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Obituaries give us a window to the past. Here’s one for this house in Queen Alex, demolished yesterday at the age of 79. #yeghistory
The local economy was really picking up in May 1941. World War II was well underway and though the “American invasion” was yet to happen, Edmonton was starting its busiest construction season in decades as homes were being thrown up for a rapidly growing labour force.
A man living in Edson owned a lot on 73 Avenue that had sat empty since being subdivided in 1907 by meat packing plant owner John Gainer. He conceived to build a house on it on 15 May 1941, or at least that’s when the City permitted it. It was 22x26 (588 ft2) and valued at $2000.
Inspections revealed steady progress:
Forming — 13 Jun 1941
Framing complete — 14 Jul 1941
Plastered — 11 Aug 1941
Finished — 5 Sep 1941
Forming — 13 Jun 1941
Framing complete — 14 Jul 1941
Plastered — 11 Aug 1941
Finished — 5 Sep 1941
Who first lived in it, I don’t know but in 1944 “Lieut. and Mrs. Murray Samson,” who had come to the city from Winnipeg with the military, were resident. This photo of their daughter Lynne ran in the Edmonton Journal with other cuties.
Alvey Trevithick built a one-car garage in 1946. Classified ads tell the story of his next move: Dec 1946 - want farm; Jul 1947 - want well drilled on farm 11 miles SE of city; Aug 1947 - want carpenter to build farm house; Jan 1948 - “modern 4 room bungalow” for sale for $6700.
In 1954 the Fielding family lived in the house. Here’s their son Alan, a nine-year-old Queen Alex School student, learning some French horn.
Gideon and Flora Turcotte, a retired couple, occupied in the house in 1957. They rented a basement room to help make ends meet.
After that the documentary evidence grows thin. Resident Tom Porter won some water skis in a 1978 contest. Given the condition of the house in recent years, I assume it had non-resident owners for many years.
The house is four lots in from 109 Street. As this roadway was widened, most recently in 2000 (one of our millennial projects 
), adjacent properties became less desirable. The two to the west of the little house were demolished between 2007 and 2012.
), adjacent properties became less desirable. The two to the west of the little house were demolished between 2007 and 2012.
In 2010, after a planning study along 109 Street, the property was rezoned along with its neighbours over to 109 Street, to allow for stacked row housing up to four storeys in height.
The house sat vacant for at least a few years. Now, after a surprisingly long life, it’s gone. There was no funeral; burial presumably in a landfill. Afterlife: I’m hoping for a nice ‘missing middle’ project on an assembled site: the beginning of a new, hyperlocal Edmonton story.
