MacNab-Charles Heritage Conservation District

MacNab-Charles Heritage Conservation District. . , The MacNab-Charles Heritage Conservation District is one of the finest concentrations of pre-Confederation architecture in Hamilton. It evokes a Hamilton in its founding stages, when Scottish Presbyterian settlers erected new churches and houses in local stone. A time when the city was establishing itself as a trade centre, decades before it evolved into an industrial city., This unique architectural concentration is noted for its consistency of stone construction and its variety of building types - a church, a rectory, a terrace, and semi-detached houses. Such stone architecture in Ontario was relatively rare, limited to communities which had both a local quarry and skilled craftsmen. Hamilton's period of stone architecture was productive but brief, lasting from the 1840s to the 1860s., The District possesses a genuinely historic, picturesque character. The MacNab St. Presbyterian Church Tower dominates the surrounding residential neighbourhood, providing a focal point for the District and a visual link to nearby historic monuments such as Whitehern, Sandyford Place, and Central Public School. At the same time, the District accentuates the contrast with the Civic Precinct dominated by City Hall, and the high-rise apartments of the Durand neighbourhood. This relationship to city-past and city-present is dynamic, and will continue as Hamilton evolves.