(6 College £Treet

Historical Walking Tour of Kensin~ton Market (6 College £treet

Barbara Myrvold

T~Toronto Public Library

~. . Historical Walking Tour of Kensington Market and College Street

Barbara Myrvold

Toronto Public Library Board Published with the assistance of Reflections '92 Ontario Ministry of Culture and Communications

1 Prefa< This v. memo' tonM: erston ested' Rosem Info amgn inforrr chives City of Archiv

Kidd, I ISBN 0-920601-20-0 chives Copyright © 1993 Toronto Public Library Board Jutras 281 Front St. E. Toronto, Ontario M5A 4L2 Anne, Hospit Designed by Linda Goldman Metro] Printed and bound in Canada by City of Toronto Printing Unit missio ski, B~ Cover lliustration Unite( Kensington Market, Kensington Avenue, 1924. Cultur MTLT 11552 James A half-tone block taken from this photograph appeared in the cal Bo: Toronto Globe, 18 July 1924 (p. 9), with the caption: "Old World who pl scenes of Kensington Avenue, in the heart of Toronto's Jewish Alfred section, where every Thursday a market is held, with every variety of fruit and vegetables dear to the hearts of its patrons and by on sale from shop and wagon." S1 thewa Title Page Illustration Spa dina Avenue Senior Applique wall hanging by Linda Goldman, 1987 CantOl Courtesy of Baycrest Hospital for Geriatric Care Lillian the WE Key to Abbreviations in Picture Credits locatin AO Archives of Ontario tion a! CTA City of Toronto Archives Henry MTRL Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library architE TPL-SLHC Toronto Public Library Sanderson Branch, Westel Local History Collection TPLA Toronto Public Library Archives graph~ I ~ expert acknO\ Comm tions '~ Barba! Toront 2 Preface This walking tour is part of the Toronto 200 celebrations, which com­ memorate the founding of York, now Toronto. It covers the Kensing­ ton Market area, and College Street between Major Street and Palm­ erston Boulevard. It does not include Spadina Avenue; those inter­ ested in learning more about that fascinating street should consult Rosemary Donegan's excellent book, Spadina Avenue. Information for the walking tour was derived from many sources. I am grateful to the staff at the following institutions who kindly shared information and images with me: Christine Niarchos-Bourolias, Ar­ chives of Ontario; Elizabeth Cutherbertson and Steve MacKinnon, City ofToronto Archives; Stephen Speisman, Ontario Jewish Congress Archives; Alan Walker, Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library; Kristin Kidd, The Toronto Hospital; Betty Gibb, Toronto Public Library Ar­ chives; Diane Gilday, The Hospital for Sick Children Archives; France Jutras, Bell Canada Telephone Historical Collection; Sister Thelma Anne, Sisters of St. John the Divine; Fiona McGoldrick, Doctors Hospital; Captain Flo. Curzon, Salvation Army Heritage Centre; Metropolitan Toronto Archives; Ted Wickson, Toronto Transit Com­ mission Archives; JeffTherrien, Toronto Fire Department; MattSzybal­ ski, Bank of Nova Scotia Archives; Rev. Ralph Spence, College Street United Church; the staff at Latvian House and Latvian Canadian Cultural Centre; Judith Colwell, Baptist Church Archives; and Scott James, Richard Stomberg and Marianne Beamish of Toronto Histori­ cal Board. I also appreciate the time given to me by Margaret Machell, who provided information on her grandfather, Dr. H. T. Machell; by Alfred Holden, who shared his extensive knowledge of street lighting; and by Robert Fulton, who helped with the subdivisions and surveys. Staff at Toronto Public Library were instrumental in organizing the walkingtour and producingthe booklet. Thanks to Linda Goldman, Senior Staff Artist, for designing the book; Karen Fleming and Jeffrey Canton, Programme Coordinators for their planning and promotion; Lillian Salmon, Publicity Assistant, for editing the text and promoting the walk; Jim Montgomery and Barry Gray, Sanderson Library, for locating pictures and information in the branch's local history collec­ tion and sharing their knowledge of the community; and Margaret Henry, Community Information Coordinator, for interpreting the architecture. Herta Ziemann, a cooperative education student from Western Technical School, is congratulated for her excellent photo­ graphs, and for her tireless research and running around. I am grateful to Margaret Visser, local resident and food history expert, who led the inaugural walk on 16 May 1993. Appreciative acknowledgement is given to the Ontario Ministry of Culture and Communications who provided Toronto Public Library with a Reflec­ tions '92 grant for this project. Barbara Myrvold Toronto, May 1993 3 The Kensington and College Street Area: esta An Historical Overview tend Lip}: Early owners and subdivisions, 1793-1860 look Sca( The Kensington - College Street area was originally part of a string of [QUI IOO-acre "park lots." Thirty of these 1/8 mile-wide parcels were laid out Col. from today's Queen Street, north 11/4 miles to the present Bloor Street. in-tl John Graves Simcoe, first lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, granted weS1 the park lots to his official and personal entourage, as compensation for sub( having to move to the new capital at York, established in 1793. Simcoe narr envisioned that the park lots would be developed as English-style cott, country estates, setting the stage for a landed aristocracy. Few of the lots, '] though, were developed in this way. Most of the enterprising owners belo divided and sold the properties, especially after York grew into the city Ne~ of Toronto in 1834. farn Park lot 14, between today's Beverley and Huron streets, was granted farn to Peter Russell. He had been appointed receiver-general of the province pres in 1792 and, after Simcoe's departure, was its administrator (or chief the executive officer to use today's terminology) from 1796 until 1799. sub( Russell quickly established a farm, Petersfield, on his park lot. In 1798 purl he built a comfortable house a little north ofthe modern Soho Street, and east by the next year had cleared about 30 acres. John Denison, a friend of mag Russell's from Yorkshire, England, managed Petersfield and lived on the nort property; under his care it became a profitable farm operation. Russell 185: expanded his holdings in the early 1800s with the purchase of the in 1 adjoining two park lots to the west. In 1822 all three park lots (14, 15, buil and 16), stretching between the present Beverley and Augusta streets, city were inherited by Russell's cousins, Maria and Phoebe, the Willcocks sisters. The sole executor of the vast estate was Phoebe's husband, Dr. Gr( William Warren Baldwin. In the 1820s, Dr. Baldwin, who practised law as well as medicine and, Itw occasionally architecture, began carvingup the park lots for a residential buil district south of Bloor Street. Spadina Avenue was laid out as the central mar thoroughfare with a double width of 132 ft. (later extended to 160 ft.) and dOZE an ornamental garden crescent above College Street. The proposed tree­ stre lined avenue also would give a pleasant view from the Baldwin estate, pate Spadina, perched on the top of Davenport Hill. Historian Austin Seton duri Thompson described the scheme as, "an imaginative piece of planning in elitE those days and lent attraction to the district for purposes of subdivision Tor. and sale." Patricia McHugh observed in Toronto Architecture: "The side for 1 streets, though at right angles to one another, broke with the even grid sma of most city streets and stopped dead-end or jogged, forming interesting mer blocks of unequal size." Baldwin named the streets for family members: thel Robert, Phoebe, Sullivan, and Willcocks. wes In 1815, park lot 17 and the east half of no. 18 were purchased by rec€ George Taylor Denison, the eldest son of John Denison, Peter Russell's The 4 estate manager. The 156-acre parcel adjoined Petersfield, and ex­ tended from the modern streets of Queen to Bloor between Major and Lippincott. Denison immediately constructed "a large white, cheery­ looking abode" in the middle of the property. Belle Vue was situated, Scadding recalled, "lying far back but pleasantly visible from Lot of [Queen] Street through a long vista of over-hanging trees." His heir, ut Col. Robert Denison donated land and building funds for St. Stephen­ ~t. in-the-Fields; when it opened in 1858, it was the first Toronto church ed west of Spadina Avenue. At mid-century, the Denisons began to 'or subdivide their holdings into building lots. Like the Baldwins, they oe named the streets for family associations: Denison, Bellevue, Lippin­ ,Ie cott, Borden, and Major. ts, The last three park lots in this area, the west half of 18, 19 and 20, rs belonged to George Crookshank, a member of a Loyalist family from ty New York, who had come to York in 1796. Crookshank established a farm on his park lots, and sometime before the War of 1812 built a ed farmhouse in the middle of the property. Crookshank's Lane, the ce present Bathurst Street, was a semi-private thoroughfare connecting ief the farm with York. The property was sold in 1851 and began to be 19. subdivided shortly thereafter. Casimir Gzowski, a Polish nobleman, 98 purchased a seven-acre parcel fronting Bathurst Street at the south­ 1d east corner of the present Dundas Street, where he constructed a of magnificentbuffbrick mansion, The Hall, in 1858. His neighbour to the he north was James MacDonell whose fine house, Willows, was built in ~ll 1853 on large grounds. A subdivision called Seaton Square was laid out he in 1854 on part of the old Crookshank farm. Plan 93 laid out 328 5, building lots and several new streets from College Street to the north cs, city limits (Bloor Street) between Lippincott and Hope (now Manning). ks )r. Growth and Development, 1860-1900

