Grandma's Plates: Edmonton historical story by Gertrude Dahl

Date: 1915 to 2003

"Grandma, tell me about your plates that you have on the wall - do you really remember all those buildings painted on them? And why do you have the big picture of the Macdonald Hotel, besides the small one on the plate? Is it special?"

Yes, I well remember every one of the buildings - that is what downtown Edmonton looked like when I was growing up and the Macdonald Hotel is very special, because that is what brought my family here. We were living in Ottawa, where my father worked as a pastry chef in a hotel owned by the railway. New hotels were being built in the West and many of the staff was transferred to a new location. So in 1915 when the Macdonald was opened your great grandfather was on the first staff and from then on Edmonton was my home. We always lived close to the downtown area, because my father started work early in the morning, before the streetcars were running and so he always had to walk to work. Whenever we children were in the river valley, we would look up and see the hotel and we called it the "castle on the hill". Then we would walk up the many wooden steps and go into the hotel by walking down the ramp, where deliveries were made, at the north entrance, and visit my father. He was always dressed in a long white apron and a high chef's hat and he was always very busy, so our visit was short - but we were given a treat to eat on our way home. I remember one Christmas going into the ballroom upstairs to a party - a huge room, lit by bright chandeliers and in one corner was a very big Christmas tree.

The other plates all show important buildings close by. The library, with its imposing entrance and many windows was just west of the hotel, overlooking the riverbank. We spent many happy hours there, as we exchanged our books every week. The rules were strict, especially about being very quiet, but the "library lady" was kind and always helpful in suggesting good books. The Post Office is the building with the large clock tower, a familiar sight to everyone - we could see it from our front gate and would go out and check the time to see if our own kitchen clock was correct. On our visit to the library we would stop in at the Post Office to warm up before continuing further south across Jasper Avenue.

The plate next to it has a very imposing building with many windows and several pillars at the entrance. That was the Court House but we never ventured inside of it. Then you see the C.N.R. station, which was situated a few blocks directly north of the hotel, which made it close for the passengers staying there. You will recognize the last plate - the Legislative Building that we have visited together so you know it is still there.

The other buildings are all gone. Edmonton was so different when they all made up the heart of the downtown district - looking at them brings back so many happy times of my childhood when Edmonton was also a young city.