Four years after the 1886 fire (illustration 4) sandstone buildings dominated Calgary's Stephen Avenue (now Eight Avenue). Lending what Calgarians liked to call "a very solid and substantial appearance," this type of construction justified the community's 1892 soubriquet "The Sandstone City."
The prominent commercial structures shown here mark the fact that by 1890, Calgary's frontier stage was largely past and the city was well on the way to becoming an important regional trade centre. But as the photograph also reveals, the city had still not outgrown board sidewalks and the streets were still unpaved, making them alternately dusty and muddy.