.d, It was some years later, though, before these early subdivisions were .al built upon and occupied. John Ross Robertson recalled in his Land­ 'al marks that in the early 1870s, "Spadina avenue had not more than two 1d dozen houses upon its length north of Queen street, while College

~e- street, west of Spadina, was thickly interspersed with gardens, corn ;e, patches and vacant land." (College Street had been laid out in part :m during the 1840s as a generous boulevard for mansions of the city's ln elite. It was extended in the 1870s as a narrower, more typically )n Toronto street.) Apparently Robert Brittain Denison had so few offers de for his estate lots at $350 a piece, that he split each of them into three id smaller lots, setting the precedent for the area's high density develop­ 19 ment. During the 1870s, "mechanics and labouring people," many of ·s: them immigrants from the British Isles, began to settle in the north­ west suburbs. Mansfield Street, near College and Grace streets, was a by receiving centre for many ofthe destitute Irish of the 1870s and 1880s. l's These new residents established churches (e.g. College Street Presby- 5 terian and College Street Baptist), and began to be provided with city services. Bathurst Street School (renamed King Edward in 1902) sett opened at the northeast corner of College and Bathurst in 1872 with 300 mOl pupils. The fire hall at College and Bellevue was built in 1878. SP2 The 1880s saw a building boom in the area. By its peak in 1889, an most of the residential districts on either side of College to Bathurst Ker were built up or were under constructirlO. "The houses were stylistically hac eclectic, progressing through and mixing the panoply of Victorian 35,1 designs," observed architectural historian Patricia McHugh. Prosper­ ove ous middle-class families moved on to local streets such as Bellevue where they lived in large, architect-designed homes. Working class ize families lived close by. Though varied in economic level, the area, like (no most of Toronto, was solidly British in character. College Street was Ins almost completely surveyed, subdivided and paved during the decade. AVE Although many of the blocks fronting on College were vacant, several three-storey commerciallresidential buildings were constructed along Po~ the thoroughfare. anE Local services also grew during the 1880s. The Toronto Street oft Railway started horse-drawn streetcar service up Spadina Avenue, and the along College to Bathurst in 1880. The route was extended to Seaton we] Village at Bloor and Bathurst in 1885, and electrified in 1893. St. John's we~ Hospital for Women opened in 1885 on Euclid Street and moved to a con larger building on Major Street four years later. Lansdowne (now Lord We Lansdowne) School opened on Spadina Crescent in March 1888. It was Lai intensely crowded with 945 students in 12 rooms. Building and new services almost ceased in the 1890s when the country was thrown into Co a deep economic depression. Du Immigrant Reception Area, 1900 - present the cor At the beginning of the 1900s, the area changed dramatically and rer swiftly. Many who could afford it began moving away, mostly to the pre suburbs north of Bloor, or to the new, predominately Anglo-Saxon me enclaves of Euclid Avenue and Palmerston Boulevard. The grand old Ca estates disappeared. Belle Vue was torn down in 1889. Willows became rna Toronto Western Hospital in 1899. The Hall was sold to the city of An Toronto in 1904; Alexandra Park was created and Lady Gzowski moved cor to Rosedale. College Street became lined with commercial buildings for during a second boom that peaked in 1912. To The district became an immigrant reception area. In the 1890s and to I early 1900s, the city's Italian population began moving out of the Ward, sUI the area bounded by Queen, Yonge, College and University, to the del neighbourhood around College and Grace streets. By 1916, Toronto's ter second Little Italy boasted its own Catholic church (St. Agnes on Grace loc Street), a Methodist meeting place, a steamship agency, a real estate Ju office, as well as several small grocery stores. om

6 Toronto's Eastern European Jewish community also began to re­ settle westward from the Ward in the early 1900s. The more affluent moved east of Spadina; the less prosperous to the streets west of Spadina. Stephen Speisman notes, "By the end ofthe First World War, an outdoor market had begun to develop on the western streets - Kensington, Augusta, Baldwin, Nassau - and a shtetl atmosphere ... had been created." About 80 percent of the city's Jewish population of 35,000 lived in and around Kensington by the 1920s, worshipping at over 30 local synagogues. Several settlement houses were established to assist and accultur­ ize newcomers. St. Christopher House was opened in 1912 on Bellevue (now Wales) Avenue by the Presbyterian Church. The Nathanael Institute, a mission of the Anglican Church, moved into 91 Bellevue Avenue in 1916 to "work among the Jews" in the city. The process of change accelerated after the Second World War. Postwar immigration brought large numbers of Ukrainians, Hungari­ ans, Italians and Portuguese to the neighbourhood. In the 1960s many ofthe area's residents moved north and west, leaving Portuguese from the Azores the neighbourhood's dominant ethnic group. They, in turn, were joined by the Chinese in the 1970s, as Chinatown expanded westward. Kensington's role as Toronto's immigrant reception area continued throughout the '70s and '80s as successive waves of East and West Indians, Koreans, Vietnamese, Filipinos, and Spanish-speaking Latin Americans moved into the neighbourhood.

