Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

[Mustapha]

brewster and Anna have given us a fine tour of the Eglinton, Laird, Brentcliffe area.

Do they and others know about the early airfield that was in that vicinity?
It was somewhere east of Laird, north of Wicksteed and may have extended above Eglinton at Brentcliffe.
I've been searching for some sign of the old buildings but have found only this one which resembles a airplane hanger - no one has identified it for certain!

I have a 'Now' in the rotation for this scene..

 

[Mustapha]

Then and Now for Sep 29.


Then. 'Aug 20 - 1940. Ramp in front of 1493A Yonge'. We are looking S down Yonge, St. Clair is in the unseen middle distance.

Now. July 2011. Late in the day when I got here, the shadows are long. The deco-ish building on the right certainly appears to be an original from our 1940 picture, but in the 1940 picture a car blocks the view.

 

[mattelderca]

brewster and Anna have given us a fine tour of the Eglinton, Laird, Brentcliffe area.

Do they and others know about the early airfield that was in that vicinity?
It was somewhere east of Laird, north of Wicksteed and may have extended above Eglinton at Brentcliffe.
I've been searching for some sign of the old buildings but have found only this one which resembles a airplane hanger - no one has identified it for certain!

Now (2009) an auto shop at Laird & Parkhurst

In the mid 70's this area around Research rd, Canada wire (pictured), and north Thorncliff industrial park, were what my friends and I considered our playground. We would ride our bikes over to scour various dumpsters and trailers for electronic and mechanical parts. IBM had a disposal facillity on the south end of the rail trestle which was particularly rich in electronic fodder. The building pictured behind the planes is gone, replaced with a Home depot and South St burger company. There are not many of the original buildings left, I like to think that Goldies now shot was indeed a hanger. The Phillips sign was a huge landmark and a friend lived across the street from Sangamo Schlumberger in one of the apartment blocks. I lived just south of herefrom 1994 until 2003 so this area has many memories for me. Many, many, memories!

 

[donoreo]

brewster and Anna have given us a fine tour of the Eglinton, Laird, Brentcliffe area.

Do they and others know about the early airfield that was in that vicinity?
It was somewhere east of Laird, north of Wicksteed and may have extended above Eglinton at Brentcliffe.
I've been searching for some sign of the old buildings but have found only this one which resembles a airplane hanger - no one has identified it for certain!

Now (2009) an auto shop at Laird & Parkhurst

The first pic looks like the old Canada Wire, later Alcatel, factory. As mentioned, all gone now replaced by the retail gods According to the wikipedia article, the last hangar was removed in 1971: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaside_Aerodrome

 

[saleen01]

interesting...and thats why there is a new street now called "aerodrome" just off brentcliffe

 

[Anna]

brewster and Anna have given us a fine tour of the Eglinton, Laird, Brentcliffe area.

Do they and others know about the early airfield that was in that vicinity?
It was somewhere east of Laird, north of Wicksteed and may have extended above Eglinton at Brentcliffe.

I think you have the location right. About a year ago a buried fuel tank was discovered behind the Homesense (Brewster's wife's favourite shopping location) that probably had something to do with the aerodrome.

The historic plaque for the 'first airmail delivery' was moved from in front of one of the apartment buildings on Eglinton up to Broadway & Brentcliffe - not sure what that means as far as the aerodrome location was concerned.

http://www.torontohistory.org/Pages_ABC/Canadas_First_Air_Mail.html
http://www.lostrivers.ca/points/LeasideAirfield.htm

 

[adma]

If we're talking about a compound Quonset hut, it probably post-dates any aerodrome around these parts--though it certainly reflects "wartime industry" (albeit more WWII than WWI)

 

[Mustapha]

Then. mattelderca, donoreo, Anna and Goldie beat me to it. Here's my late contribution to the Leaside Aerodrome conversation.

Leaside 'Aerodrome'. One of a number of small rough airfields that dotted Toronto in the early days of aviation when cloth, wood and wire construction planes flew lower and slower and didn't require miles of concrete runway, and the skies weren't filled with airliners themselves filled with Moore Park high schoolers returning from trips to the Galapagos and retirees in Tilley clothing flying to nowhere in particular getting in their way. Canada Wire and Cable corporate office in the distance fronting onto Laird (with factory trailing behind it) . We are looking W. I wonder if the owners of the first homes developed just W of Laird complained about the noise. The air cooled rotary engines of these early aircraft were decidedly not quiet.

Now. July 2011. We are looking W along Wicksteed towards Laird in the distance.

Aerial view here:

http://www.angelfire.com/ca/TORONTO/history/56leaside.html

 

[Mustapha]

interesting...and thats why there is a new street now called "aerodrome" just off brentcliffe

saleen01, even more interesting that the street naming committee would resurrect such an obsolete usage for many decades to come...

 

[Mustapha]

I think you have the location right. About a year ago a buried fuel tank was discovered behind the Homesense (Brewster's wife's favourite shopping location) that probably had something to do with the aerodrome.

The historic plaque for the 'first airmail delivery' was moved from in front of one of the apartment buildings on Eglinton up to Broadway & Brentcliffe - not sure what that means as far as the aerodrome location was concerned.

http://www.torontohistory.org/Pages_ABC/Canadas_First_Air_Mail.html
http://www.lostrivers.ca/points/LeasideAirfield.htm

http://donwatcher.blogspot.com/2010/08/fuel-spill-in-don.html

 

[HamiltonTransitHistory]

Great set. Too bad you can't just type in Series 65 and get all the results.

No, but you can access series 65 only.

Series 65 is part of fonds 220

scroll down to "record consists of", click browse, then when the new window opens, scroll down and click on the little cross next to series 65 to view all files in that series.

 

[Goldie]

Then. mattelderca, donoreo, Anna and Goldie beat me to it. Here's my late contribution to the Leaside Aerodrome conversation.

Leaside 'Aerodrome'. One of a number of small rough airfields that dotted Toronto in the early days of aviation when cloth, wood and wire construction planes flew lower and slower and didn't require miles of concrete runway, and the skies weren't filled with airliners themselves filled with Moore Park high schoolers returning from trips to the Galapagos and retirees in Tilley clothing flying to nowhere in particular getting in their way. Canada Wire and Cable corporate office in the distance fronting onto Laird (with factory trailing behind it) . We are looking W. I wonder if the owners of the first homes developed just W of Laird complained about the noise. The air cooled rotary engines of these early aircraft were decidedly not quiet.

Now. July 2011. We are looking W along Wicksteed towards Laird in the distance.

Aerial view here:

http://www.angelfire.com/ca/TORONTO/history/56leaside.html

Good work, Mustapha!
And thanks for adding that aerial of the area to our collection.
Isn't it odd though, that there's no sight of any planes or hangers in the vicinity of the airfield?
Perhaps that angled building at the back of CW&C is a hanger.

 

[Anna]

Good work, Mustapha!
And thanks for adding that aerial of the area to our collection.
Isn't it odd though, that there's no sight of any planes or hangers in the vicinity of the airfield?
Perhaps that angled building at the back of CW&C is a hanger.

A hangar?

 

[someMidTowner]

Has anyone done a then and now of the old canada post delivery building/air canada centre? if not it would be awesome to see one. having trouble finding a picture of the old building pre-acc

 

[brewster]

No, but you can access series 65 only.

Series 65 is part of fonds 220

scroll down to "record consists of", click browse, then when the new window opens, scroll down and click on the little cross next to series 65 to view all files in that series.

Thanks for the tip H.T.H. and yes it is one of her favorite waste of time's Mustapha but I like to call it Nonsense.