Niagara Falls Then and Now: Old Storefronts on Queen St. (Part 4 of 10)

This post walks westward along the south-side of Queen St. in Niagara Falls, Ont., from Crysler Ave. (Crysler Ave. was formerly called Welland Ave.until 1970) towards St. Lawrence Ave.

click on photos to enlarge!

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Below: looking at the south-west corner of Queen St. and Crysler Ave., date unknown. The Elizabeth House Of Fashion stands on the corner.

above: same view, Feb.8, 2009.
above: May 11, 2009, same storefront with a new pizza place moving in.

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below: looking from Crysler Ave. in a south-westerly direction along the south side of Queen St. The Elizabeth House Of Fashion is at the left (east), at the far right distance is the steeple of St. Patrick's church on Victoria Ave. The red marquee of the Seneca Theatre is prominent in the distant right-centre. Date unknown.

above: same view, Feb.8, 2009

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below: Oct.4, 1964 - next (west) to Elizabeth's was a Canadian Pacific ticket and telegraph office. Next was possibly a barber shop. It is unclear whether the shop (partially seen at the far right) was part of Hamilton's Mens Wear, or was a separate shop - see further below.

above: same view, Jan.29, 2009. AJ's Music store is seen at the very far right; the storefronts where the CP office and barber shop once were are boarded up. Sadly, by Jan.16, 2015, 'going out of business' notices were posted on AJ's storefront windows. AJ's covered six storefronts.

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below: another view looking west along the south side of Queen St., from Crysler Ave., date unknown.

above: same view, Jan.29, 2009. Note in both above shots the same stainless steel entrance door with the double curved steel pulls on the corner.

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below: Oct.4, 1964 - continuing westwards along Queen St., was Hamilton's Mens Wear, The Jewel Salon, the Pink Poodle Beauty Lounge, and at the far right is seen the east corner of Adams Furniture.

It's not clear whether Hamilton's was located just in the right-half of the building shown below at the left (as there are two doors seen) but the Hamilton's sign is only on the right-side (see also the third-below photo).

If there was a separate shop on the left-side of Hamilton's, then the next shop to the left of it (out of frame, to the east) would have been the barber shop, and then the Canadian Pacific telegraph office, and then Elizabeth's, as seen previously above.

above: same view, Feb.17, 2009. At the very far left is a bit of the now-boarded up storefront that had been shown previously as a barber shop; next, AJ's Music store occupies both sides of the building where Hamilton's once was in the right-side storefront (today, both doors lead into the same store), the music store also occupies where the Jewel Salon and Pink Poodle were.

above: This photo shows Elizabeth Fashion at the far left; next is a storefront with no sign, (this is where the CP Telegraph office had been); next is seen a barber shop; next is the mystery shop from earlier, which has a sign 'Omega... ...Sewing Centre' in a window-banner, but not up top on the store facade; and at the far right is Hamilton's. So at this point in time, Hamilton's was a separate storefront from the sewing machine shop. (photo date unknown, most likely taken the same time as the shot nine photos above)

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below: Date unknown; walking a little further west along Queen St., and looking back towards Crysler Ave. At the far left is a part of the green-sided Burrough's Furniture, which is on Queen St. east of Crysler Ave. Next is seen Elizabeth's Fashion; next the CP Telegraph office, then the barber shop; next is a storefront which at this time is seen with red letters on the upper facade sign, but I have not been able to determine what it was (this is the same storefront where the 'Omega Sewing Centre' had been, as seen above. Maybe in this view, it still was the sewing centre, but now with a red sign; or, maybe the sewing centre came after another business with a red sign had moved out?); next is seen Hamilton's, then the Jewel Salon, then The Pink Poodle; then at the right we see Adams Furniture and Appliances with its large storefront windows.

above: Oct. 1966 - another view of Adams Appliances.

above: same view on a snowy Dec.22, 2008, with the red Lux Furniture sign.

above: Apr.1, 2010 - sign being removed

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below: Hurley's Flowers and Gifts, as seen Sept.28, 1965. At the lower right of the photo is seen the corner of Paterno's Jewellers, and at the far upper right above is the east corner of the Seneca movie theatre.

above: same view, Feb.8, 2009
For views of the Seneca Theatre, see also: Niagara Falls Then and Now: Old downtown - buildings lost, buildings found
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below: 1907 - the front of the John Drew Sr. home on Queen St. Note the two women on the sidewalk by the picket fence.

above: same view, Feb.17, 2009 - the Drew house is still seen in the background. Two storefronts now sit out front on the home's former front lawn, where the two women were photographed standing in 1907. At the far left is the west-side wall of the former Adam's Furniture/ former Lux Furniture building, seen earlier.

