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Victoria's Nine O'clock gun


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#1 Bingo

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Posted 30 March 2012 - 10:46 PM

I saw a story on the news today about Vancouver's 9:00 gun in Stanley Park, and it remined me of a similar gun here in Victoria that was still being fired in the early 1950's. I was told it was used during WW II to remind Victorians that a curfew was in effect. The gun was at Laurel Point at one time.

It appears that Victoria had the gun(s) before Vancouver.

This from the History of Vancouver's gun:

We do know that, in 1856, the British government gave 16 cannon to the “provinces of Canada” (Confederation was still 11 years away), that at least three of those cannon got to the Pacific coast after a long trip around the Horn, and that two of them ended up flanking the entrance to the legislative buildings in Victoria.

"Then, too, the ships in the harbor had no means of checking their time and, as Victoria had a gun that was fired at noon for the purpose of regulating ships' chronometers, ship captains asked for one here.”

http://www.vancouver...rchives_gun.htm

#2 Mr_E_Squirrel

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Posted 30 March 2012 - 11:41 PM

is it not still by "Laurel Point" on the water front. I have not looked lately bu have not heard of it being dismantled. sure someone here knows

#3 Holden West

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Posted 31 March 2012 - 12:32 AM

I vaguely remember a Laurel Point cannon but it would have been no earlier than the late '70s.
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#4 jklymak

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Posted 31 March 2012 - 02:57 AM

is it not still by "Laurel Point" on the water front. I have not looked lately bu have not heard of it being dismantled. sure someone here knows


It was there last summer...

#5 aastra

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Posted 31 March 2012 - 08:43 AM

That cannon in the box beside the walkway was added after the industrial operations had vacated Laurel Point and the walkway and hotel were built in the 1970s, no? So are we saying it's not there anymore? Flickr confirms that it was there last year.

#6 Sparky

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Posted 31 March 2012 - 11:43 AM

I always thought it was the "noon" gun.

#7 NaCl

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Posted 01 April 2012 - 11:33 AM





It's there this morning.

#8 aastra

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Posted 01 April 2012 - 12:00 PM

I'm not really sure what happened in this thread.

#9 Bingo

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Posted 01 April 2012 - 02:32 PM

So this cannon was first fired in 1973, but there was also a gun that was fired back in the 1940's. What happened to that gun?

#10 Holden West

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Posted 01 April 2012 - 10:21 PM

The real question is: if someone were to insert an actual cannonball down the muzzle, what Songhees condo would it hit?
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#11 Bingo

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Posted 01 April 2012 - 10:28 PM

The real question is: if someone were to insert an actual cannonball down the muzzle, what Songhees condo would it hit?


It would take out the operators shack at the Johnson Street Bridge.

#12 Sparky

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Posted 01 April 2012 - 11:15 PM

It's aimed towards Warfside.

#13 Bob Fugger

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Posted 02 April 2012 - 07:00 AM

It would take out the operators shack at the Johnson Street Bridge.


I propose a Reagan-era Star Wars satellite defense system, to protect John Luton's wife as she cycles over the new bridge, for just such an eventuality. We can pay for it via a moderate property tax increase.

#14 Holden West

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Posted 02 April 2012 - 07:08 AM

I saw some interesting historic cannonballs in a museum exhibit, including ones that split in half joined by a chain, nunchuk-style. Those can inflict some serious damage. Dismantling the rail bridge would be much more entertaining than a boring old welder's torch. Plus, if we did it at 9 pm it would be the curfew gun for the ruffians and scalliwags.
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#15 jdsony

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Posted 20 April 2012 - 03:53 PM

My question is what did the Laurel Point Inn do to deserve a cannon being fired to commemorate the opening and did the government really hand out Cannons as late as the 1970s? Surely it had some previous history?

#16 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 20 April 2012 - 04:22 PM

My question is what did the Laurel Point Inn do to deserve a cannon being fired to commemorate the opening and did the government really hand out Cannons as late as the 1970s? Surely it had some previous history?


During the Vietnam War, Laurel Point staffers guarded the inner harbour from Viet Cong attacks.
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#17 Rosie's Boy

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Posted 25 November 2018 - 12:37 PM

Enough of all these silly answers.  When I used to stay at my Grandma's on Dallas Road in the 1940's and 1950's, she said the 9 o'clock gun was fired at MacAulay Point (Esquimalt).  It usually rattled her windows.  But Dad said it was fired from Work Point, which would make sense, being an army base.  Long time since anyone picked up this thread.  Can someone please come up with a serious and factual answer.



#18 Mystic-Pizza

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Posted 25 November 2018 - 11:25 PM

I only remember the Canon that fired every day at 12pm from Laurel point back in the 80's.  The Canon is still there securely barricaded by a concrete enclosure and iron bars so people can't get in and vandalize it.



#19 Bingo

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Posted 26 November 2018 - 07:10 AM

 Can someone please come up with a serious and factual answer.

 

This link is in the first post of this thread.

http://www.vancouver...rchives_gun.htm



#20 Mystic-Pizza

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Posted 26 November 2018 - 08:13 AM

I just did a bit of searching on the Laurel Point Canon, and to my surprise it was actually just removed this Fall as part of the revitalization project for that area.

 

It was first fired on March 31st 1978 at 12pm to commemorate the opening of the Laurel Point In, and the Canon remained there on display until this year. 

 

While I have a memory of a Canon being fired every day at 12 noon (for at least some period of time) in or near the inner harbour, I can't find anything to verify if it was the Laurel Point Canon or a Canon at work point etc. 

 

But if my memory is correct, I do remember physically seeing the Laurel point canon being fired when I was younger back in the early-mid 80's

 

[attachment=21662:Laurel Point Canon Close Up.jpg]


Edited by Mystic-Pizza, 26 November 2018 - 08:14 AM.


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