Community Planning, 1960 - Present

During the 1960s, various levels of government became interested in the area, and at the same time local residents became much more community minded. Alexandra Park underwent a massive "urban renewal" program in 1967-9, meant to wipe out downtown decay and provide needed low-income housing. The 18-acre, 430 unit develop­ ment covered the area from Queen to Dundas between Augusta and Cameron. Urban planners consider the project a success, with its moderate-scale buildings, winding "Main Street" and landscaping. Another urban renewal plan was proposed for the Kensington area, but community opposition to the wholesale demolitions and expropriations forced the federal government to cancel the project in September 1969. Toronto Western Hospital had to modify its expansion plans in response to local opposition in the 1970s. The Sussex-Ulster community was less successful in curbing Doctors Hospital's redevelopment proposals a decade later. The proposed Spadina Expressway, which would have ex­ tended Spadina Road from Bloor Street to Wilson Avenue, also caused local concern, until the provincial government cancelled the project in June 1971. A light rapid transit system for Spadina Avenue was rec­ ommended instead; it is yet to be completed.

7 1. Belle Vue, home of George Taylor Denison Denison Square, northeast corner of Bellevue Avenue. Stood ca. 1815-1890/1.

George Taylor Deni son (1783-1853) was of Queen to Bloor between Major and a leading member of one of the city's Lippincott. Denison immediately con­ most powerful and affiuent early fami­ structed "a large white, cheery-looking lies. From his Belle Vue estate he de­ abode" to house his growing family - he voted himself to the traditional Denison eventually had 13 children of whom activities of military service (his regi­ eight survived infancy. The house was ment drilled on what is now Bellevue situated, Scadding recalled, "lying far Square), the Anglican Church, local back but pleasantly visible from Lot politics, and horse breeding. And "from [Queen] Street through a long vista of old Belle Vue," Toronto historian Henry over-hanging trees." Today's Denison! Scadding observed, the Denisons "spread Bellevue Avenue was originally a car­ populous colonies at Dovercourt, Rush­ riage drive up to the house. Lucy Booth olme, and elsewhere." Martyn described Belle Vue in detail in Belle The Denisons had little money, Toronto 100 Years of Grandeur: though, when they were persuaded to emigrate to Upper Canada from York­ Belle Vue was typical ofthe shire in 1792 by their friend Peter Loyalist Georgian style ofarchi­ Russell, successor to John Graves tecture popular in Upper Can­ Simcoe as administrator of the prov­ ada at this time. A rectangle ince. But their fortunes began to rise wi th a narrow cornice, its wide after they came to York (Toronto) in front displayed a balanced 1796 where John Denison, George's symmetry - five windows of father, successfully managed Russell's twenty small panes each in the farm, Petersfield. For this he was re­ second storey, and two longer warded not only with social connections, windows of twenty-four panes but also with land grants which he each on each side of the front augmented with large properties pur­ door in the lower storey. All chased in west Toronto and Weston. windows had dark green shut­ George Taylor Denison inherited ters, a pleasant contrast to the the bulk of his father's estate in 1824. white roughcast of the walls. He combined this with another huge in­ Belle Vue's four sides faced heritance, from his first father-in-law, squarely to the points of the Captain Richard Li ppincott (1745-1826), compass, said to be the only the dowries of four wives, and good house in Toronto so built. The management to become one of the front door of the house faced wealthiest landowners in Upper Can­ due south and the back due ada. At his death, his estate was pro­ north. bated in excess of £200,000, a substan­ tial fortune even by present standards. Even before his death, George Denison George Taylor Denison had been began to subdivide and sell the Belle married for nine years to his first wife Vue property. Parts remained in the Esther Borden Lippincott, when in 1815 family until 1889,just before the house he purchased park lot 17 and half of 18. itself was demolished. The 156-acre parcel adjoined Petersfield, and extended from the modern streets 8 d 1-

r­ ;h .n Belle Vue, ca. 1885.

on lIe he .se

George Taylor Denison (1783-1853)

9 2. Kiever Synagogue (Rodfei Sholom Anshei Kiev) 3. 28 Denison Square, northeast corner of Bellevue Avenue. B. Swartz, 1926. 29

Perhaps nothing better symbolizes the changing nature of the Kensington area than this site. Once the location ofBelle Vue, the grand manor of the pioneer Denison family, the view up Bellevue Avenue now is dominated by the exotic synagogue ofthe First Russian Congre­ gation Rodfei Sholom Anshei Kiev ("Pursuers of Peace, Men of Kiev"). The congregation was established in 1913 by Ukrainian Jews who had escaped from Czarist Russia. At this time, Toronto's Jewish community was mov­ ing out of the Ward into the streets around Spadina Avenue. Eventually as many as 30 synagogues were located in the area, each used by a group from a particular part of Europe. Several were built in the 1920s and early 1930s. Anshei Minsk, a Russian Romanesque structure at 10 St. Andrews Street, was Kiever Synagogue, 3 March 1993. finished in 1930; regular services are still held there. tive extended parapet, and four differ­ The Kiever Synagogue not only is ent styles of arched windows. Although one of the few synagogues still operat­ the double entrances to the building are ing in the neighbourhood, but also located on the south facade, the hall of remains virtually in its original condi­ worship faces east as tradition demands. tion, thanks to a restoration project by (The Minsker synagogue uses a similar the Ontario Jewish Archives Founda­ arrangement.) The interior is domi­ tion. The Kiever congregation followed nated by a monumental handcarved the path blazed in 1922 at the Beth Holy Ark. It also exhibits features of a Jacob synagogue on Henry Street where, typical Orthodox synagogue of the pe­ historian Stephen Speisman noted in riod: a central bimah (readers platform) The Jews of Toronto, "the congregation with frame for a huppa (wedding can­ CIl had enough confidence in Jewish pro­ opy), and a woman's gallery. It is deco­ fessional and scientific ability to employ rated with numerous brass ornaments Wf a Jewish architect to design the build­ as well as handpaintings depicting the wa ing." signs ofthe zodiac and biblical animals. OpE Architect B. Swartz designed Kiever The Keiver Synagogue was desig­ ail Synagogue with a middle eastern char­ nated by Toronto City Council under bUl acter. He incorporated many dramatic the Ontario Heritage Act on 14 May ca. features on the red-brick exterior in­ 1979. It was the first building ofJewish hal eluding twin Byzantine-style domes, significance in the province to be so des­ sta pastel and white trim colours, a decora- ignated. ani 10 3. Charles R. Peterkin House 29 Wales Avenue, southwest corner of Denison Avenue. 1884.

