberta Armoured Car Regiment. The building is a fine example of military building in Alberta, and presents a formidable, fortress-like appearance with its stylized roof crenellations, heavy brick and masonry walls, and formal entry porch.

For more information:

Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre

Located South of Royal Alexandra Hospital, just West of Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts

10440 108 Avenue
Edmonton AB  T5H 3Z9

Hours:
Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Fri: 8:30am-4:30pm
Wed: 8:30am-8pm

Telephone

In Edmonton: 311

Outside Edmonton: 780-442-5311
Fax 780-496-8732
Email cms.archives@edmonton.ca
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