Medicine Hat in Cypress County, Alberta — Canada’s Prairie Region (North America)
Hull Block
Constructed in 1912
— Municipal Historic Resource —
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 26, 2022
1. Hull Block Marker
The Hull Block is a three storey, load-bearing brick structure designed in the Edwardian Commercial style. It features engaged brick pilasters, symmetrically placed upper level windows and pressed metal entablature. The ground floor brickwork has been rendered with cement stucco and painted on façades facing the streets.
The building was constructed for William Roper Hull, well known Alberta pioneer rancher, who also operated a slaughter-house and retail butcher shops. He sold his business to Patrick Burns and went into commercial real estate development. The architect was F. J. Lawson, partner in Lawson & Fordyce, a Calgary architectural firm. Local contractors Oakes & Everard were engaged to construct the building.
Purchased by the T. Eaton Company in 1941, the Eaton’s department store was long a focal point of the central shopping district. In 1992, the building was extensively renovated and became Gaslight Plaza, containing a mix of retail space and professional offices. It occupies a very high-profile corner location in the centre of the downtown core and is a particularly prominent and familiar structure in the city.
The City of Medicine Hat designated the Hull Block as a Municipal Historic Resource on September 8, 2015.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture
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Location. 50° 2.378′ N, 110° 40.543′ W. Marker is in Medicine Hat, Alberta, in Cypress County. Marker is at the intersection of 3rd Street Southeast and 6 Avenue Southeast, on the right when traveling east on 3rd Street Southeast. Marker is mounted at eye-level, directly on the northeast corner of the subject building, facing 3rd Street Southeast. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 579 3rd Street Southeast, Medicine Hat AB T1A 0H2, Canada. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Monarch Theatre (about 120 meters away, measured in a direct line); Merchants Bank of Canada (about 180 meters away); Hargrave Sissons Block and Grocery Warehouse Addition (about 180 meters away); St. John's Presbyterian Church (about 210 meters away); Fifth Avenue Memorial United Church (about 210 meters away); A. P. Burns House and Gas City Planing Mill (approx. 0.2 kilometers away); Toronto Street School (approx. 0.3 kilometers away); Central Motors, Empress Theater, Medicine Hat News (approx. 0.3 kilometers away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Medicine Hat.
Regarding Hull Block. Alberta Register of Historic Places (2015/09/08).
Also see . . . Hull Block.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 26, 2022
2. Hull Block Marker
The Hull Block is valued as Medicine Hat's only large-scale purpose-built commercial building in the downtown core. The Hull Block's impressive scale charted in a new larger building model for Medicine Hat and reflected the city's significant growth and the economic optimism of the period from the early 1900s to early 1910s. The commanding scale and detailing of Hull Block attracted a variety of businesses when it first opened including the Dominion Bank, two music stores, a jeweler, a drugstore, and millinery. The Hull Block is further significant for its long-term association as the Eaton's department store, the city's first large-scale department store. It is also significant as a robust representation of a Classical Revival style Edwardian era commercial building constructed using locally sourced materials and is additionally valued as an iconic landmark in Medicine Hat's historic commercial core.(Submitted on September 27, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 26, 2022
3. Hull Block (northeast elevation)
Credits. This page was last revised on September 27, 2022. It was originally submitted on September 27, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 102 times since then and 10 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on September 27, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
