Heritage Toronto Mondays

[thecharioteer]

A few more pics from the Toronto Archives:

1931:

From the Toronto Star Archves 1949:

Caption: 1987 caption: Can you hear the train whistle? When the photographer aimed his camera at this wholesale fruit and vegetable market one clear day in October, 1949, he could not know that he looked at the future site of the O'Keefe Centre nor that a bit north of there the Esplanade would be crowded with handsome sidewalk cafes. The building, once an impressive railway station, was a freight office after 1882, leased by the CNR to the fruit wholesalers in 1900. Last Published: 5/10/1987
Release: NOT RELEASED
Photographer: Toronto Star Archives/GetStock.com

 

[interchange42]

UrbanToronto has partnered with Heritage Toronto to capture a moment in Toronto's past. On a weekly basis, we will both be highlighting a historic photo of the city's people, places and events, and will be telling the stories behind them.

Many thanks to both Gary Switzer of MOD Developements and Eric Veillette of silenttoronto.com for putting together the photos and research.

This week's photo:

1 SPADINA CRESCENT (Knox College)

Photo researched: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 0324.

Having first appeared on Toronto maps in 1838, Spadina Crescent was still relatively new when Knox College was built in 1875 at 1 Spadina Crescent, slightly north of College St. The moss-covered structure, of Gothic Revival style similar to St-Andrew's Church, was designed by architects Smith & Gemmel, whose many contributions to Toronto's street-scapes also include the Church of the Redeemer at Avenue and Bloor.

According to Eric Arthur's Toronto: No Mean City, wrought-iron fences and balconies were quite popular in Toronto when the building was constructed, but the intricately woven gate you see above does not appear in photos until 1903; prior to that, 1 Spadina Crescent was surrounded by a wooden fence – and a rather unremarkable one in comparison to its industrial age counterpart.

Although the fence and its gate are long-gone, the building has held a long and varied history. Knox College, the University of Toronto's Presbyterian school, remained in this location until 1906, when its board of directors decided to move to its current location on U of T campus. For the remainder of the decade, rumours persisted that a major department store would open on its site, but urban planners pushed for a park. In 1906, the Evening News reported that “no more perfect park site can be found in the city” and that the large residential areas in its proximity were bereft of “a single breathing spot.”

During the First World War, it was a military hospital, accommodating nearly 250 wounded soldiers, and in 1931, was favoured as a site to build a giant sports arena, which instead occurred on Carlton street and saved the Spadina Crescent building from the wrecking ball. In 1943, it was sold to Connaught Laboratories for the production of penicillin and research in its labs later led to the discovery of the polio virus.

The building, which received a restoration grant in 2005, is once again part of the University of Toronto and serves the Departments of Anthropology, Art and Ophthalmology.

Sources:

Toronto, The Place of Meeting, Frederick H. Armstrong, 1983
Toronto to 1918, J.M.S. Careless, 1984
Toronto: No Mean City, Eric Arthur, 1964

 

[Mustapha]

From my copy of "Toronto A Pictorial Record, 1813-1882", published 1965.

A pre-photgraphy engraving.

 

[Goldie]

I find this 1925 view of the railway station of particular interest, since we can clearly see the whole site at Yonge & Front that eventually becomes the Sony Centre.

 

[androiduk]

UrbanToronto has partnered with Heritage Toronto to capture a moment in Toronto's past. On a weekly basis, we will both be highlighting a historic photo of the city's people, places and events, and will be telling the stories behind them.

Many thanks to both Gary Switzer of MOD Developements and Eric Veillette of silenttoronto.com for putting together the photos and research.

This week's photo:

1 SPADINA CRESCENT (Knox College)

Photo researched: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 0324.

Having first appeared on Toronto maps in 1838, Spadina Crescent was still relatively new when Knox College was built in 1875 at 1 Spadina Crescent, slightly north of College St. The moss-covered structure, of Gothic Revival style similar to St-Andrew's Church, was designed by architects Smith & Gemmel, whose many contributions to Toronto's street-scapes also include the Church of the Redeemer at Avenue and Bloor.

According to Eric Arthur's Toronto: No Mean City, wrought-iron fences and balconies were quite popular in Toronto when the building was constructed, but the intricately woven gate you see above does not appear in photos until 1903; prior to that, 1 Spadina Crescent was surrounded by a wooden fence – and a rather unremarkable one in comparison to its industrial age counterpart.

Although the fence and its gate are long-gone, the building has held a long and varied history. Knox College, the University of Toronto's Presbyterian school, remained in this location until 1906, when its board of directors decided to move to its current location on U of T campus. For the remainder of the decade, rumours persisted that a major department store would open on its site, but urban planners pushed for a park. In 1906, the Evening News reported that “no more perfect park site can be found in the city” and that the large residential areas in its proximity were bereft of “a single breathing spot.”

