Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

[BeeRich]

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

<snip>

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

Well I just had to. Sorry, they're a little big. If you want them reduced, let me know. The forum won't let me upload them, as I think they're too big.

[r937]

Well I just had to. Sorry, they're a little big.

they look okay to me

i would just like to pass on a caution to anyone going down there in the summer, there's a huge patch of poison ivy in there, which i did not know about until it was too late

you used to be able just to walk down the old road bed and onto the current pottery road shoulder, but with the recent redevelopment, which included a new retaining wall, i expect it's closed off now

did you happen to notice?

[Edward Skira]

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

There's a similar plaque at the south west corner of Yonge and Eglinton.

[BeeRich]

they look okay to me

i would just like to pass on a caution to anyone going down there in the summer, there's a huge patch of poison ivy in there, which i did not know about until it was too late

you used to be able just to walk down the old road bed and onto the current pottery road shoulder, but with the recent redevelopment, which included a new retaining wall, i expect it's closed off now

did you happen to notice?

No I didn't go too far. It was wet, and a face full of leaves, rocks and mud wasn't a Monday morning thing to do. It seemed like there was a foundation of some sort in the last picture there, but no evidence of a road, at least to my untrained eye. But, I do have a recent video that might help (at 0:19 perhaps?):

[denman]

Colgate demolished the building starting in October 1994. The building was completely gone by the next fall and it stands vacant to this day. Funny how I called it back then that such a building (7 storey + basement) would be in demand within a decade - stupid how they demolish such a building only to build a similar building in its place!

Then and Now for Oct. 21.


Then. Colgate Ave. N side opposite Verral Ave. c1918. 'Factory of Palmolive Company of Canada.' wwwebster sourced this picture for us.




Now. May 2011. I wonder if building is going on now on this vacant lot that I saw early in the summer. I wonder when the old factory was demolished...

[r937]

... but no evidence of a road, at least to my untrained eye.

what a splendid video!

yes, between 00:19 and 00:23, the old road bed merges in from the right, you could still walk down from the charles sauriol parkette

it looks, though, as if the recent construction has really obliterated the formerly obvious junction

in your last picture, you can see wooden steps going down from the footpath to the roadbed on the left

[BeeRich]

what a splendid video!

yes, between 00:19 and 00:23, the old road bed merges in from the right, you could still walk down from the charles sauriol parkette

it looks, though, as if the recent construction has really obliterated the formerly obvious junction

in your last picture, you can see wooden steps going down from the footpath to the roadbed on the left

Yeah I was thinking the recent work has expired it a bit more. I wonder if workers realize how historical that stuff is, or if they even know at all. For that matter, I wonder what the largest REAL remnants there are in the City, without me knowing it. Things I often encounter. If you showed me those wooden stairs, I would have said "oh, some City Works instalment in the 70's that wasn't done very well. They should have used steel." But then in City Parks, many of the original barriers that have been painted with that 'park green', then chipped, then painted, then chipped, then painted...are still there.

Today's video is very inexpensive, high quality (this is HD), and tells a much greater story than pictures alone. Imagine riding through Toronto in 1880 with an HD camera capturing everything from your handlebars. Anyway, seeing the changes to the City, it's a great time to be driving/biking around grabbing as much future-historical footage as I can.

[Goldie]

I do have a recent video that might help (at 0:19 perhaps?):

Thanks for that great video, BeeRich.
It's certainly a wonderful way to illustrate the point.
This single frame, I assume, shows the approximate path of the old road (attached):

[brewster]

No I didn't go too far. It was wet, and a face full of leaves, rocks and mud wasn't a Monday morning thing to do. It seemed like there was a foundation of some sort in the last picture there, but no evidence of a road, at least to my untrained eye. But, I do have a recent video that might help (at 0:19 perhaps?):

Thanks for the trip. Definitely a good way to showcase an area. Pretty funky music also.

[r937]

This single frame, I assume, shows the approximate path of the old road (attached):

not to belabor the point, but it's actually closer to the top of the hill, before the turn to the right towards the dairy queen

(see attachment below)

in order to keep to the "then and now" theme of this thread, here's the "then" picture from a hunnert years ago, looking down the hill, corresponding almost exactly to your 4th picture, beerich

[BeeRich]

Thanks for that great video, BeeRich.
It's certainly a wonderful way to illustrate the point.
This single frame, I assume, shows the approximate path of the old road (attached):

That far down, eh? That embankment on the east side (starts there in that frame) I thought came after the original exit. I guess you are right.

[BeeRich]

not to belabor the point, but it's actually closer to the top of the hill, before the turn to the right towards the dairy queen

OK, thought so. That is one dangerous road, made of dirt/mud, for carriages to get down/up.

[HamiltonTransitHistory]

I just want to take this moment to point out that after almost 3.5 years, this thread has reached over 500 pages and over 7500 posts

[J T CUNNINGHAM]

"this thread has reached over 500 pages and over 7500 posts."
QUOTE HamiltonTransitHistory.

AND . . . . . 1,126,049 views!

Three Cheers for our Fearless Leader, Mustapha!

(and Company.)


Regards,
j t

[Mustapha]

No I didn't go too far. It was wet, and a face full of leaves, rocks and mud wasn't a Monday morning thing to do. It seemed like there was a foundation of some sort in the last picture there, but no evidence of a road, at least to my untrained eye. But, I do have a recent video that might help (at 0:19 perhaps?):

The 'S' curve that begins at 00:36 is quite a wicked one... I haven't been up or down this way in ages, I didn't know they had repaved it. That was a mistake I think. The smoothness and new curbs give the impression of a modern road, which it isn't. I noticed your video ends at the T&T Asian supermarket on Cherry Street. I hope you had a nice lunch.