The footprint of 91 Sumach on the 1890 Goads map shows a house with a wide front – like the modern house that is now apparently divided into two. The Google-image house has old worn bricks, so it doesn’t seem to be a rebuild. On an extensive renovation that essentially keeps the character of the...
I didn’t think celery could be so miraculous so Googled Paines Celery Compound. Until 1906 it contained cocaine. George S. Bause, M.D., M.P.H. (Honorary Curator and Laureate of the History of Anesthesia at the Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology in Schaumburg, Ill.) calls it "a preparation...
What a clever idea to have them hold the tools of their trade. Why are so many wearing shirt and tie? Is that what they wore for construction work? Did they dress up for photo day? Maybe it was taken one Sunday after church and they put their overalls and aprons on over their good clothes. Such...
What a thrill to see these images of Yonge St in 1860! The view north from King shows my 2X great-grandfather’s business at 86 Yonge. If only it were more clear! F. Clarke and Son Boots and Shoes was there from 1860 to 1876. His first business and home in Toronto was at 111 King St. E. – the...
I might have to concede that the mystery creek could be Taddle Creek… but with a caveat. The 1851 Fleming topographical map shows two water courses, but an 1842 map shows one water course branching at Lot St. east of New St.
http://maps.library.utoronto.ca/dvhmp/Scans/G_3524_T61_1842.jpg
I...
I had looked at the Lost Rivers site but couldn’t reconcile it with the 1851 Fleming topographical map: http://maps.library.utoronto.ca/datapub/digital/NG/historicTOmaps/1851flemingliberatedfromsid.jpeg
Here’s a detail that shows Taddle Creek on the left and the mystery creek on the right, its...
I’ve spent an enjoyable hour or so over lunch, looking up maps and trying to figure out the “creek” named on the plan. I don’t think it’s Taddle Creek. The 1857 Fleming Ridout & Schreiber map shows the “creek" clearly, flowing southeast across the city from Queen’s Park but not connected to...
I can answer that question. The mysterious man is my paternal grandfather, C.J.B. (Charles John Benedictus) Howard, an Ontario Land Surveyor with an interest in engineering and construction (based on what he photographed and sketched after arriving in Canada from Germany in 1906). He might have...