107. 1846 Hamilton

1846 Hamilton: From a frontier town to the Ambitious City by Brian Henley

Pages: 142
Finished: June 14, 2008
First Published: 1995
Genre: history
Rating: 2.5/5

Reason for Reading: interested in local history

First sentence:

By the spring of 1846, Hamilton was already an 'instant city', no longer content to be labelled a town.

Comments: This is a locally published book concerning the city of Hamilton's pivotal year. In 1846 the town applied for city status which was then granted and became official in January of 1847. This book covers both those years. There are lots of quotes from local contemporary newspapers which made for interesting reading but over all the narrative was stilted and textbook-ish. I prefer social history and found the book concentrated too much on elections, mayors, politics and the geographical layout of the city. However, I did find some chapters quite interesting such as those on city sidewalks, the fire brigade, and the outlawing of circuses on city property! This book would not be of interest to anyone not familiar with the area.