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Danforth Avenue--Victoria Park to Broadview: Then and Now
- Thread starter brewster
- Start date
Goldie
Senior Member
Your mention of the bright lights of a car lot reminded me of this photo.
It's not Robertson, just the lights of Alex Irvine Motors when it was on Lawrence E.
Goldie
Senior Member
This one's for you, saleen01 - as a lifelong East Yorker.
Do you remember the City limit boundaries?
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Was it always Baptist - or did they move in later and decapitate it? It doesn't seem their style somehow ...
A swell structure, for sure. Very Kivas Tully Trinity College.
AlbertHWagstaff
Senior Member
Robertson Motors
Here's Robertson Motors in its glory days. In later years the lot on the left was their Used Car division (no "Pre-owned" nonsense in those days) but I think it was the original lot when Robertson opened before the larger building with the sign was added. They used to have a huge black & white night photo of the lot from the early days in the showroom and I think it said that Robertson opened for business in 1930. Most of the buildings at the left were gone by the time I remember this corner and only the bank building at the corner (not visible in the photo) was still standing.
The PCC streetcars in the image are no slouches either. The lead car is a King-Exhibition car getting ready to head back to the Ex after looping at Hillingdon Avenue while the second car is a regular Bloor car headed for Luttrell.
This great image is by Robert McMann, from August 21, 1965.
Here's Robertson Motors in its glory days. In later years the lot on the left was their Used Car division (no "Pre-owned" nonsense in those days) but I think it was the original lot when Robertson opened before the larger building with the sign was added. They used to have a huge black & white night photo of the lot from the early days in the showroom and I think it said that Robertson opened for business in 1930. Most of the buildings at the left were gone by the time I remember this corner and only the bank building at the corner (not visible in the photo) was still standing.
The PCC streetcars in the image are no slouches either. The lead car is a King-Exhibition car getting ready to head back to the Ex after looping at Hillingdon Avenue while the second car is a regular Bloor car headed for Luttrell.
This great image is by Robert McMann, from August 21, 1965.
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DarnDirtyApe
Active Member
Great series. Some of those photos really make it look like the Wild West out on the Danforth...
saleen01
New Member
Oh man yes! i used to love hearing stories about neighbours who lived across the street from eachother one in Toronto and one in East York getting different treatment.
AlbertHWagstaff
Senior Member
I always found it intriguing that there would be a yellow fire hydrant only a few steps away from a green fire hydrant and the street lights would change from the curved bracket incandescents to the cobra-head mercury lights (and later the sodium lights).
Goldie
Senior Member
Chambers' Fish Market became a long-established business on Danforth Ave. at Bowden after opening in 1915. Owned and operated by Mary Margaret Chambers who emigrated from Scotland (standing at the door in this 1917 photo).
The store today (2012) is "7 Numbers Restaurant."
The store today (2012) is "7 Numbers Restaurant."
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Nice to see the reflections of what's across the street - in both photos.
the lemur
Senior Member
Luttrell looking north to Danforth
luttrelllookingnorthtoDanforth by TORONTO TONTO, on Flickr
LuttrelllookingnorthtoDanforthn by TORONTO TONTO, on Flickr
Looks like a Land Rover dealership on the left.
Duke Vipperman
New Member
Anyone have the key to the renumbering? I have the addresses of some locations in 1912 and am trying to match them to current buildings that remain.
HamiltonTransitHistory
New Member
Heading east on Danforth, the approximate building numbers were and are as follows:
@ Broadview: 0 (before 1922), 0 (after 1922)
@ Pape: 350, 650
@ Greenwood: 725, 1200
@ Coxwell: 940, 1560
@ Main: 1500, 2550
Take a look at the Goad's insurance maps for 1913 and 1924 for exact locations
http://www.toronto.ca/archives/goads_fire_insurance_plans.htm
can332
New Member
The two hydrants would actually be on two separate water mains, one for the city and one for the borough. As a member of the fire dept., we were always told not to use the other city's hydrant unless absolutely necessary because our city would be charged for the water. The same situation could be seen along the York/Toronto border. There were 2 hydrants within about 5 feet of each other on Caledonia Rd. (different colours, of course.) I think, for the most part, the mains have been linked post-amalgamation, and the redundant hydrants have been removed.
If you look hard, you can still find some hydrants throughout the city still painted in the various old borough colours meaning that they haven't been painted in 15 years...
On the same topic, I'm interested if anyone can remember the pre-1967 hydrant colours for the villages and towns that were annexed that year. For instance, hydrant colours in pre-'67 Leaside, Weston, Swansea, Mimico, Long Branch, New Toronto and Forest Hill. There are very few pre-'67 colour photos for these areas and it would be wonderful to have this information for historical purposes.
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can332
New Member
This one's for you, saleen01 - as a lifelong East Yorker.
Do you remember the City limit boundaries?
The old borough boundaries would cause constant headaches on the fire dept switchboards. Unlike Police and Ambulance, we maintained 6 separate switchboards and we had to know exactly where the borders were. York and East York were the worst, because the borders would run helter-skelter through backyards and laneways. Many houses and shops were even cut in two. "Who's fire is it?" was a constant refrain at calls near the borders over the years. It was all utterly insane as the fire depts had been slated to be amalgamated in '57 with the cops, but the boroughs wanted to keep at least one of the emergency services in their caps.