A PLACE CALLED HOME
BET YOUR BOOTS!
On January ary
24, 1904, 04,
Isaac (Ike) Ike)
Bullivant, ant, a skilled shoemaker er from
Ontario, set up a boot making store at what would be today, the site of the old Levinson’s
Music store.
Cowboy boots were a valued necessity on the range. The pointy toe was designed to get into the stirrup more easily, the taller shaft and tough leather protected the legs and ankles, and the thick, underslung heel was designed to keep the foot from sliding out of the stirrups. Bullivant’s store was patronized by many old-time cowboys of the past. Ike made boots for them all and grew to be part of the West. The Bullivant Cowboy Boot was distributed across Western Canada. Ike later relocated to Third Street S.E. As his reputation as a superior shoe and bootmaker grew, so did Bullivant’s need for a larger store. He now had 3 to 4 shoemakers in his employ. In 1920, Ike purchased the property at 216 South Railway, right next door to his original shop.
The property which Ike purchased was formerly Medicine Hat’s first bakery, the City Bakery. Not to be confused with the bakery of the same name which once operated on Sixth Avenue, this City Bakery was established when the rails were laid, in 1883. The City Bakery on South Railway Street consisted of three buildings, a 26 x 40 foot, twostorey frame building facing the street, with two brick buildings in the rear.
Bullivant demolished the frame building only, replacing it with a new brick building. The existing rear brick buildings remained intact. The new building served as a retail shoe outlet and included a workshop with a separate door. The building interior still has the original wood flooring and some of the original tin ceiling. The building’s upper exterior features corbelled brickwork.
Isaac Bullivant was also active in municipal politics. He served as an alderman in 1921 and was mayor from 1926 to 1938. Known as the “depression mayor”, Bullivant guided the city through severe economic times brought on by the Great Depression.
Isaac Bullivant’s building which faces South Railway Street, turns 100 this year. The Bullivant Building and the former Levinson Building next-door, which was also constructed in 1920, by the Hon. C.R. Mitchell, are both recipients of this year’s Centennial Certificate Awards.
Today, the bootery is occupied by Gravity Sports and Hemp Town Rock. The older, attached brick buildings in the rear, date back prior to 1909. On the lane, the building which once housed the oven of the original City Bakery has been repurposed as a bed and breakfast and bears little resemblance to its historical roots.
Ike operated his shoe store on South Railway Street for 43 years. In 1946, Maurice Green who ran a shoe store in Lethbridge, purchased Bullivant’s business. It was time for the “old reliable shoe man” to hang up his boots and retire.