This is the first in a series for the RCP, sharing behind-the-scenes local history research in the Rat Creek area.

First up: an experience connected to Jane’s Walks. I’ve been organizing Jane’s Walks in Spruce Avenue since 2015. A surprise research find last year happened just in time to add new material for the 2022 walk. The discovery adds a new chapter to Spruce Avenue’s 110-year urban history and connects a famous Edmontonian to the neighbourhood. 

I want to introduce you to the Modernettes. I encountered this term in an old Edmonton Journal headline while researching the family that built my house in the 1940s and then owned it for many years. A business advertisement led me to this particular headline. It was a sort of advertorial for new homes. News must have been slow over the Christmas holidays in 1935, for this full page on December 28 was about the opening of a showhome.

Before I read that article, the 1930s was a gap in our knowledge about Spruce Avenue. Our community knew about the early years following the lot sales of the Hudson’s Bay Company Reserve in 1912, and about the American air base located here during the Second World War. The advertorial also solved a puzzle: the origins of a line of bungalows on 101 Street. The bungalows were unusually tiny, even compared to wartime houses, with unique Art Deco-style exterior stucco that looked original. 

From the article, this set of what I thought was three was actually four bungalows built during the Great Depression. (The fourth has been renovated extensively, so its origins were hidden). The article revealed important information on the builder: J.N. Côté. When I found that name and some heritage profiles during an online search, I reached out to the heritage planners at the City. They’d never heard of the Modernettes, but they did have a file on Côté. 

According to the planners’ files, Joseph Napoleon Côté was born in 1888 in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. He started his Edmonton construction business in the 1920s, building prominent homes in many areas. Several are still standing and listed on Edmonton’s inventory of heritage properties. The City designated at least one home in Garneau. 

Built in 1935, the Modernettes appeared to be an experiment: smaller homes for the Depression’s lean years. 

The Modernettes are likely Spruce Avenue’s only examples of Streamline Moderne, a type of late Art Deco architecture, and they were modern and stylish for the time. 

Although all four of the Modernettes were standing in 2009, they’ve gradually been lost. The oldest one, the showhome open for public tours in the article, is the only one remaining. It’s also been renovated, with the stucco exterior covered and the front altered. The other homes preserved the stucco exteriors and hadn’t been maintained as well as the oldest house. One was lived in as recently as 2021, but was torn down in late 2022, leaving an empty lot. The other lots are occupied by duplex infill homes. 

I then researched the early occupants to share the story of the Modernettes at last year’s Jane’s Walk. I made some interesting discoveries, relying on Henderson’s Edmonton city directory. This directory contained listings of residents, home locations, and occupations, and was published annually from 1908 to the 1980s. 

According to information over multiple years published in the Henderson’s Edmonton city directory, the northernmost homes weren’t occupied until 1937, probably reflecting the economic challenges of home sales. The home located at 11439 101 St.—the last original Modernette standing until 2022—was first occupied by John Wuetherick, a clerk at the Bank of Montreal. The home next door (11443) was home to John O. Fazackerley, a buyer with H.H. Cooper, a wholesale grocer located in the Revillon Building. The house at 11435 wasn’t occupied until 1938. Stanley B. Ellis lived there, and he worked for Canada Packers on Fort Road. 

The original showhome at 11431 101 St. had an occupant who was a famous Edmontonian. Grant W.G. McConachie lived there from 1937 until about 1941. Information from the Canadian Encyclopedia website and the website of Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame states that McConachie was a bush pilot in the 1920s and became a pioneer of air travel in Western Canada, based out of Blatchford (City Centre) Airport. He lived in the house in the years he was establishing Yukon Southern Transport, his permanent passenger and airmail service to the Yukon. After CP Air bought McConachie’s business in 1941, McConachie then worked for CP Air, becoming president by 1947. It was at CP Air that McConachie oversaw the first scheduled air service from Canada to Asia and Australia. He was inducted into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame. Today, there is a northside Edmonton neighbourhood named McConachie.

Reflecting back on the chance discovery of that 1935 newspaper, you can see how much fascinating history we have here, waiting to be discovered. I hope you enjoyed this journey back into Spruce Avenue’s history and that you’ll stay tuned for more in this series.

Wesley has lived in a 1940s semi-bungalow in Spruce Avenue since 2012. He is a community league board member and loves to research and share the local history of the area.