Found out recently that the house explored in this vid belonged to the MacKinnon Family and Angus Young lived in the other side. This house is now an empty lot across the street from Ryan's Dairy and the Ryan's Company house on the middle block of Pellet Ave, New Waterford, circa about 1965ish. I didn't know when the video was made but there you have it.

Love this. Grew up in #11. My parents still live in a company house. Many in #11 are now rented by people who came here from Ontario. Another one is currently trying to be sold in Sydney for $180,000. I laughed but also scared that the person who buys it will not understand the history of them. You can't insure these any longer, and like you mentioned, drafty abd probably not up to code. Cape breton is still very dependent on these houses to live in. They are now cheap housing to get by in. The rooms are very tiny, you wondered how a family with 8 children made it work with 1 bathroom. I am sure as kids my neighbors hated us, running up and down stairs constantly, you could hear it. You could also hear the music they played, and if someone got in trouble by the parents yelling..lol. But your business was your business. There is a few houses in this video I know them. One of those houses just sold last year in #11 for 60k right across from one you were focusing on. I believe that, if part of the house was abandoned while you lived in the other, if the abandoned side got torn down and your side was exposed, it was up to you to fix it because the houses are literally attached, from what I heard. #11 definitely isn't the #11 I grew up in. They were halloween candy gold mines growing up, now it's all abandoned lots, burnt, or unfortunately crack dens. Not all, but alot. Hardly any children playing now. The school in #11 burned years ago (St. Anthonys), the train doesn't go by any more at the trussel. There used to be a park in #11 as well. It's all gone. Very sad to see the neighborhoods i grew up in or visited I dire state. There is alot of good people who deserve the world who live in these houses. Would give you the shirt off their backs to help you.

I was surprised to see my house at the beginning of the video, we live in the half that isn't boarded up, still an amazing place and holds up after all these years the wood furnace keeps us super warm during the winter thanks for the video, super interesting!!

This is great work , the drone work , excellent video to the narration.This guy deserves a ton of subscribers. And informative to boot.

My grandmother lived in No 11 and ran a corner store there for years. The video brought great memories of my time in Sydney Mines, Sydney and New Waterford. Many of these miners homes who built basements were in order to do their own coal digging for their personal use and selling to locals at cheaper prices. Over the years there have been numerous collapsed properties do to the private mines.

I grew up & still live in the hub, it was surreal and great too see us & number 2(the neighbourhood beside us) mentioned things were rough, but alot of ppl are moving back, but sadly their is still alot of good company houses wasting away. appreciate it thanks!

my father worked at sydney steel, aunt lived in a duplex in glace bay like these homes. New waterford boy over here!! cheers from cape breton!!!

Another great one. Keep'em coming!

I live in an old company house in Sydney. Its more of a foreman class as its 2 stories with 3 bedrooms upstairs. Pumped a fair bit of money into this by way of electrical, insulation, doors, windows etc so its up to code and very insurable. Up until 5 or 6 years ago these were still family homes but most are the residence of foreign students. I might add that the construction of these buildings was far superior to any thing built since the 50's as building became aimed at the cheapest rather than the bast way to build.

Thank You, that was very interesting Canadian history.

0:01 That was actually my house before we moved out. A lot of memories in that place and how cozy it felt during the winter. We moved out around 2015 was left there since, nothing left was inside & I was told that the walls and floors were removed.

North Sydney local. Appreciate this video completely love this island and don’t know enough of the history. Thank you

Im so glad i stumbled upon your channel....your videos are Absolutely great...cant wait to see what you put out next. Thank you.

As a member of the Heritage Advisory Committee within the CBRM, I am pushing for company homes to be enter as heritage sites without the restrictions that come with it. The goal is for homes to later receive the restricted designation.

Interesting and well told/presented (imho). Thank you. ☮

very interesting - thank you!

I live in Dominion. Some company houses are in good shape. But they are slowly disappearing. Thanks b'y.

I lived in a company house on Victoria Rd, across fr the coke ovens. My grandfather worked at the steel plant, as well as 5 more of my family members.

Interesting to me, from the other side of the pond. Would like more background information.

Liked and shared, thank you. ❤

Hi I grew up in a duplex company house, also worked on restoring 1/2 of a house in Glace Bay for habit for humanity, have stories and picturs.

As for the lack of a heritage designation, I wonder if there is local opposition. When Lunenburg was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site, some locals were upset as that constrained what they could do with the exterior of their houses, e.g. no vinyl siding.

great video! i think theres a typo in the title :)

Inverness has some company houses too

The one at 3:22 confuses me, the neglected side would be a threat to the side that is lived in. Could collapse and pull the entire structure down, and attracts vermin. I know the area is hard up economically. But why not try to buy out the other side and just remove it?

My wife grew up in number 2. The community next to the hub is number 2 not number 11. Number 11 is on the other side of Glace Bay.

Fricking depressive

referring to the houses. my dad is from the east coast and we travelled there many times. mom made a comment about they painted the houses with whatever color they had and they were painted may different colors. truth be known from my dad. these houses were navigational aids to the local fishermen. they didnt have fancy radar and loran but they knew where they were from the colors of the houses and could always find thier home port. ive been to Cape Breton many times and its true, homes are abandoned and left to rot. many people have just left and to the banks the houses and property might be worth 5000.00 given the market. its sad and a loss. government regulations on fishing havent helped and decimated the industry, that and the changes in industry demands. the expenses simply outweigh the profits and industry is no longer a lucrative endurance. in this area there really isnt any benefit to setting up industry in the area, the mines are gone, fishing is gone, tourism has moved on to bettter places. pei had a good tourism market but it became faded and has all but gone extinct. its sad to see how the east coast has fallen in all provinces, nova scotia is no longer a hot bed to visit. newfoundland is just exisiting but they are ok with that and always have been, they get by and remain strong amongst themselves. just speaking what ive seen, someone who spent a big part of his life at north rustico and cavendish.

As recent as 1963 some Capers were still digging coal illegally from holes in their back yards as well as in their basements. The product was called bootlegged coal. An interesting video . The honey lane story was new to me but made perfect sense as a way to organize waste disposal prior to public sewer systems. Sad to see buildings decay regardless of the quality of original construction methods. Brings back memories of working in Glace Bay in early '60s and commuting from Sydney. At days end my white car was covered with black soot from the coal fired Steel Mill. Capers were great people . Always asked newbies " What's your father's name?" to determine lineage. ( Music around 1/2 way point is very annoying! )👍👍👍🏆