Intention to Designate 21-25 Jones St, Stoney Creek (The Powerhouse)

Description of Property

The 0.344-hectare property municipally addressed as 21-25 Jones Street, Stoney Creek, is comprised of a single-storey brick building constructed in 1894. It is located on the north side of Jones Street, near the intersection of Jones Street and King Street East, in the historic core of Stoney Creek in the City of Hamilton.

Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest

The brick structure located at 21-25 Jones Street, Stoney Creek, known as the Powerhouse, was constructed in 1894. It has design or physical value as a rare surviving example of an interurban railway powerhouse and as the only surviving structure in Hamilton of the four electric railways which once served Hamilton and the surrounding area. The building is representative of the Romanesque Revival style of architecture and the decorative exterior masonry elements, including the brick parapet, sawtooth courses, corbels, pilasters, and buttresses with stone accents, display a high degree of artisanship.

The property has historical value for its association with the Hamilton, Grimsby and Beamsville Railway, an early electric interurban railway which operated between 1894 and 1931. The Railway provided a vital transportation link for travelers before the proliferation of the automobile and is remembered now for its role in shipping the fruit grown by the orchards of the Niagara Peninsula. It is also associated with the Cataract Power Company, an early hydroelectric company founded by Hamiltonians which pioneered long distance power transmission and which both owned and supplied electricity to the railway. The property demonstrates the work of Walter (1871-1917) and William Stewart (1832-1907) of the firm Stewart and Stewart, a predecessor to the famed Hamilton architectural firm of Stewart and Witton.

A prominent and highly-visible local landmark, the Powerhouse is an important defining feature in the historic core of Stoney Creek and the surrounding residential streetscape on Jones Street. This property is visually, historically, functionally, and physically linked to its surroundings, being connected to the historic transportation corridor of King Street, and to the historic watercourse of Stoney Creek.

Key attributes that embody the design value of the property as being a rare surviving example of an interurban powerhouse, representative of the Romanesque Revival Style of Architecture and in demonstrating a high degree of artisanship, and historical value for its association with the prominent architectural firm of Stewart and Stewart, the Hamilton, Grimsby and Beamsville Electric Railway and the Cataract Power Company,  include:

• The front (south) and side (east and west) elevations and roofline of the single-storey brick building, including its:
  • Brick parapet with decorative brickwork and sawtooth brick courses
  • Brick firewalls visible on side elevations
  • Stone corbel on west elevation supporting edge of parapet
  • Brick corbelling between the parapet and windows
  • Round-headed window and door openings with brick voussoirs and stone imposts and keystones
  • Semi-circular transom over door in south elevation
  • Brick pilasters along front elevation and brick buttresses along the side elevations
  • Capstones on the buttresses on the side elevations
  • Continuous stone sill in the front elevation
  • Shared stone sills in the side elevations
  • Stone foundation

Key attributes that embody the contextual value of the property as a local landmark and a defining feature of the historic core of Stoney Creek and of the historic residential streetscape of Jones Street and include its:

• Location fronting onto Jones Street at the public right-of-way
• Proximity to the Stoney Creek watercourse
• Visibility from King Street East