Every year Canada Post issues two stamps in celebration of Black History Month (February). On January 30, 2014 Canada Post issued a first day envelope featuring the building at 823 Jackson Avenue on the cover (pictured). The stamp and the envelope honour Hogan’s Alley, which was a T-shaped alley in the block bounded by Main Street, Gore Avenue, Prior Street and Union Street (two blocks west of 823 Jackson Avenue), a block which was torn down for the construction of viaducts in early 1970s. The Hogan’s Alley stamp depicts Nora Hendrix and Fielding William Spotts Jr.
While representing a nice illustration of the building as it looked around 2008, there are a few details that are not historically accurate for how the building looked at the time of Hogan’s Alley. The white cross was added in 1985, the red roof was installed in 1995, the covered entry way was added in the late 1990s and the illustration does not show the dormers. The lane behind the building at 823 Jackson Avenue lies on the extension of Hogan’s Alley which was two blocks to the west. We’ll have more to say about Hogan’s Alley in future posts.