Main Street was originally called Court Street, after the first courthouse that stood on it. It is now called Main Street because it formed the "main" concession line of Barton Township.[1]
On June 20, 1877, the first commercial telephone service in Canada began in Hamilton, Ontario.[2]Hugh Cossart Baker, Jr. learned of Alexander Graham Bell's invention in 1877 at the Philadelphia International Exposition and from there decided to test the communication tool in Hamilton.[3] Hugh Cossart Baker Jr. is credited with making the first telephone exchange in the British Empire from an office building (Exchange Building) at the corner of James and Main Street East which still stands there today (March 2007).[3]
In 1925, The first traffic lights in Canada went into operation at the Delta. (11 June 1925).[4]
McMaster University arrived in Hamilton in 1930 from Bloor Street in Toronto. The total student population at McMaster University is well over 27,000. Almost two-thirds of the students come from outside the immediate Hamilton region.[5]
Built in 1931, Westdale Secondary School was immediately deemed the largest composite school in the British Empire, having cost $1.3 million to build and consisting of 4.7 hectares of building, grounds and athletic fields.[6]
Scottish Rite Castle/ Masonic Centre, Originally the home of George Elias Tuckett, (1835-1900), Tuckett Tobacco Company owner + Hamilton's 27th Mayor in 1896. (just South of Main Street on Queen Street South[7]