Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

[DSC]

Are these plaques on a website anywhere?

A photographic invitation for one of our photographers?

[r937]

A photographic invitation for one of our photographers?

i imagine they are all the same plaque, with the same 7 location legend, but i've never run across any of the others

[adma]

They are indeed the same plaque. (And go to those other locations: they're still there, unless some short-sighted works people trashed any of them)

[Goldie]

This is a wonderful link to the history of Pottery Road.
I was previously only aware of Pottery Rd. between Broadview & the Bayview Extension - this site reveals another aspect of the road.

http://rudy.ca/at-the-top-end-of-old-pottery-road.html

Thanks Rudy!

[r937]

thanks for the kind words, goldie

i trust i'm not breaking any forum rules by posting a link to another article on my site about pottery road from last year...

http://rudy.ca/going-down-old-old-pottery-road.html

some of you may be familiar with this aerial photo from 1942 in the toronto archives --
https://gencat4.eloquent-systems.com...31_it1981b.jpg

you might have to save it to disk and rotate it 180 degrees, but you can easily trace pottery road from the river north to the CP main line, where it takes a very hard left and climbs up to join the southern end of bayview

[BeeRich]

http://rudy.ca/going-down-old-old-pottery-road.html

some of you may be familiar with this aerial photo from 1942 in the toronto archives --
https://gencat4.eloquent-systems.com...31_it1981b.jpg

you might have to save it to disk and rotate it 180 degrees, but you can easily trace pottery road from the river north to the CP main line, where it takes a very hard left and climbs up to join the southern end of bayview

Wow, that is a fantastic picture. It's confusing trying to map things out though. I always wondered why there was a lower dip in the hill on the west side of Bayview at Pottery. I didn't know it continued up the west side. I'd like to walk that some day. Some things I noticed from this picture:

- Thorncliffe Avenue, where my first house is/was, was built. I wonder what the Don Valley looked like back then from that lookout perspective. This was before the re-routing of the river for the DVP.

- I'm trying to map out where Bayview would be, and how the current construction for the Hydro project would demonstrate the remnants of Pottery Road North. If it runs up to the Loblaws/Drug Store parking lot, where is it demonstrated in this picture? It seems it runs west towards Bayview Heights, whereas my understanding is that the run along the north side of the main line went east.

- The Brickworks had a road that shot directly over to Todmorden Mills. I never mentally connected the two.

- The river layout in this image would explain some of the strange "bridgways" at Todmorden. I never understood the back 40 at that place, but it's now obvious they were structures to accommodate the river doing it's strange route through the property. And it also explains why the swampland which I used to play in/around as a kid, is there. Remnants of the real river.

- The beginnings of Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. The circle is there. The Gulf/Petro Canada isn't.

- Looks like Pottery Road South emptied north of Mortimer.

[r937]

- I'm trying to map out where Bayview would be, and how the current construction for the Hydro project would demonstrate the remnants of Pottery Road North. If it runs up to the Loblaws/Drug Store parking lot, where is it demonstrated in this picture? It seems it runs west towards Bayview Heights, whereas my understanding is that the run along the north side of the main line went east.

well spotted

in the 1942 aerial photo, pottery road does indeed run westwards from the CP tracks, up the hill to the end of (now) bayview heights

this was the "old old" portion of the top end, and it was replaced shortly afterwards (but well before the late 1950s when the bayview extension was constructed) with the section that runs northwards towards the loblaws (the "new old" section)

yes, the south end of pottery road used to empty out on hillside drive, pretty much where the charles sauriol parkette is today



if you walk to the back of the parkette, behind the trees and bushes in this picture, you can clearly see the old pottery road roadbed going down the hill

this portion was too steep so the road was diverted south to join broadview at mortimer instead

[yin_yang]

that is some NICE grass!

[BeeRich]

well spotted

in the 1942 aerial photo, pottery road does indeed run westwards from the CP tracks, up the hill to the end of (now) bayview heights

this was the "old old" portion of the top end, and it was replaced shortly afterwards (but well before the late 1950s when the bayview extension was constructed) with the section that runs northwards towards the loblaws (the "new old" section)

yes, the south end of pottery road used to empty out on hillside drive, pretty much where the charles sauriol parkette is today



if you walk to the back of the parkette, behind the trees and bushes in this picture, you can clearly see the old pottery road roadbed going down the hill

this portion was too steep so the road was diverted south to join broadview at mortimer instead

OK, was thinking how steep that would have been. Thanks for the clarification. I was confused with all the references. New old, old old. All around that area, the place always felt different to me. Rather "English".

[Anna]

Here's some 'north at the top' shots of the north and south ends of Pottery Road. They come from the Valley Lands Collection dated Apr 3, 1942

http://www.toronto.ca/archives/maps/s97_f13.htm

North - easy to spot Governor's Bridge area


South - interesting to see the road to the Brickworks

[HamiltonTransitHistory]

South - interesting to see the road to the Brickworks

The Brickworks bridge over the Don is still there, at the south end of Todmorden Mills next to the parking lot

[Anna]

The Brickworks bridge over the Don is still there, at the south end of Todmorden Mills next to the parking lot

I think the old bridge has been rebuilt/replaced.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:To...Footbridge.JPG

[BeeRich]

Here's some 'north at the top' shots of the north and south ends of Pottery Road. They come from the Valley Lands Collection dated Apr 3, 1942

http://www.toronto.ca/archives/maps/s97_f13.htm

North - easy to spot Governor's Bridge area
<snip>

South - interesting to see the road to the Brickworks
<snip>

What's interesting from these pics is that the Don was quite windy, and obviously flooded its banks this high up. With the recent widening of the rail bridge north of Eastern Avenue underneath, all that remains is the 90° turn below Lake Shore to fix the flooding issue. But to think it was flooding all the way past Todmorden is just crazy. No wonder they rebuilt the river. Would they have been using the lower part of the Don for transport at this time? I mean, boats. By this time, Jillies (I forget its original name) would have been built with what I'm assuming is that famous Toronto red brick. Some of the pieces in that building are massive, and not just the typical brick size we know. Just as an aside, I am no fan of the London-area yellow brick. I have been told yellow brick was used as ballast on ships from England.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jfitzg/...499678/detail/

The Brickworks pit is not half the size it was when they were done with it. And I guess Todmorden wanted to preserve the river's past through there. The last one was pretty old, and needed something...but a rebuild for a bridge that isn't needed? Heh. It's neat to see all the footpaths, as I'm assuming they aren't TTC routes.

[mattelderca]

Wow, that is a fantastic picture. It's confusing trying to map things out though. I always wondered why there was a lower dip in the hill on the west side of Bayview at Pottery. I didn't know it continued up the west side. I'd like to walk that some day. Some things I noticed from this picture:

- Thorncliffe Avenue, where my first house is/was, was built. I wonder what the Don Valley looked like back then from that lookout perspective. This was before the re-routing of the river for the DVP.

Did a new hydro service at a house on Thorncliff, probably 12 years ago. It was a funky house before the renos! Right near the south curve of the road.

[BeeRich]

Did a new hydro service at a house on Thorncliff, probably 12 years ago. It was a funky house before the renos! Right near the south curve of the road.

I was at 42, which is on the east side, 5 houses down from Chester Hill. After we sold it and moved to Moore Park, a couple of owners down the line put a full second storey on it. I have dreams to this day that I am back in that house.