Rue Prince William - Avant et Apr le Grand Incendie de 1877
This marker has plaques on both sides.
English
Before the 1877 Fire
The year is 1865, and you are looking across Market Square at the "Imperial Building." This was the site of the famous "Coffee House" and now the home of Magee Bros., a dry goods store.
Saint John is at the pinnacle of its manufacturing history, "The Golden Age." The City has reached its peak in shipbuilding and lumber trade and by 1870 Saint John will become one of the most important manufacturing centers in Canada.
Prince William Street is referred to as the "Wall Street of Saint John" boasting banks, commercial houses, public buildings, newspaper officies, small shops and dry goods stores. Construction is ongoing, the new post office on the corner of Prince William Street and Princess Street will be completed by 1876. City Hall will move into the former Bank of New Brunswick building across the street. The bank moved to there newly constructed edifice adjacent to the new Post Office. A short walk down the street in 1864 would take you by many small shops such as Jardine and Co., grocers, J. and A. McMillan, bookkeepers, stationers and printers e.g. (the latter operated in Saint John from 1822 until 2000.)
On the afternoon of Wednesday June 20, 1877, a spark ignited a bundle of hay in Mr. Fairweather storehouse, located on the south side of York Point Slip, next to McLaughlin boiler shop. A strong northeast wind fanned the spark pushing the fire easily through the crowded York Point district, consuming the buildings on Hare Wharf, Smythe Street, Dury Lane, Mill and Dock Streets. The fire raged on and could be seen from as far away as Moncton and Fredericton. After forty hours, the fire abated and the extent of the destruction could be determined: Two thirds of Saint John, including most of its commercial district, was a smoldering mass of charred rubble. Sixteen hundred and twelve buildings were destroyed. Thirteen thousand people were left homeless.
Construction followed quickly along Queen, St. James, Britain, Prince William, Germain, Charlotte, Carmarthen, Duke and Princess Streets. In compliance with new building regulations, brick predominated in reconstruction. Of the forty-four buildings that went up on Prince William Street, thirty-nine were constructed of brick, at a total cost of $600,000, which was the most money spent on re-building any street at the time.
What emerged from this destruction was the homogeneous and elegant brick and stone facade that runs along both sides Prince William Street.
FrenchAvant le feu de 1877
Nous sommes en 1865 et vous apercevez, de l?autre c?t? du Market Square, un ?difice alors appel? l??Imperial Building? que abritait la c?l?bre ?Coffee House?, o? se trouve maintenant le magasin de nouveaut Magee Bros.
Saint John vit son apog?e en tant que ville industrielle, surnomm?e ?L?ere de prosp?rit? ?. Elle a atteint son sommet en construction navale et en commerce de bois d?oeuvre et est devenue, en 1870, l?un de plus grands centres industriels au Canada.
La rue Prince William, baptis?e le ?Wall Street de Saint John? est jalonn?e de banques, de maisons de commerce, d?immeubles publics, de bureaux de journaux, de petits boutiques et de magasins de nouveaut. La construction bat son plein et l?am?nagement du nouveau bureau de poste, ? l?angle de rues Prince William et Princess, doit se terminer d?ici 1876. L?H?tel de ville doit emm?nager dans l?ancien immeuble de la Banque du Nouveau-Brunswick, de l?autre c?t? de la rue. La banque ira s??tablir dans la nouvel ?difice, adjacent au bureau de poste. A quelques pas de l?, en descendant la rue, on trouvait en 1865 de nombreuses petites boutiques comme Jardine and Co., ?piciers, J. and A. McMillan , comptables, papetiers, et imprimeurs (en activit? ? Saint John de 1822 jusqu?en 2000).