Charles R. Peterkin's first house on Bellevue Place (now Wales Avenue), ca. 1880.

'- h e If I. r ,- d a

1- Charles R. Peterkin's second house, 29 Wales Avenue, 20 February 1993. .- s Wales Avenue, or Bellevue Place as it wooden turnings of the porch illustrate e was called until 1931, began to be devel­ the skills of his trade. Peter.kjn lived in I. oped in the 1870s. Charles R. Peterkin, the house until ca. 1910. By the early a fledging lumber dealer, moved into a 1920s, it was owned by a member of the r bungalow on the south side of the street Kiever congregation, and sometimes y ca. 1876. Eight years later he built a services were held in the house while h handsome house of his own, which still the synagogue was being built across i- stands at the southwest corner of Wales the park. and Denison avenues. The intricate 11 4. St. Christopher House 5. 67 Wales Avenue, opposite Leonard Avenue. Stood 1912-73. 39~

Tm Th, siOI sev wa: oft Th, pat firE In Well- baby clinic at St. Christopher House, 14 September 1914. sig $H We mo 39i ren pat opE tra Opened on this site in 1912, St. Christo­ letic games. Over the years many social wa: pher House was the model for a series of workers trained here have gone on to onE settlement houses established by the assume national prominence in their ter Presbyterian Church across Canada in profession. Now located nearby, St. apI the early 1900s. The centre was founded Christopher House continues its lead­ to alleviate some of the urban ills posed ing role as an innovator of community ces by rapid industrialization and rising services and advocate for recent immi­ wa: immigration at a time before munici­ grants and minority groups. Str palities were active in such matters. in : Programmes included literacy courses, Text from Toronto Historical Board ofi social clubs, well-baby clinics and ath- . plaque, 1988. in ' 12 Tm 5. The Toronto Hospital. Western Division 399 Bathurst Street, northeast corner of Dundas Street.

Toronto Western Hospital. ca. 1920.

Toronto Western Hospital (now called large grounds surrounding it were cov­ The Toronto Hospital, Western Divi­ ered with willow trees. The old brick sion) had its beginnings in 1894 when house was renovated for patients, but several west- end doctors met to find a before long more space was needed. A way to establish a hospital for that part long tent with a concrete floor was set up of the city. They were all on the staffof on the front lawn. Women patients The Western Free Dispensary, an out­ were placed at one end, and men at the patient clinic for needy patients located other. The tent was made of two walls of first on Bathurst, then on Euclid Street. canvas and heated in the winter with In December 1895, 12 of the doctors steam pipes. It was so popular that signed a prescription sheet pledging smaller tents were added in the sum­ $100 each "for the maintenance of the mer. Western Hospital $10 down and $5 per Under the leadership of Dr. John month (as required}." A double house at Ferguson (1850-1939) - one of the origi­ 393 and 395 Manning Avenue was nal12 doctors - and through the gener­ rented, and made into wards for 30 osity of David Fasken, a wealthy insur­ patients. Toronto Western Hospital ance executive who was the hospital's opened on 1 January 1896; by Maya honourary president from 1908 to 1929, training program for nurses was under­ a proper hospital opened in November way. Dr. Augusta Stowe Gullen, wife of 1911. (Willows continued to be used

) one of the founding doctors and daugh­ for the care of patients until ca. 1918 r ter of Canada's first woman doctor, was when the structure was demolished.) appointedtotheconsultingstaffin 1899. Over the years the hospital has The hospital was an immediate suc­ grown enormously. Numerous build­ cess, and in 1899 a large private home ings and wings have been added to make was acquired on the east side ofBathurst the huge complex that stands today at Street just south ofN assau Street. Built 399 Bathurst Street. The 660-bed in 1853 by James MacDonell, collector Toronto Western Hospital merged with of inland revenue, Willows had been the 1,000-bed Toronto General Hospital in its day one of the finest houses in on 30 October 1986 to become The Toronto. It was so named because the Toronto Hospital. 13 6. Charles R. Sanderson Branch Toronto Public Library 7. 327 Bathurst Street, southeast corner of Dundas Street. 1968, Pentland, Baker & Polson, architects. Addition of Scadding Court Community Centre, 1978; Casey and Dunker Architects.

c' e o 1;. lit' v. n p tl

a J, tl tl tl Sanderson Library, 1968. e:

'--..- tl Toronto Public Library's service to this ment urban renewal project in the 1960s, G community began in 1917 when Lillian TPL leased a site at the Bathurst, h H. Smith, head of children's services, Dundas and Scadding Court triangle for Cl visited St. Christopher House and ar­ a new boys and girls library. Charles R. ranged an indefinite loan of several Sanderson Memorial Branch was offi­ a dozen new books. In 1920, Miss Smith cially opened on 27 September 1968 by cl planned a children's library room for Mayor William Dennison. It was named tl the House, and a librarian was sent one in honour of Dr. Charles R. Sanderson a: afternoon a week for a story-hour. TPL (1887-1956), TPL's chieflibrarian from J, reported in 1926, "The circulation of 1937 to 1956. The new library included w 25,000 at St. Christopher's challenges hooks, records, paperbacks, and even a S that of three of our smaller branches. colour TV, and featured floor to ceiling l' The children crowd to these Settlement windows looking out onto a patio and a li libraries, which are in the heart of the sculpture, "Fort for Children" by Peter VI foreign districts, and no advertisement Sager. t< is needed." Eventually TPL also opened In 1978, Sanderson Branch was en­ 0 1 children's libraries in local schools, such larged so that adult collections and CC as Niagara Street and St. Marys. services could be provided. The expan­ t< In 1959, TPL amalgamated these sion was part of the Scadding Court g' services in a boys and girls library called Centre project, the first cooperative ef­ Manning Avenue, opened that Septem­ fort between the Toronto Department of J, ber in a two-storey building located on Parks and Recreation, the Board of g the grounds of the Charles G. Fraser Education, and the Library Board to h School. When Alexandra Park was provide integrated community facilities. J, redeveloped in a massive tri-govern- a 14 7. Kensington Market

