In honor of the holiday, I thought I’d share some finds from local sources on NYS Historic Newspapers related to St. Patrick’s Day!
An advertisement cashing in on the holiday to sell dry cleaning. This advertisement was seen in the “Courier Freeman”, Wednesday, March 3, 1915.
The following is a poem that was printed in Ogdensburg’s The Daily Journal on March 17, 1869.
This is a poem about St. Patrick’s Day that was printed in Ogdensburg’s, “The Daily Journal” on March 17, 1869.
This is the second part of the poem.
The poem and advertisement were found just by searching, “saint patrick’s day” for St. Lawrence County in the search engine of the NYS Historic Newspapers: http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/. If you live in New York State, see if you can find some cool articles or advertisements for the holiday in your area!
On that, you didn’t think you’d get through a post without any buildings, did you?
This wouldn’t be a preservation adventure blog if I didn’t have some photos of architecture to share!
So, last weekend I traveled to Ottawa with my friends, Nate and Logan. While we were in the capital of Canada, we checked out the Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica , which is located on Sussex Drive across from the National Art Gallery.
The front facade of the Basilica. The cornerstone was laid in 1841 but the building was officially completed until 1885. During the construction, there were many changes to the plans, most importantly the architectural style was changed from Neoclassical to Neo-Gothic. The steeple of the church are clad in tin, which is a feature seen in French-Canadian churches.
The interior of the Basilica is very ornate and brightly colored. Click through the photographs below for more history and information about the structure.
The interior of the Basilica was planned by Canon Georges Bouillon. A team of craftsmen, sculptors, and carpenters made the plans a reality. The ceiling is based on 16th century Gothic Style and the stars are gold-leaf. It was restored in 1999!
The main altar is 52 feet high and seeped in Gothic ornamentation. It consists of three arches with reliefs of the Nativity, Jesus teaching, and the Resurrection. Surrounding the main altar are large wooden statues of patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and saints.
A close-up of some of the statues in the sanctuary. There are a total of 30 statues and they were the work of three significant Canadian sculptors: Louis-Philippe Hebert, Pierre Rochon, and Philippe Parizeau.
A view of right side altar: The Blessed Virgin or also called the Altar of the Immaculate Conception; it was completed in 1885. In this photo you can see some of the narrow columns that are in the Basilica, they are all decoratively painted to look like stone. The statue seen here is of St. Anne holding Mary as a child.
So many Gothic Arches in this church! The first organ for the church was installed in 1850; carved in 1871 by Flavien Rochon. This organ was replaced in 1892 with a new organ built by Casavant & Co. That organi has been reconstructed and repaired multiple times, most recently in 1998 to recreate the organ as it would have sounded in 1892.
The first stained glass windows were installed in 1879. Other stained glass windows were installed in the 1950’s by Guido Nincheri of Montreal. These are some of those windows installed in the 1950’s.
This is a view of the right side aisle and the vaulting beneath the upper gallery.
This is a view of one of the stained glass windows seen in the aisle right to the nave (the center aisle of the church). You can also see the details of the ceiling vaults beneath the upper gallery.
So outside of the Basilica there was some interesting local architecture on a certain street. Can you guess the name of the street that runs alongside the Basilica?
If you guessed St. Patrick Street- you’re right!
Here are some of the cool buildings located on St. Patrick Street of Ottawa located in the Byward Market District.
This is 138 St. Patrick Street, named the Rochon Residence. This was the home of Pierre Rochon, who was one of the Canadian sculptors working on the church across the street. The home might have been built as early as 1832, is 1 1/2 stories tall and the architecture of the home is considered to be the traditional house style of Lower Town in Ottawa.
This building is located at 142-144 St. Patrick Street; it’s located right next to the Rochon Residence. Both homes are listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places. This home was constructed in 1866 for Dr. Francois-Xavier Valade, a Lower Town doctor. It combines both British elements (front entrance, high dormers) with French-Canadian architectural elements (casement windows, the stonework, the balcony, asymmetrical massing).
I couldn’t find any information about the history of this building. It is a Victorian era home and has some pretty neat Eastlake style elements with the roof line and the second story balcony. The building is currently the home of a art gallery: Jean Claude Bergeron.
Again, I have no information about the history of this building but it has some cool architectural elements such as the glass bricks in the center and the brick designs above that igivng it a Streamline Moderne vibe. Based on those elements, the building was probably constructed in the late 1920’s-30’s
Hopefully this inspires you to go check out your local “St. Patrick’s Street.”
adventure with courtney 
That basilica is seriously beautiful inside!
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YES!!!!!! The colors of the interior were so vibrant!
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