Le mercredi 20 juin 1877 en apr midi une ?tincelle mit feu ? une botte de foin dans l?entrep?t de M. Fairweather, du c?t? sud de las cale de York Point, ? c?t? de la chaudronnerie McLaughlin. Un fort vent du nordet attisa le feu qui gagna alors facilement le district tr anime de York Point, d?vorant sure son passage les b?timents du quai Hare, de la rue Smythe, de la ruelle Dury et des rues Mill et Dock. L?incendie s?intensifia et on pouvait m?me l?apercevoir de Moncton et de Fredericton. Le feu se calma apr quarante heures et l?on put alors constater l??tendue de dommages : les deux tiers de Saint John, incluant une grand partie de son secteur commercial, n??taient qu?un amas fumant de d?combres carbonises. Mille six cent douze immeubles furent d?truits et mille trois cent personnes se retrouv?rent sans foyer.
Les travaux de construction ne tard?rent pas le long des rues Queen, St. James, Britain, Prince William, Germain, Charlot, Carmarthen, Duke et Princess et l?on dut opter pour la brique, conform?ment au nouveau code du b?timent. Trente-neuf des quarante-quatre ?difices ?rig sur la rue Prince William furent construits en briques, au co?t total de 600 000 $, la plus forte somme d?pens?e ? l??poque pour la reconstruction d?une rue.
Cette destruction a donn? naissance aux facades ?l?gantes et homog?nes de brique et de pierre que bordent aujourd'hui les deux c?t de la rue Prince William
English After the 1877 Fire Following the Great Fire of 1877, and with extraordinary effort, much of the construction along the Prince William Streetscape was completed in the next four years. The mix of businesses located on Prince William Street followed the pre-fire trend towards commercial, financial, public and administrative, with very few shops - remaining the "Wall Street of Saint John". Having been built at the same time, following the same building code, and utilizing the mandatory brick or stone, the extant buildings on Prince William Street almost inevitably present a unified street front. While they vary considerably in size and style, the original buildings have a uniformity of scale and detail which hold them together in a visual bond.
Most of the business houses constructed along the street were designed in the Italianate or Second Empire styles with Romanesque and classical elements. Most of these buildings remain intact today, and because they do, Saint John can truthfully claim to have some of the finest surviving examples of 19th century commercial facades in all of Canada. In fact, in 1981 Prince William Street was the first streetscape in the county to be designated by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada as being of national historic and architectural significance.
For more information as you stroll down historic Prince William Street, pick up the "Three Historic Walking Tours? brochure at a Visitor Information Centre. Enjoy your step back in time?
FrenchApr le feu de 1877
Apr le Grand incendie de 1877, la majeure partie de la reconstruction du paysage de la rue Prince William put ?tre parachev?e quatre ans plus tard, gr?ce ? des efforts extraordinaires. Les diverses entreprises ?tablies sur la rue Prince William suivirent la tendance qui pr?valait avant l?incendie, soit une concentration dans les domaines commercial, financier, public et administratif, avec tr peu de boutiques, demeurant ainsi le ?Wall Street de Saint John?. Les edifices que bordent la rue Prince William offrent presque in?vitablement une fa?ade unifi?e, car ils lurent construits ? la m?me ?poque, selon un code du b?timent unique, avec des briques ou des pierres devant obligatoirement s?apparenter. Ces ?difices originaux, bien que de tailles et de styles consid?rablement diff?rents, poss?dent une certaine uniformit? d?envergure et de details, qui leur conf?re un lieu visuel.
Le plupart de maisons de commerce construites le long, de la rue emprunt?rent un style l?inspiration italienne ou second empire, orne d?elements romanesque et classiques. La plupart d?entre elles demeurent intactes et la ville de Saint John peut donc sans contredit affirmer qu?elle poss?de des exemples de fa?ades commerciales du 19ᵉ si?cle parmi les plus admirables qui subsistent encore au Canada. En fait, la rue Prince William fut de premier paysage de rue au pays ? recevoir, en 1981, un dignation de la Commission des lieux et monuments historiques de Canada, reconnaissant son importance nationale tant du point de vue historique qu?architecturale.
Pour obtenir plus de renseignements l'orque vous arpenterez l?historique rue Prince William, procurez-vous le d?pliant initiale (?)
Three Historic Walking Tours ? un centre de renseignements touristiques pour visiteurs.
Nous vous souhaitons une agr?able promenade dans le passe.
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