Kensington Market is a vibrant, multi­ brought large numbers of Portuguese, cultural shopping area packed into sev­ Ukrainians, Hungarians, and Italians eral streets west of Spadina and south to the neighbourhood, adding to the of College: Augusta, Baldwin, Kensing­ market's international flavour. In the ton, St. Andrews and Nassau. The 1960s, Portuguese from the Azores be­ Market owes its existence to successive came the area's dominant ethnic group. waves of immigrant populations de­ They, in turn, were joined by the Chi­ manding specialty goods at reasonable nese in the 1970s, as Chinatown ex­ prices. It has al ways been dominated by panded westward. Kensington's role as the small, independent storekeeper. Toronto's immigrant reception area Kensington Market was started as continued throughout the '70s and '80s an outdoor market in the early 1900s by as successive waves of East and West Jewish merchants who were movinginto Indians, Koreans, Vietnamese, Filipi­ the area from the Ward. Excluded from nos, and Spanish-speaking Latin Ameri­ the Anglo-Saxon business community, cans moved into the area, and opened these newcomers initially sold goods to stores and restaurants in the Market. each other from handcarts pushed In the 1980s, young merchants selling through the working-class streets. crafts and new wave clothing set up Gradually they set up stalls on the small shop beside the food vendors. lawns in front oftheir homes, letting the Many attempts have been made to customers come to them. This nucleus control the chaos of Kensington Market acted as a magnet for other merchants, over the years. All three levels of gov­ and for Kosher meat processing and ernment supported an extensive "urban chicken slaughter houses. By the end of renewal" project for the whole area, but the First World War, the area was known community opposition forced the proj­ as the Jewish market. It served both the ect to be cancelled in September 1969. A Jewish residents in the area and the pedestrian mall to solve traffic prob­ workers in the garment industry along lems in the Market was proposed in the Spadina Avenue. By the 1930s the 1960s and the 1990s. (Two parking lots Market had become permanently estab­ were created on Bellevue Avenue and lished. Many of the merchants con­ St. Andrews Street in the 1970s as a verted the ground floor of their houses first step to controlling the car-clog­ to stores but continued to display goods ging.) In 1976, City Council approved a outside, to attract customers and to Market by-law to limit expansion of the compete with street vendors. Even Market, and to down zone the retail today, nearly every shopkeeper offers density from 2 to 1 times the area of the goods outside the store as well as in. lot. Local merchants usually have fought In the 1940s and 1950s Toronto's any attempts they perceive will change Jewish community began its slow mi­ the vital character of the Market, some­ gration to more expensive neigh­ times with success (the canopies over bourhoods north and west, and the the sidewalks stayed), and sometimes Jewish presence in the Market gradu­ with failure (the live chickens went). ally diminished. Postwar immigration 15 8.

91

Th ad COl Av 10\ op kn of' sql tht ph ml oft ex' ad oft !: !:as rOi S on CIl N Be Ur ~ CIl ea ::r: all £ tOl S 0 OJ P': se: Kensington Market.20 ' Febr~ary 1993. its ra 16 8. Bell Telephone Collegetrrinity Exchange now Precision Vacuum Products Ltd. 91 Oxford Street, southeast corner of Bellevue Avenue. 1906-7.

.- Qj Bell Telephone Company's Trinity Exchange, 1927. t:Q

The Bell Telephone Company of Can­ and that College would be changed to ada purchased land at the southeast Trinity. The name changes were likely corner of Oxford Street and Bellevue in antici.pation of the automatic dial Avenue on 15 January 1906. The fol­ service, which the company introduced lowing year, on 14 December 1907, it in 1924 at the Grover exchange in east opened a telephone exchange there Toronto. The advent of dial telephones known as the College central office. Cost made redundant many of the old man­ of the site and of the three-storey, 6,754 ual central office buildings. On 27 square-ft. building was over $50,000. In August 1932, the Trinity manual office those days before automatic dial tele­ was eliminated. The majority of Trinity phones, operators connected all calls subscribers were transferred to the manually by switchboard from such WAverley dial central office located in offices, beginning each request with the downtown Toronto 76 Adelaide Street expression "Number." ("Please" was not West. (The name TRinity was reintro­ added until 1925.) The College central duced as a dial central office in 1938.) office served an area of Toronto bounded In 1937 Bell sold the Oxford Street roughly by Crawford and Chri stie streets building for $12,500 to William Harold on the west, Queen Street on the south, Firstbrook, the manager of a Toronto Barton and Lowther on the north, and steel company. It continued to be va­ University Avenue/Avenue Road on the cant for several years after the sale. In east, according to a 1920 Bell plan. It the 1940s Dominion Milton Co., a also was used to train Toronto opera­ printer, publisher and folding paper box tors, at the Bell Telephone School for manufacturer, took over the first two Operators. floors. Since 1954, Precision Vacuum On 23 August 1922, a Bell repre­ Products has occupied the building; they sentative told the Toronto Telegram that manufacture blister seals and vacuum its next directory would "embody some packaging. radical changes in exchange names," 17 9. 87 Bellevue Avenue 10. ca. 1885. Addition, Symons and Rae, 1906. Alterations, S. L. Langmead Architect, 1992. 91: Sa, WOl

Thi Gib turl GrE end as I Pre unt son con Ace wal era La, 87 Bellevue Avenue, 28 February 1993. gen dis; This building was constructed as a pri. Cana Place, in Scarborough. The fol­ am vate home around the large homestead lowing year the Anglican Diocese sold Bel of James Pepler, a Bellevue Avenue the building to the Unification Church to 1 resident since the early 1870s and the (Moonies). tWE owner of a wholesale leather and bind­ Homes First Society, an organiza­ ings business on Front Street East. By tion dedicated to providing long-term rna 1890, Dr. J . Algernon Temple, a physi­ housing for street people, bought the opE cian and surgeon with offices and a property in 1992. It converted the build­ Tm home on Simcoe Street, had acquired ing into 29 one-room apartments which cit) the property. He was issued a building were opened on 1 February 1993. to C permit on 7 October 1890 "for the erec­ 87 Bellevue Avenue was listed on StE tion of Brick additions and alterations theTorontoHistorical Board'sInvento1j' En, to dwelling N. E. Cor Bellevue Ave & of Heritage Properties in 1979 when it ofc Oxford St. Cost $6000." Dr. Temple was noted: onE converted the house into a private hos­ ani pital called Bellevue House Hospital. Although it has been basically fen In 1906 the (Anglican) Sisters of St. institutional since 1890, the mil John the Divine purchased the property building, even with its addi­ offi and converted the building into a resi­ tion, has retained a house form nig dence for 40 active seniors, known as design that is compatible with dis the Church Home for the Aged. At first other buildings on Bellevue rna both men and women lived at the home; Avenue. Built ofred brick with sev later there were female residents only. a slate mansard roof, the house me In 190617 the Sisters acquired the adja­ now features a three-storey bay sin cent property at 78 Oxford Street, and a window, stained glass, and a ter wing was added by Sir Edmund and large three-storey open porch reI Lady Osler. In 1978 the order relocated with pyramidal roof at the thE the Home to a new seniors residence, commanding corner location. 1m 18 10. House of Reverend Alexander Gilray now St. Stephen's Community House 91 Bellevue Avenue. W. R. Gregg, 1887. Addition and alterations, Molesworth, Savage & Secord, 1932. Alterations, 1952-3. Alterations, Armstrong and Moles­ worth, 1979.

