Feature Article

THE GARNEAU STORY

Written By: Lawrence Herzog
Published By: Real Estate Weekly
Article © Copyright Lawrence Herzog
2002-01-21

When Laurent and Eleanor Garneau arrived in Edmonton around 1874, the fledgling community was home to barely 100 citizens. Laurent was a Métis man and a social activist who had fought with Louis Riel in the 1869 Red River Rebellion.

Taken with the potential for a prosperous new life, the couple purchased and settled on River Lot Seven of the Edmonton Settlement, which runs south from the North Saskatchewan River between todays 109th and 112th Streets right where the Garneau neighbourhood now resides. The lot was punctuated by bush and views across the valley to Fort Edmonton, which was situated below todays Alberta Legislature.

The Garneaus built a cabin and planted a maple tree, which still survives. It is on the eastern edge of the Hub Mall Parking Lot of the University of Alberta Campus.

The U of A, which had been founded in 1906, came in 1911 to its permanent home -- the former Isaac Simpson farm, a 258-acre spread on River Lot Five, originally owned by A. Patton. The land was just west of Garneaus River Lot Seven.

With the arrival of the university and opening of the High Level Bridge early in the 20th century, the future looked bright for Garneau. Many of the U of As faculty purchased property in the rapidly growing neighbourhood and, as grand new homes sprouted from the bush and open plain, Garneau quickly became a desired Edmonton address.

Among early residents was Albertas first premier, Alexander C. Rutherford. In 1909, Rutherford purchased Lot 12 Block 183 in Garneau and began building a magnificent Jacobethan style residence now known as Rutherford House.

The sprawling structure, with 2,500 square feet on the main floor and 2,000 on the upper, was completed in 1911 for then-princely $25,000. Its sandstone trim, red brick, two-storey bay windows, towering chimneys, Dutch gables and Doric-columned porches lent it an air of distinction that endures more than 90 years later as a Provincial Historic Site.

Rutherford founded the University of Alberta and selected Dr. Henry Marshall Tory as its first president. Tory went about selecting some property of his own in Garneau and bought the title to Lots 1 and 2 of Block 183.

The Victorian influenced Sarah McLellan Residence at 11135 84th Avenue was built in the prairie four square style in 1913. It was used as a nurses residence from 1916 to 1922 and has also been a rooming house, private residence and student residence. It was recently restored and rejuvenated as a bed and breakfast as is a provincial and municipal historic resource.

Between 1910 and 1913, several dozen new homes were constructed in Garneau, as the neighbourhood reaped the benefits of its proximity to services and the real estate boom, driven by waves of newcomers eager to own property and start new lives. But the recession of 1913 and the First World War plunged the city and the country into an economic funk.

While the downturn put a cork in the bottle of rapid development, Garneau withstood the stresses better than many other parts of the city. Its invigorating mix of civil servants, academics, professionals and senior business people made it the most affluent area of Edmonton, based on per capita income of its residents.

The houses built during the boom in the first decade of the 20th century and the early 1920s were constructed using the finest materials available and reflect the prosperity of the time. The Dixon Craig House, at 11025 Saskatchewan Drive, was built in 1925 for William Dixon Craig, Chancellor of the Anglican Diocese of Edmonton. Its Georgian Colonial style was rare for Edmonton but popular among plantation mansions in the American south and, all these years later, it still survives as a property on the U of A campus.

Emily Murphy, one of Canada’s prominent early citizens, moved into The Garneau with her minister husband in 1919. As one of Canadas Famous Five, Murphy was instrumental in having women recognized as persons under British law. She lived at 11011 88th Avenue until her death in 1933. The house is now a provincial historic resource and is also part of the university property now.

The Ross-Weber House at 11039 Saskatchewan Drive, was built in 1924 for John Thomas Ross, deputy minister of education. The house was constructed entirely of clinker brick, with its distinctive irregular surfaces and striking umbers, siennas and cadmiums.

Because they had been over fired, most people didnt want clinker bricks and most were usually discarded by local brick manufacturers. But their irregular and burnt appearance found favour with some creative bricklayers and, in Edmonton, more than 200 homes, churches and other buildings were faced using clinker brick likely the most of any city in Canada at the time. Today fewer than 100 of these buildings are still standing.

Other neighbourhood landmarks constructed during this period included the beautiful red brick Garneau School, built in 1923 and the Garneau Theatre, which opened in 1940. Designed by renowned Edmonton architect William G. Blakey, the 109th Street theatre is Edmonton’s best remaining example of early modernism - the movement that gave the world Moderne or art deco architecture.

The Garneau’s grand neon marquee flickered to life for the first time in the fall of 1940 and the theatre officially opened the evening of October 24, with legendary film manager Bill Wilson at the helm. The first presentation was the "Great White Waltz", a 1938 film starring Luise Rainer and Fernand Gravey. Admission was five cents.

From the relative prosperity of the 1920s through the early sixties, Garneau remained a middle to upper class residential neighbourhood with a pleasing mixture of family homes and rental properties for students. Its bohemian atmosphere made it an invigorating and interesting place to live, work and play.

But development plans proposed by the U of A in late 1961 and supported by both the City of Edmonton and the Province, sought to acquire and destroy the western section of North Glenora to make room for further expansion of the university. Anticipating a 1980 enrolment of 30,000 students and the need for 18 more faculty buildings, began a process to acquire, often by expropriation, the land. Historic homes were bulldozed and old Garneau began to vanish piece by precious piece.

The Gold of Garneau

The Michelet Tree, which resides in the backyard of the Cecil Burgess House, has one of the largest diameters of any tree in Edmonton, at 1.24 metres.

Most of the stately ash and elm trees which line Garneaus streets and add to its character and charm were planted more than 100 years ago. A maple tree, planted by Laurent and Eleanor Garneau still grows on the eastern side of the Hub Mall parking lot.

Preston Manning is among the famous alumni of Garneau School, opened in 1923.

Information for this article from the Preserve Garneau website at www.preservegarneau.org and the City of Edmonton Archives. If you'd like to offer your thoughts, please drop me an email at lawrenceherzog@hotmail.com. For information on reprints of previously published articles, check out my website at www.lawrenceherzog.com