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below: the same view, on Jul.28, 2009. The Blue Knight building is now an aquamarine green-blue; the former cash place/former real estate office at left is now painted coral.

above: same view on July 27, 2009 - the building at the left would be painted the next day.

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below: as seen on Jun.5, 2009, a sad note was taped to the door of Blue Knight, at 4608 Queen St., announcing the passing of owner John Ross.

above: Jun.5, 2009 - 'Big John' Ross' obituary is taped to the front of Blue Knight travel. Mooney monuments is reflected on the window.

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below: Sept.28, 1965 - the left (east) store in front of the Drew house was once McDonald and Holt Realtors and Insurance. Hurley's Flowers (later Blue Knight Travel, seen earlier) was on the right (west) side.
above: same view, Feb17, 2009. The upper roofline of the old Drew house can still be seen behind both storefronts. At the far left is the west corner of the former Adams Furniture building. At the upper right peeks a side wall of the Seneca movie theatre.

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below: Oct.4, 1964 - Hurley's Flowers (later Blue Knight) is seen at the far left; next is the wonderful architectural jewelbox, Paterno Jewellers; next is the Bond shop, in the Seneca movie house, at the right. In the upper left rear is a corner of the Drew House.

below: seen Apr.19, 2008 - the vacant former Paterno's storefront is in the centre; Blue Knight Travel is at the left, and the vacant Seneca movie theatre is at the far right. Roof of Drew House seen at the top left distance.

below: Dec.22, 2008 - the Nicole Shaw Gallery now occupies Paterno's stylish stainless-steel-and-red-vitrolite-clad storefront.

above: Nov.9, 2009 - as another tenant moves in, the near-perfect facade of the old Paterno Jewellers is being 'updated' as a worker spray-paints black enamel onto the fantastic stainless steel trim. Sigh...

above: same storefront, Nov.23, 2009, tarped over - what will be revealed?

above: Nov.30, 2009. Yikes... sorry, the Paternos red vitrolite & stainless storefront was a classic; a gem... a jewel-box to merchandise jewelry! This'll be tired in a couple of years; however, at least a business is taking a chance on downtown - we need more.

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below: May 26, 2008 - corner of a vacant former Paterno's is at the left; the vacant former Seneca Theatre is at the right. Can you IMAGINE that the theatre once looked . . .

above: . . . like THIS?! Back on Sept.28, 1965, the Seneca Theatre's marquee was advertising the "adult entertainment" movie "Joy in the Morning", with Richard Chamberlain and Yvette Mimieux. In the window at bottom left was a poster for "le ore nude".

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below: Apr.14, 2009, the theatre facade is again under refurbishment

above: Jun.6, 2009 - the renovated theatre is now called the Seneca Queen. Its first stage play was the Gypsy Theatre's production of Cats which ran from May 21-Jun.13, 2009.

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below: Oct.4, 1964 - the Seneca Theatre marquee in all its neon-tube emblazoned splendour! Playing was: 'Ensign Pulver' with Robert Walker, and 'FBI Code 98' with Ray Danton. At the right side of the theatre was The Sandwich Shoppe. At the far upper-right is seen the gable roof and chimney of the next-door house, seen later below.

above: Oct.4, 1964 - the south-east corner of Queen St. and St. Lawrence Ave. At the far upper left is the roof of the Seneca Theatre; in the left background is the gable of the original house around which the storefronts were later built. The storefront at the left was Jomar's Babyland (the Sandwich Shoppe was just next to Jomar's farther to the left, out of frame - but there was (and still is) a small access lane between the Sandwich Shop and Jomar's; at the corner was Malloch's Reliable Jewellers, Engagement and Wedding Rings. (see here for an earlier view of the same location where Malloch's and Jomar's are, when it was still the front lawn of the house seen behind them.)

There once were plenty of jewelry shops in downtown Niagara Falls, Ont. - fitting, for the Honeymoon Capital!
below: Jun. 6, 2017 - the storefront which had once been Jomar's (and recently "Maiden Niagara") is under renovation.

above: same corner, Dec.22, 2008. The vacant Seneca Theatre is at the left; the house, with its re-sided gable, is still seen at the rear; the space in the middle was the former "Maiden Niagara" shop; the space on the corner, once occupied by Malloch's, is now vacant and boarded up. The old photos in this study are from The Niagara Falls, Ont. Library Archive, the recent photos are copyrighted by R. Bobak.

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To see the next post in this ten-part series, go to: Niagara Falls, Old storefronts on Queen St., Part Five

Or, go back to the start of this series at: PART ONE
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