This house was bUilt in 1887 by Joseph Gibson of Deer Park, a brick manufac­ turer, and his architect, William Rufus Gregg. The first occupant was Rever­ end Alexander Gilray, appointed in 1875 as the first minister of College Street Presbyterian Church, a position he held until his death in 1915. The large hand­ some house was reflective of the congregation's prosperity at the time. According to a church history, Gilray waspaid$I,500ayearin 1882,aconsid­ erable salary for the period. Robertson's Larulmarks describes Gilray as "very genial and kindly in manner, of social disposition and of undoubted sincerity l­ and devotion." Gilray moved out of91 .d Bellevue in themid-1890s. Itcontinued :h to be a private residence for another twenty years. 91 Bellevue, 20 February 1993. :1.­ In 1916 the Nathanael Institute m moved into the house. It was a mission groups to organize assistance for Jews Ie operated by ·the Anglican Diocese of in Europe. :1- Toronto to "work among the Jews"in the 1 In 1962 the Institute left the build­ :h city; its major goal was to convert Jews ing, and the Toronto Diocese established to Christianity. According to historian St. Stephen's Community House as a Stephen Speisman, "The Church of Christian-based settlement house. "Y England hierarchy considered the issue Twelve years later it was incorporated it of conversion of immigrants an urgent as an independent non-profit charity, one; they equated it with acculturation and in 1975 St. Stephen's became a and considered it essential to the de­ member agency of the United Way. fence of Anglo-Saxon society." The Today it offers programs, especially to missionaries were taught Yiddish, and immigrants and refugees, in six differ­ offered the usual mission activities: a ent locations in and around the Ken­ night school with English classes, a sington area. Over 15,000 people use its dispensary, home and hospital visits, servi~es annually and there are over mothers' meetings, Sunday school, 100 employees. sewing classes and occasional open-air The Toronto Historical Board listed meetings. It also cooperated with a 91 Bellevue on its Inventory of Heritage similar mission operated by the Presby­ Properties in 1980. The brick-work, terian Church in the area in providing terra cotta panel inserts, decorative relief and finding employment. During wood bargeboards and the rubble stone the Second World War, the Nathanael base were noted as features of special Institute was one of the first Canadian interest. 19 11. House of Dr. Henry Machell, now Bellevue Child Care Centre

95 Bellevue Avenue. D. B. Dick. 1887.

This house was built for Dr. Henry continued to provide services at 95 Thomas Machell and his wife, Emily Bellevue until ca. 1941 - sometimes the Mary Broughall. (Her father, Reverend operation there was referred to as a girls A. J. Broughall of St. Stephen's Church, industrial home. lived in the rectory one door north.) Dr. On 6 October 1942, a day nursery Machell was a prominent Toronto phy­ opened at the house, the first to be sician specializing in the birth and care financed under public auspices during ofbabies, and on staff at the Hospi tal for the Second World War. Initially a pro­ Sick Children from its founding in 1875 vincial project, it was later operated on until his death at age 80 on 9 November the basis of the Dominion-Provincial 1930. 95 Bellevue was designed by Wartime Day Nurseries Agreement, a David Brash Dick (1846-1925), for many 1942 Order-in-Council authorizing the years principal architect to the Con­ federal Minister of Labour to enter into sumersGas Company and commissioned agreements with any ofthe provinces to by many wealthy Torontonians in the establish day-care facilities for children 1880s to plan their homes. The house - of mothers employed in war industries. the original plans are preserved in the The Bellevue Avenue centre became a Proll Horwood Collection at the Archives of model, with staff giving demonstrations Ontario - is characteristic of his work. in the practical administration ofa day Important features are the front en­ nursery to those who would later take trance with a fanlight and sidelights, charge of other units. The nurseries the pink sandstone base, the decorative were open Monday through Friday, from brickwork, and the woodwork embel­ 7:00 or 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 or 7:00 p.m., and lishments around the dormer window. Saturdays until noon. Children were The building was listed on the Toronto given two full meals a day, dinner at Historical Board's Inventory ofHeritage noon and supper at five, pI us a morning Properties in 1980. snack. Dr. Machell lived and practiced medi­ After the war, the federal govern­ cine in the house until 1914; it contin­ ment and some provinces ceased to ued to serve as a private home for an­ support daycare facilities - they had other six years. In 1920 the Salvation done so only in the context of a war Army purchased the building, and es­ emergency measure. The Bellevue tablished the Catherine Booth Rescue Avenue daycare was taken over by the Home there. Adjunct Mrs. Adams was City of Toronto. In 1967, it was trans­ the matron and she had a staff of five. ferred to the Social Services (now Com­ The Salvation Army's first rescue homes munity Services) Department of the had been started in Canada in the 1880s Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto to rehabilitate and reform "fallen with spaces for over 60 children. Exten­ women" -alcoholics, prostitutes and the sive interior renovations were done in like. Eventually working women and 1992-3. The second and third floors unwed mothers were helped as well. were converted into offices for the The Bellevue house was intended to Children's Services Division of Metro; accommodate 50 women and 30 infants. the first floor was redesigned for a day By 1924, a more realistic number of nursery for 16 infants and toddlers. It residents were living there, 23 women officially reopened on 22 April 1993. and 23 infants. The Salvation Army 20 Proposed house for Dr. H.T. Machell, by D. B. Dick, 1 December, 1886.

95 Bellevue Avenue, 3 March 1993. 21 Historical Walking Tour of Kensington Market and College Street

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22 23 · 12. St. Stephen-in-the-Fields Anglican Church 13. 103 Bellevue Avenue, southeast corner of College Street. 1858, Thomas Fuller. -1321 Rebuilt 1865, Gundry & Langley. Addition 1872, R. C. Wintermeyer. TowE

St. Stephen-in-the-Fields Anglican Church, 3 March 1993. The for t 1874 with volu] A fine example of Gothic Revival archi­ tect Henry Langley. The restored struc­ adde tecture in the style of early English ture which retains most of the design and : parish churches, St. Stephen-in-the features of the earlier building is distin­ heigJ Fields, named for its original rural set­ guished by its polychromatic masonry, tectl ting, represents the work of two of solid buttressing and open bellcore. notel Ontario's most important 19th-century Expanded, then renovated several times, erso architects. The church was designed by notably in 1985-86, St. Stephen's re­ lutel, Thomas Fuller who later gained renown mains a landmark within the surround- been in fashioning Canada's first parliament ing community. Vict!: buildings and was erected in 1858 by prac' local landowner Robert Denison. Gut- Text from the historical plaque erected to hf ted by fire in 1865, it was rebuilt to plans by the Ontario Heritage Foundation, dry. submitted by prominent church archi- Ministry of Citizenship and Culture. to gE 24 13. No.8 Hose Station 132 Bellevue Avenue, southwest corner of College Street. City Architects, 1877-8. Tower 1899. Additions 1899, 1907, 1921. Rebuilt after fire, 1973-4.

No.8 Hose Station, 20 February, 1993.

The 1870s began a period of expansion combination chemical and hose truck), for the Toronto Fire Department. In signalling the end of the era of 1874 it became a full-time department horsedrawn vehicles. with 46 paid firefighters rather than In 1972 the old station was vacated volunteers. Three hose stations were for restoration, but early Sunday morn­ added in 1878 including no. 8 at College ing on 28 Maya fire broke out causing and Bellevue. The original tower was considerable damage to the tower and heightened to 110 feet in 1899. Archi­ the hall: Happily, they were totally tectural historian Patricia McHugh rebuilt in the original style, with a steel notes, "The tall belvedere-capped tow­ frame supporting the brickwork; new ers of the city fire stations, rising reso­ bays were added on the Bellevue Ave­ lutely like medieva1 lookouts, must have nue side. Today no. 8 is a working been very reassuring to the fire-plagued station once again. The interior of the Victorian city." The towers have a more yellow and red brick structure is deco­ practical function as well- they are used rated with historic photographs, and a to hang up the fire hoses to drain and 1924 Bickell pumper stands in the origi­ dry. In 1911, No.8 was the first station nal hose station. to get a new motorized fire engine (a 25 14. Doctors Hospital 45 Brunswick Avenue, northeast corner of College Street.

For over a century a hospital has been diverse comm uni ties, and also redevelop I located on the site where Doctors Hospi­ the overcrowded facilities, expand the tal now stands. The first hospital was site, and provide a broader spectrum of the St. John's Hospital for Women, a 25- health care. From 1969 to 1975, the bed facility on Major Street just north of hospital assembled 3.5 acres ofland on College, opened in 1889. "It is a hand­ the north side of College between Brun­ some building ofred brick, oftwo storeys, swick and Major, in preparation for with good basement and attic, Messrs. redevelopment. These plans were Darling and Curry being architects," abruptly stalled in 1976, when the enthused a contemporary newspaper ac­ Ontario Ministry of Health, as part of a count. The (Anglican) Sisters of St. cost cutting program, announced its John the Divine had established the intention to close a number ofhospitals, St. hospital in 1885, beginning with ten including Doctors Hospital. The hospi­ beds in a small house on the corner of tal and the community mounted a suc­ Euclid Avenue and Robinson Street. cessful campaign to reverse the Their mission was "the relief of women Ministry's decision. suffering from diseases peculiar to their The hospital made a second role sex," and "charitable treatment of the study in 1981. It recommended the de­ poor." This mandate made St. John's velopment of a community health cam­ the first surgical hospital for women in pus, integrating the hospital with social Toronto. It continued to expand and agencies serving the community at one flourish for more than 60 years. central location. It also suggested reviv­ In 1953, the hospital was sold to four ing the redevelopment and expansion doctors, the Raxlen brothers, and was plans in three phases: a clinical and renamed Doctors Hospital. A north community services centre, an acute wing with 62 new beds was built in care facility, and a chronic care facility. 1955, and a 10-storey tower was added The rebuilding proposals were approved in 1958. At this time, Doctors Hospital in 1986, but met with considerable reached a capacity of 300 beds, making opposition from local residents, who felt it the largest privately-owned acute care the proposed 480-bed hospital was "too hospital in Canada. It focused on cater­ big" and would overwhelm their neigh­ ing to patients in the neighbourhood, bourhood. The heri tage communi ty also and meeting the health care needs of objected to the destruction of several Toronto's growing multicultural popu­ historic buildings, including the 1889 lation. hospital. Nevertheless, the first phase In 1969, the Ontario Hospital Serv­ of the plan, a Clinical and Community Ro ices Commission purchased Doctors Hos­ Services Centre on College Street, was cal pital and it became a public general hos­ completed in 1991. The lobby incorpo­ pital. The new vol unteer board of gover­ rates the cornerstone from the original nors commissioned a role study, com­ hospital on Major Street, "laid by the pletedin 1971. ItrecommendedDoctors Lord Bishop of Toronto, June 1st 1888." Hospital continue to serve culturally 26 _, ..----3.. -

St. John's Hospital for Women, l889. Demolished ca. 1989.

Row housing on Nlajor Street, to be demolished for an acute care facility at Doctors Hospital, 17 February 1993.

27 15. Walter Huston Home 16, 11 Major Street. 10-: 14-: 20-:

ThE Stri con our loc~ on i in : an< the aWl whi the giCI nit; the agr "si~ the vel4 sta alr4 hot flo< 34( the Walter Huston's boyhood home, ph~ 11 Major Street, 17 February 1993. red 1 at in : Bu cra boo wit Walter Huston (1884 - 1950) woo cer. ete Walter Huston, star of Broadway and and became famous for his rendition of hal Hollywood, was born in Toronto, 6 April "September Song". He worked in a 1884, and raised near here at 11 Major number of films with his son, screen eac Street. At the age of sixteen, he made writer and director, John-Huston. In (18 his first stage appearance in a minstrel 1948 both won Academy Awards for the Ric show at Massey Hall, joined a local film "The Treasure of Sierra Madre." are repertory group and later, in vaudeville, attl toured Canada and the United States. Text from Toronto Historical Board arc In the 1920s Huston came into promi­ plaque, unveiled 3 June 1984. Fr~ nence on Broadway as a dramatic actor 28 16. Row housing on Major Street 10-12 Major Street. 1888. James Hartney, builder. 14-18 Major Street. 1892. David Richards, builder. 20-24 Major Street. 1892. David Richards, builder.

These ejght houses at 10 to 24 Major Street are "unusual and distinctive, and contribute greatly to the character of our neighbourhood," according to one local resident. The THB listed the houses on its Inventory of Heritage Properties in 1982 because of their architectural and contextual importance. But today the three rows stand vacant and forlorn, awaiting demolition. Doctors Hospital, which owns the houses, plans to raze them by, 1994 to make wayforanewsur­ Figurative keystone, gical wing. As a concession to commu­ 24 Major Street, 20 February 1993. nity and heritage groups who wanted the buildings retained, the hospital first occupant of 24 Major Street. agreed in 1984 to reuse some of the 14 to 18 Major Street is "an unusual "significant architectural details" from row house" according to the Toronto the Ml\ior Street houses within its rede­ Historical Board. None of the three velopment. A fireplace and mantle, units match, except for a unifying ve­ stained glass panels, and French doors randah common to all. This asymmetri­ already have been removed from the cal design "is unusual for the time of houses and reused on the fifth and sixth construction" and such row houses are floor of the hospital's new building at "in short supply in Toronto," a THB 340 College Street. Other parts from representative noted in 1988. The south the houses are to be incorporated in unit (no. 14) possesses a rare shingled phases II and III of Doctor Hospital's oriel tower with an octagonal pointed redevelopment plans. roofandball finial. The central unit(no. The 2 112 storey semi-detached house 16) includes arched second floor win­ at 10-12 Major Street was constructed dows and a hi p-roofed dormer with three in 1888, and is the oldest of the rows. facets. The north unit (no. 18) features Builder James Hartney displayed his a distinctive second floor bay window, craftsmanship by using decorative surmounted by a projecting gable on bargeboard (gingerbread) trim above the brackets and faced in terra cotta tiles. windows and gables, and fancy brick­ The Romanesque-style doorways re­ work in the facade. Unfortunately, the semble those at Old City Hall. central pedimented porch with brack­ 20-24 Major Street features a uni­ eted columns and elaborate trellis-work fied, balanced design. The ground floor of windows are arched, and trimmed with a has bee'n removed. brick-drip moulds, band courses, and en The next two rows of three houses In each were constructed in the same year figurative keystones. This level also (1892) and by the same builder, David possesses elaborate basket-weave brick­ b.e Richards. Both of the 2112 storey rows work patterns. The hipped roof has are built ofi>rick and stone, and both are gabled end dormers and an unusual attributed to· the prestigious. Toronto . central wall dormer rising from a cen• .rd architectural firm of Dick and Wickson. tralsection that is flanked by recessed Frank W: Wickson, architect, was the porches at the second floor. 29 17. College Street Row of Shops and Residences 18. 422-426 College Street. 1892. 430·

