Evocative Images of Lost Toronto

[thecharioteer]

Thank you wwwebster! The only thing missing from the final shot is Gloria Swanson in the ruins (along with the ghosts of vaudeville and silent pictures):

[wwwebster]

I'm still trying to figure out who the "De Leon Sisters" were.

[k10ery]

I'm still trying to figure out who the "De Leon Sisters" were.

A wire walk act, according to the Toronto Sunday World. And rather attractive:

[mattelderca]

A wire walk act, according to the Toronto Sunday World. And rather attractive:

Now I would love to see them walk over Niagara! Beats that Wallenda guy.

[wwwebster]

A wire walk act, according to the Toronto Sunday World.

Thank you!! That's what I love about this place: it's like having multiple sets of eyes and ears.

[k10ery]

Except that photo is probably from the 30s or 40s, so I don't see how they could have been at the Hippodrome in 1915. Maybe the original de Leon sisters retired and these ladies inherited the business.

[wwwebster]

Pictured below is the south-west corner of Francis and Commercial in 1918 (now St. James Park). The building on the corner was 14 Francis. In her book on E. J. Lennox, Marilyn M. Litvak writes that Lennox’s father ran a hotel on Francis Street “for about 20 years.” The 1856 directory (which, as JT would remind us, is based on data gathered in 1855) lists a “Lennox, Edward, Crown Inn” on the west side of Francis. The 1861 directory further identifies the Crown Inn as 14 Francis. This has got me wondering if the building pictured below was the childhood home, and maybe even the birthplace, of E. J. Lennox.





1856:



1861:

[Tewder]

Wow, I've seen war zones in better shape!

[wwwebster]

1897:



Source:

http://archive.org/stream/queenstoro...ge/n1/mode/2up

[Mustapha]

1897:



Source:

http://archive.org/stream/queenstoro...ge/n1/mode/2up

The advertisements in that online book are unalloyed joy.

[k10ery]

Yikes. This is the first time I've seen a photo of Oak Hall. No Mean City shows a render that is much cleaner and simpler and writes "Only a very modern, progressive firm would build such a building."

Screen shot 2012-05-10 at 11.12.49 AM.jpg

[Goldie]

1897:



Source:

http://archive.org/stream/queenstoro...ge/n1/mode/2up

Thanks for that link, wwwebster.
I concur with Mustapha that it's a fascinating book.
These two pages particularly caught my attention (attached).

[thecharioteer]

Yikes. This is the first time I've seen a photo of Oak Hall. No Mean City shows a render that is much cleaner and simpler and writes "Only a very modern, progressive firm would build such a building."

Screen shot 2012-05-10 at 11.12.49 AM.jpg

Here's a close-up (the site is now the Sculpture Garden):

[thecharioteer]

The site 1970's:

[thecharioteer]

wwwebster, your Oak Hall post has inspired me to hunt up some new pics of King East from some newly digitized photos on the TPL website:

The old Jail and Courthouse on the north side of King between Toronto and Church Streets, 1835:



Court House 1835:



John Howard's never-built proposal for a new Guildhall, integrating the two buildings, 1834:



Court House (1827-1853), King St. E., n.w. cor. Church St., showing s. side exposed during construction of Toronto Railway Chambers (1898):



The First St. James' Church (1807-1818), Toronto, in 1816 (drawing from 1910):



The next St. James:



St. James' Anglican Church (1833-1849), King St. E., n.e. corner Church St.; aftermath of fire of 7 April 1849:



The "new" St. James:

1867, photograph by Octavius Thompson:



1874:



Hughes & Co., 'Golden Griffin', King St. E., n. side, w. of Market St. (1872):



St. Lawrence Hall (Photographed by ARMSTRONG, BEERE & HIME, Toronto. 1859):



SE corner of King and Jarvis, 1890:



The King Edward Hotel 1925: