Rare Maps of Toronto

[thecharioteer]

The evolution of the shoreline (and built-up areas), from a series of four 1957 City of Toronto Planning Board maps:

1780:

1850:

1890:

1920:

 

[Goldie]

Interesting Goldie. Where this railway crosses a river in Thompson Park should be worth a look to see if there is any evidence of a bridge.

Here's where the RR crossed the river in Thomson Park c.1900.

And here's the same bridge in 2004.

Today the RR right-of-way (in Thomson Park) is a walkway.

 

[mattelderca]

This is a wonderful map and, fortunately, contains evidence of the abandoned RR line that I have been interested in for many years.
Long ago, I discovered an abandoned right-of-way that ran through Scarborough and was visible on Ellesmere.
On this detail of the map, I have circled the spot where the CNoR line once crossed Ellesmere Rd.
The "Then & Now" photos shows how part of the abandoned RR was finally used for housing.

Goldie,
Look at this row of town homes, they seem to follow the right of way. As do many of the houses and lots along the path. Very neat find, and a very interesting map to download.

 

[DSCToronto]

Does anyone have a map, or maps, showing clearly the buildings (and streets) that used to be west of Jarvis and south of Adelaide in what is now the eastern section of St James' Park?

From maps in mid-19th century the park around the cathedral ran only to about the north/south mid-point of the current park. The current houses at corner of King and Jarvis are the last ones left and I think they also originally went a bit further west along King Street.

 

[Edward Skira]

^ I do but somewhere in storage.

 

[Anna]

Does anyone have a map, or maps, showing clearly the buildings (and streets) that used to be west of Jarvis and south of Adelaide in what is now the eastern section of St James' Park?

From maps in mid-19th century the park around the cathedral ran only to about the north/south mid-point of the current park. The current houses at corner of King and Jarvis are the last ones left and I think they also originally went a bit further west along King Street.

Yes there used to be buildings along the north side of King east of Jarvis and almost all the way to the church. What time frame do you want?- the Toronto Archives site has Goad maps up to 1924 and a 1950's survey map that shows what was on the site then.

 

[Anna]

p.s. here's a photo from 1923

 

[thecharioteer]

Does anyone have a map, or maps, showing clearly the buildings (and streets) that used to be west of Jarvis and south of Adelaide in what is now the eastern section of St James' Park?

From maps in mid-19th century the park around the cathedral ran only to about the north/south mid-point of the current park. The current houses at corner of King and Jarvis are the last ones left and I think they also originally went a bit further west along King Street.

Here you go from the TPL, 1892:

 

[DSCToronto]

Here you go from the TPL, 1892:

Thanks, I had found a couple of earlier ones (1858) but they did not have much detail. Any idea when the Park was expanded, 1950s??

 

[the lemur]

It looks like Commercial St and Francis St were still there in the 1950s, at least:

http://torontoist.com/2011/11/the-evolving-landscape-of-st-james-park/20111124map/

 

[the lemur]

I'd like to thank thecharioteer for finding and posting all these maps. I've become obsessed with former street plans of the city since finding a map from the early 1900s and this thread is like a goldmine. I love seeing the evolution of the city, especially the streets that appear and disappear, the ones that become dead-ended or disconnected when a major road like Mount Pleasant or Bayview gets pushed through, and the countless name changes.

And of course the fact that so many maps say 'shewn' and 'shewing'

 

[the lemur]

Here's something slightly different - a postal map of the city from 1925, well before postal codes were introduced. Given how difficult it seems for Canada Post to deliver mail accurately even with those codes, I'm sometimes tempted to start writing 'Toronto 6', etc., on envelopes.

One thing I can't quite figure out is at the northern boundary of district 13. About halfway between Vic Park and Birchmount (i.e., east of Pharmacy), there is a N-S street marked Edgerly. However, modern maps show a North and South Edgely, bisected by the rail line, but it is east of Birchmount.

Is the 'Max' shown actually the current Mack Ave? Where did 'Hillcrest' run?

Any ideas?

 

[r937]

... especially the streets that appear and disappear

i know what you mean

speaking of mount pleasant road...

in the "vale of avoca" (david balfour park), are not one but two former roads that crossed the ravine and are now practically gone, one (rosehill avenue) just east of the rosehill reservoir, and the other (summerhill avenue) that originally connected the now separate west and east parts of summerhill avenue

i enjoy exploring old roads like these, to see what remains of them, if anything

rosehill avenue is still quite evident, but summerhill's descent down the western ravine slope is completely gone

the following map is from the lovely booklet "Historical Walking Tour of Deer Park" by Joan Kinsella -- item 10 is the rosehill reservoir

 

[Anna]

Thanks, I had found a couple of earlier ones (1858) but they did not have much detail. Any idea when the Park was expanded, 1950s??

Just a guess but I would say the 1960's – any buildings in the north east corner of the block would have been demolished when Adelaide was connected up with Duke St as part of the construction of the DVP – which was around the same time a whole bunch of buildings in that area were torn down in the interests of 'urban renewal'. It was discussed a while back in this thread.
http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/showthread.php/9241-More-Lost-Toronto-in-colour?p=310036#post310036

 

[the lemur]

Excellent map! Thanks for sharing.

How old is that booklet? I didn't know there was a period when Summerhill still crossed the ravine (although it seems the railway line separated it into two parts on the west side) after Mt Pleasant had been built through the area.

On this map (1908), it appears Rose Hill Ave (which also included the current Avoca Ave) continued across the ravine to another section (now Inglewood Ave) to connect at the south end of Constance (now Clifton Rd). Pleasant Ave (now Blvd), even though it didn't yet extend east to Rose Hill, did continue on the other side of the ravine using the same name (now Glenrose).

http://maps.library.utoronto.ca/datapub/digital/gta1908.jpg

I do a lot of exploring too and my main questions when comparing old maps with current ones are 'why did they cut off/extend that road?' and 'why did they change the name?'.