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Walking Tour: St. John's Downtown and 1892 Great Fire

Name: Walking Tour: St. John's Downtown and 1892 Great Fire
Address: St. John's, NL, CA
Telephone: +17097659125
Rating: 5

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Walking Tour: St. John's Downtown and 1892 Great Fire

On July 8, 1892, St. John's experienced its biggest fire, where 2 thirds of St. John's laid in ruins. My family has lived in St. John's.
(15)

John's since the early 1890s and lived on George and New Gower Streets. I grew up on McFarlane Street behind the Delta Hotel. My father had so many stories I wrote them down; and I am in the process of writing a book about the streets of St. The information also led to this walking tour. This walking tour of approximately 1.5 to 2 hours follows the outline of the Great Fire of 1892. It starts with

a history of St. John’s; the battles with the French; and while walking, unique stories about George Street, Burst Heart Hill, Bates Hill, Churches, Court House, the shortest street in North America, Jelly Bean Row, where and how the 1892 great fire started, the house with the Titanic connection, Shawnadithit – the last of the Beothuk, and much more. Also, we will walk on a few streets where other tours do not go explaining which houses survived the fire, what life was like in the 1950s and 1960s on these streets, etc. We will walk by the restaurants where the locals, and the townies who return home for visits, go to for the best fish and chips in St. John’s, The Rooms, the school where the CBC TV show Son of a Critch was filmed, Bannerman Park, The Colonial Building, Lieutenant Governor’s House, etc. I volunteered as a beaver leader, coached boys and girls over 13 years - t-ball, soccer, hockey and basketball, provided University students with budgeting sessions, raised funds for University soccer and basketball teams, wrote a children's book - My Allowance (2,000 copies sold). Appeared in the CBC TV show "Son of a Critch" during the first 3 seasons.

08/14/2024

Many thanks to John, Kate and Carol Ann for their hospitality last weekend at the Edge of the Avalon Inn. Food was great and the rooms were lovely and very quiet. It was very nice to see them honoring their parents/grandparents with the garden named “Florrie and Gordon’s Garden”. Cathie and I were fortunate to meet them when they attended all the basketball games at the old MUN gym watching their grandchildren play.
The southern shore offered great scenery with stops at Ferryland (Colony of the Avalon – settled in the 1600s), Renews (Midnight Hill and the Grotto de Lourdes on Mass Rock), Cape Pine (most southerly point in Newfoundland), St. Shotts, etc. We saw whales, a caribou and an otter. We were told it’s just a regular weekend on the southern shore. Amazing.

06/30/2024

Big thank you to Frank Sullivan, member of the Newfoundland and Labrador Command at the Royal Canadian Legion; Berkley Lawrence, 1st Vice-President of the Royal Canadian Legion; Premier Andrew Furey; Labour Minister and Seniors Minister Seamus O’Regan; Gary Browne, Veteran and Historian; and everyone else involved in bringing home the Unknown Soldier from Beaumont-Hamel, France. Many people visited the Unknown Soldier at Confederation Building over the past few days.

06/13/2024

The halo around the streets of St. John's June 11, 2024.

03/11/2024

St. John's Streets after The March 9, 2024 Storm. First 2 pictures - Circular Rd east of Monkstown Rd. Next two - Mullock Street needed a sidewalk plow on each end.

03/03/2024

On top of Signal Hill – to the east a game of shinny on Georges Pond

03/03/2024

On top of Signal Hill – to the west a sunset

01/29/2024

St. John’s – the first City in North America to see the sunrise.

11/13/2023

Good turnout yesterday at the Remembrance Day Ceremony at the Sergeant’s Memorial on Queen’s Road across from Garrison Hill. It is one of the stops on my walking tour. Our father used to take the family to the ceremonies when we were young. He said the Sergeant’s Memorial was one of the oldest in Canada. He was friends with Tommy Ricketts.

08/23/2023

Noticed some activity by the Basilica on a recent walk. It was Son of a Critch at St. Bon's taping for next season. Great show.

08/09/2023

During one of my recent walking tours, we saw two houses being painted. How would you paint them – by ladder or scaffold?

07/28/2023

Great to see the RNC Mounted Unit on yesterday's walk.

07/16/2023

07/14/2023

The aftermath of the 1892 Great Fire, St. John's NL. Colorized.

07/06/2023

06/29/2023

Book a walking tour and learn about downtown St. John's history!

On July 8, 1892, St. John’s experienced its biggest fire.
- Two-thirds of St. John’s laid in ruins
- 11,000 people were left homeless
- In 12 hours, the fire killed 4 people and caused $13 million in damage

Walk the path of the fire and learn about: Burst Heart Hill, various churches, the shortest street in North America, the bar a famous singer walked out of, how a governor was sent back to England when he died, the house where Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla stayed, Jelly Bean Row, The Rooms, (Howie) Meeker's Sports Store, and much more.

Length – approximately 2 hours

Your guide grew up in downtown St. John's and is very knowledgeable about the local history – a real townie whose family lived here since the late 1800s.
Call or text Dave Royle at (709) 765-9125

Address

St. John's, NL

Telephone

+17097659125

Website

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