Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

[Uncle Teddy]

Quite amazing that the block survived considering what happened around it.

 

[Blovertis]

Thank you Charioteer. By God, that was a good series. It's clear we came that close to losing it completely in the 1970s.

I wonder if the claim in the real estate sign is true--that it's the only remaining building from the original Town of York (1793-1834) site.

 

[thecharioteer]

Thank you Charioteer. By God, that was a good series. It's clear we came that close to losing it completely in the 1970s.

I wonder if the claim in the real estate sign is true--that it's the only remaining building from the original Town of York (1793-1834) site.

Depends if you use 1834 as the cut-off date. The Bishop house on the SE corner of Adelaide and Sherbourne date from 1842, but they replaced the Custom House of 1828:

1885:

1933:

Now:

http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/showthread.php/9722-My-Toronto/page51

 

[thecharioteer]

The Daniel Brooke Building from 1833 at King and Jarvis would definitely qualify:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Brooke_Building

1970's:

 

[adma]

Re survivors from the Town of York: remember that dating and research was still often iffy as late as the 70s--in fact IIRC the Brooke Building was long thought to be c1850 (i.e. post-1849 Great Fire)

 

[thecharioteer]

The other thing to note is that the north side of Adelaide (formerly Duke Street) was not part of the original 10 blocks of the Town of York, as seen in the Smith Plan of 1797:

http://oldtorontomaps.blogspot.ca/2013/01/1797-smith-plan-for-enlargement-of-york.html

Or further back, the 1793 Aitken Plan:

http://oldtorontomaps.blogspot.ca/2013/01/1793-aitken-plan-of-york-harbour.html

 

[thecharioteer]

Queen and Bond 1917. E.J. Lennox's Victoria Orange Hall (1878) is in the centre of the pic:

1970's:

The Victoria Orange Hall (Queen Street elevation):

(thanks, wwwebster)

1875: The site of the Victoria Orange Hall is in the lower right hand corner (the north-south street which runs between Queen and Richmond is Berti Street):

 

[the lemur]

The Bank of Upper Canada Building, NE corner of Adelaide Street East and George Street:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_Upper_Canada

1970's:

View attachment 17571

No earlier than 1979, the year Ladas began to be imported.

 

[Mustapha]

Queen and Bond 1917. E.J. Lennox's Victoria Orange Hall (1878) is in the centre of the pic:



1875: The site of the Victoria Orange Hall is in the lower right hand corner (the north-south street which runs between Queen and Richmond is Berti Street):

I was in this section of downtown today. And I had my camera handy.

There are some relics from long demolished neighbours of Orange Hall.

On the west side of Berti:

A couple of blocks to the south; the coat of arms from the General Post Office, which looked down Toronto Street from Adelaide Street, demolished in 1958, now hidden in plain sight as it were, on Lombard. ['Just move it around back boys.']

 

[Mustapha]

He-eeey boys and girls. Time for another drag on Mustapha's magical back-in-time ciggy [cue sitar music].



Let's go back to the early 1970s and have a look at the demolition of the Ford Hotel on the NE corner of Dundas and Bay.

 

[ShonTron]

Interesting stuff! I love how you got the nose of the streetcar in the first photo match of the tear-down of the Ford Hotel.

As for "Deeds Speak" - that's interesting. I know York Region Police uses it as their motto (not a bad one for a police service, IMO), but didn't realize that it went back all the way to the motto of York County. Toronto was the county seat of York County until it was completely separated after the creation of Metropolitan Toronto in 1953. Newmarket became the new county seat (and remains the administrative and judicial centre of York Region, the successor to York County).

 

[Goldie]

Yes - nice placement of streetcars - I wonder where "Desire" is today.

Are there any repurposed streetcars in the GTA today?

 

[thecharioteer]

Re: the Registry Office (1875-1917) on the NE corner of Richmond & Berti:

1915 (TPL):

Inside the old Registry Building:

Site later occupied by this building (on the right) in the 60's:

 

[adma]

Let me guess--the last photo relates to the Confederation Life fire of 1981?

 

[thecharioteer]

Let me guess--the last photo relates to the Confederation Life fire of 1981?

Yep. There are a series in the Naylor fonds under Richmond Street.