I came across the above photograph in the Trove archive. It was taken by Dr Francis Maxwell Chrystal when he attended the laying of the ‘foundation and memorial stone’ by the King and Queen on the 19th July 1911. Interested to find out more, I delved into the archives. The Usher Hall was built on the site of the Lothian Road School and it is clear that there was quite a lot of disquiet about this at the time.
What follows is a timeline, though, like all timelines, it is not complete:
1894 Ordnance Survey map:
25 March 1898, Musselburgh News:
Lothian Road School, Edinburgh:
13 February 1905, Edinburgh Evening News:
1906 Ordnance Survey map:
Outside the Lothian Road School [Pavement art?]:
21 April 1910, Edinburgh Evening News:
11 March 1911, Edinburgh Evening News:
Demolition of Lothian Road School, Edinburgh:
Architect’s proposal for the Usher Hall [Trove]:
13 March 1912, Edinburgh Evening News:
1913 Ordnance Survey map:
6 March 1914, Edinburgh Evening Dispatch:
6 March 1914, Edinburgh Evening Dispatch:
1914: Usher Hall, only just completed:
16 December 1950, Edinburgh Evening News:
1957, Womens Guild Meeting, Usher Hall [Trove]:
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