During the First World War, it was a military hospital, accommodating nearly 250 wounded soldiers, and in 1931, was favoured as a site to build a giant sports arena, which instead occurred on Carlton street and saved the Spadina Crescent building from the wrecking ball. In 1943, it was sold to Connaught Laboratories for the production of penicillin and research in its labs later led to the discovery of the polio virus.

The building, which received a restoration grant in 2005, is once again part of the University of Toronto and serves the Departments of Anthropology, Art and Ophthalmology.

Sources:

Toronto, The Place of Meeting, Frederick H. Armstrong, 1983
Toronto to 1918, J.M.S. Careless, 1984
Toronto: No Mean City, Eric Arthur, 1964

Actually the gates are still around. Just off St. George, half way between Harbord and College.

 

[junctionist]

Great observation, androiduk! I wonder if it was the architectural history books that missed that fence's relocation, or just the article, because it seems like something important to clarify when I see that beautiful fence.

 

[adma]

Actually the gates are still around. Just off St. George, half way between Harbord and College.

And surely not coincidentally, bordering the north quad of the *new* Knox College.

 

[interchange42]

UrbanToronto has partnered with Heritage Toronto to capture a moment in Toronto's past. On a weekly basis, we will both be highlighting a historic photo of the city's people, places and events, and will be telling the stories behind them.

Many thanks to both Gary Switzer of MOD Developements and Eric Veillette of silenttoronto.com for putting together the photos and research.

This week's photo:

FIRST PLANE CRASH

Source: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 0096a

Oh those magnificent men and their flying machines.

On August 3, 1911, mere days after completing a record-setting, thirty-five mile flight from Hamilton to Toronto, ace aviator J.A. (Douglas) McCurdy crashed his bi-plane off the runway of the Donlands aviation field near Todmorden Mills. It was Toronto's first plane crash.

While the 7-cylinder Gnome engine bi-plane – the same used for his previous flight – was smashed to pieces, the aviator, who in 1909 had piloted Canada's first controlled flight in a “heavier than air machine,” was completely uninjured. Still, the Daily Star called it “a narrow escape from death.”

When the crowds who'd gathered at the International Aviation Meet to see him take off approached the wreck, McCurdy was “sitting down beside it, gazing ruefully” at his prized plane, then valued at $4000. As gasoline poured out of the tank, mechanics urged people to stand back as an unfazed McCurdy spoke to reporters.

McCurdy had told reporters earlier in the day that the Donlands runway was better than the one found at Weston airfield. But he felt differently after the crash, claiming that the bumpy conditions of the runway made it impossible to render a proper take-off. Hitting a larger bump, the plane suddenly took to the air, swerved, then fell straight down.

The fact that the runway also ran slightly uphill probably didn't help matters, either.

His reputation intact, McCurdy walked away from the wreckage and further pioneered Canada's fledgling aviation industry, establishing Canada's first aviation school and managing the country's first airport, the Long Branch Aerodrome.

Sources:

Toronto Daily Star, August 3, 4, 1911.
The Last Word on the First Flight, Gerald Haddon: http://www.torontoaviationhistory.com/Authors/LastWord.htm

 

[Goldie]

This week's photo:

FIRST PLANE CRASH

On August 3, 1911, mere days after completing a record-setting, thirty-five mile flight from Hamilton to Toronto, ace aviator J.A. (Douglas) McCurdy crashed his bi-plane off the runway of the Donlands aviation field near Todmorden Mills. It was Toronto's first plane crash.

While the 7-cylinder Gnome engine bi-plane – the same used for his previous flight – was smashed to pieces, the aviator, who in 1909 had piloted Canada's first controlled flight in a “heavier than air machine,” was completely uninjured. Still, the Daily Star called it “a narrow escape from death.”

McCurdy had told reporters earlier in the day that the Donlands runway was better than the one found at Weston airfield. But he felt differently after the crash, claiming that the bumpy conditions of the runway made it impossible to render a proper take-off. Hitting a larger bump, the plane suddenly took to the air, swerved, then fell straight down.

The fact that the runway also ran slightly uphill probably didn't help matters, either.

Certainly a most interesting event in Canadian aviation history.
However, some of the information appears to be contradictory.
The photo caption refers to "Weston" and other comments refer to "Donlands aviation field near Todmorden Mills."
Even though I lived on Donland Ave for 21 years, I've never before heard any mention of a "Donlands" airfield.
Does anyone know the exact location of that field?

 

[donoreo]

Certainly a most interesting event in Canadian aviation history.
However, some of the information appears to be contradictory.
The photo caption refers to "Weston" and other comments refer to "Donlands aviation field near Todmorden Mills."
Even though I lived on Donland Ave for 21 years, I've never before heard any mention of a "Donlands" airfield.
Does anyone know the exact location of that field?

I do not know where, but it makes sense. It is flat relatively high ground.

 

[interchange42]

UrbanToronto has partnered with Heritage Toronto to capture a moment in Toronto's past. On a weekly basis, we will both be highlighting a historic photo of the city's people, places and events, and will be telling the stories behind them.

Many thanks to both Gary Switzer of MOD Developements and Eric Veillette of silenttoronto.com for putting together the photos and research.

This week's photo:

Photo: City of Toronto Archives, Series 574, File 4, Item 49167

Yonge St., looking north at Queen St.; taken October 13-28, 1949

Behold a city fraught with growing pains.

It's no secret that post-World War II Toronto saw much urban change, but the construction of the Yonge subway – which broke ground in September of 1949 – while a bold and progressive move, was a thorn in the sides of many business owners and citizens.

Not unlike the recent transit-related upgrades on St. Clair West and Roncesvalles, companies went out of their way to remind patrons that despite the perilous chasms and rickety, adventure serial-like bridges required to get into their stores, they were still open for business.

Radio and newspaper advertising for Arliss Shoes (220 Yonge) and the Adorable Hat Shop (264 Yonge) promised major savings on fall fashions, and the May Co. department store (243 Yonge) was having a “Subway Sale,” with drastic cuts on everything from suits to gabardine top coats.

Some citizens also voiced concern. A month after construction began, a letter to the Daily Star's editors wondered why the subway couldn't burrow under a less busy street. Ronald Berry claimed that “a block or two sure cannot matter when one is underground.” Cynically, Berry quipped that “no brains on earth can divert Yonge St. business to Church St. for three years, whereas silly old brains would be just as happy ripping up a jungle."

The construction was eventually completed in 1954, facilitating travel from Union Station to Eglinton.

But you simply can't please everyone.

Despite the re-built streets and the influx of customers from the north of city, some business owners – mostly showmen and cinema owners – saw the subways themselves as a detriment, preferring the multiple stops offered by streetcars.

Bernie Rothbart, who managed the Savoy Theatre (on the north-east side of Yonge and Gerrard from 1953 to 1964) told the Star in 1983, when the theatre was closing its doors, that the removal of the streetcar tracks cut down walking traffic tremendously. “People who would stop by the theatre to check out what we were showing wouldn't do that when we were between two subway stops.”

Sources:
Toronto Since 1918: An Illustrated History, James Lemon, Lorimer Press, 1985.
Toronto Daily Star, October 13, 28, November 16, 1949.
Toronto Star, August 6, 1983.

 

[adma]

Despite the re-built streets and the influx of customers from the north of city, some business owners – mostly showmen and cinema owners – saw the subways themselves as a detriment, preferring the multiple stops offered by streetcars.

Bernie Rothbart, who managed the Savoy Theatre (on the north-east side of Yonge and Gerrard from 1953 to 1964) told the Star in 1983, when the theatre was closing its doors, that the removal of the streetcar tracks cut down walking traffic tremendously. “People who would stop by the theatre to check out what we were showing wouldn't do that when we were between two subway stops.”

Interestingly, that was even more marked an issue w/the Bloor-Danforth subway in the 1960s, which the earliest BIAs like Bloor West Village were deliberately meant to address...

 

[thecharioteer]

Some citizens also voiced concern. A month after construction began, a letter to the Daily Star's editors wondered why the subway couldn't burrow under a less busy street. Ronald Berry claimed that “a block or two sure cannot matter when one is underground.” Cynically, Berry quipped that “no brains on earth can divert Yonge St. business to Church St. for three years, whereas silly old brains would be just as happy ripping up a jungle."

Obviously the decision to shift the subway route east of Yonge, just north of College, resulted from the disruptive experience further downtown. Although the University line went under the street, subsequent lines (like the Bloor-Danforth) chose the less controversial (and cheaper) option "off-street".

 

[adma]

Although the University line went under the street, subsequent lines (like the Bloor-Danforth) chose the less controversial (and cheaper) option "off-street".

Though Yonge reverted to on-street N of Eglinton--and isn't Sheppard by and large on-street as well? My feeling is that on-street = less expropriation, ergo less NIMBY disturbance. (Speaking of which, the Spadina line's also on-street through Dupont station--and, if you want to be a wise guy, it's "on street" in the Allen Road median, too...)

 

[thecharioteer]

Though Yonge reverted to on-street N of Eglinton--and isn't Sheppard by and large on-street as well? My feeling is that on-street = less expropriation, ergo less NIMBY disturbance. (Speaking of which, the Spadina line's also on-street through Dupont station--and, if you want to be a wise guy, it's "on street" in the Allen Road median, too...)

Good points. Speaking of NIMBYism, the lack of a subway stop on Yonge between Eglinton and Lawrence can only be attributed to neighbourhood opposition to the creation of a potential "intensifiaction" node around Glencairn. In the case of the Spadina line northerly from St. Clair, I remember the endless debates as to whether the route should go under Bathurst at the Cedarvale bridge vs the already cleared Spadina Expressway route. In that case economics won out, not the logic of putting the subway under an already high-density corridor.