430·

422-426 College Street, 18 February 1993.

College Street was built up between the each with two windows. The second 1880s and the 1920s in three major floor windows are topped with flat stone building booms. This building dates lintels, while the windows on the third from the first boom period, which peaked floor are semi-circular arches with key­ in 1889 and was over by 1893. It is stones. The arched central parapet has illustrative of a mixed-use building of a graceful shell pattern panel sur­ the day, accommodating under one roof mounted by a raised pediment. Electri­ This commercial and residential uses. The cal wiring obstructs the beauty of the ofsh first floor has been substantially altered upper section of the building. from by changing fashions in store layout, The building's first owner was Dr. lege lighting and signage and by changing Eli Barrack. Early tenants included J. up, 1 uses, but it still exhibits a fine, well­ D. Hawthorne's grocery at no. 422 and find preserved facade. By looking at the . John. W. Houston's relocated drug store Attl upper floors, one can still see'the many at no. 426. The building has been listed ters decorative details the unknown archi­ on the Toronto Historical Board's Inven­ brae; tect lavished on the brick and stone row. tory of Heritage Properties since 1981. ston. Brick pilasters with brackets at the els. cornice divide the facade into three.units, have 30 18. College Street Row of Shops and Residences 430-432 College Street. 1887-8.

430-432 College Street, 18 February 1993.

md )ne lird .ey­ 'las ur­ tri­ This is another attractive attached row narrow windows and decorative terra the of shops with residences above, dating cotta spandrels. The three-storey build­ from the first building boom along Col­ ing is constructed of brick, stone and Dr. lege Street. Once again one must look pressed metal mouldings. IJ. up, beyond the altered ground floor, to The first owner was Charles S. Wil­ md find important architectural features. liams, a real estate broker. In the early ore At the corbelled brick cornice are pilas­ 1890's John W. Houston had a drug ted ters with prominent decorative console store and home at no. 430.Francis Spear en- brackets. The central arch has a key­ sold stationery at no. 432. The building 11. stone 'with spectacular sun-burst pan­ has been listed on the Toronto Histori­ els. The windows at the side sections cal Board's Inventory of Heritage Prop­ have larger central units flanked with erties since 1984. 31 19. Metropolitan Bank, now Bank of Nova Scotia 400 College Street, northeast corner of Bathurst Street. Darling and Pearson, 1913. Renovation and addition, Sankey Partnership, 1977-9.

The Metropoli tan Bank was established 12 November 1975 designating it under in Toronto on 17 November 1902, and the Ontario Heritage Act. before amalgamating with the Bank of Nevertheless, in the mid-1970s the Nova Scotia in 1914, had 38 branches in Bank of Nova Scotia purchased the southern Ontario. In 1913 it commis­ adjacent lot on College Street and re­ sioned the prominent Toronto architec­ quested permission on 9 September 1976 tural firm of Darling and Pearson to to demolish the 1913 building; it wanted build a branch at College and Bathurst to construct a new, enlarged bank on streets. Frank Darling (1850-1923) and the combined sites. City Council turned John Pearson (1867-1940) were the the request down, and appointed a com­ major bank architects of the day, and mittee composed of the local alderman, BanI! also designed many other important the Planning Board, and the Toronto buildings throughout Canada during Historical Board to meet with the bank their illustrious careers. Banking was officials to find a way to retain the his­ very competitive at that time, and banks toric structure. were designed to be imposing, sober, In the compromise design solution impregnable even intimidating struc­ the existing west and south facades tures that would appear solid and re­ were retained, and a 2,823 square-ft. spectable. addition was built to the east. The addi­ The College Street branch is a no­ tion was constructed of precast concrete table example of the developing Classi­ similar in finish and colouring to the old cism ofthe first quarter ofthe twentieth terra cotta. The old and new sections century, of which the large Canadian were connected by a transparent wall banks were the chief patrons. It is also topped by a glazed canopy. The original i m portanti n the con text of the hi story of high tile roof was removed; the archi­ technology as an example of the use of tects argued this would draw greater glazed terra cotta in architecture - the attention to the terra cotta facade. The exterior is almost entirely constructed interior was totally changed. The sec­ of this material. (It was manufactured ond floor professional offices were elimi­ by the Federal Terra Cotta Co. of New nated - to open up the banking hall and York.) The bank also was important in give a more contemporary image. The the local streetscape as a foil in colour, expanded and renovated branch offi­ scale and style to the Gothic Revival cially reopened on 27 June 1979. Sankey College Street Presbyterian Church, Partnership Architects received the 1977 which then stood on the northwest cor­ Award of Excellence from Canadian ner of the intersection. The building Architect Yearbook for the project and Bank was considered to be of such architec­ the Toronto Historical Board's Award of tural significance that Toronto City Merit in 1980. Council passed a bylaw (no. 463-75) on 32 er le le e- 76 ~d m ~d n- n, Bank of Nova Scotia, 1952. to lk s-

)n es ft. n­ te ld 1S tIl al li­ er le .e­ li­ ld le 5-

~y 77 tn ld Bank of Nova Scotia, 18 February 1993. of

33 20. College Street Presbyterian Church, now College Street United Church

454 College Street, northwest corner of Bathurst Street. Smith & Gemmell, 1884-5. Addition, Smith & Gemmell, 1892. Addition, H. Ferris Secord, 1924. Chanel Club Condominium (now called 456 College Condominium), Carson Woods Architects, 1988-9.

The Presbyterian Church began to con­ a heritage easement agreement was duct services in the northwestern part made between the city and the church: of Toronto in 1873, and the following the tower was to be saved, and the year erected a small, roughcast church density was to be transferred and the at the northwest corner of College and property rezoned. In that year College Bathurststreets. The congregation grew Street United transferred its density rapidly, and in 1884 the prominent rights to a developer, CJS Investments Toronto architectural firm of Smith and Ltd., in return for a buil ding constructed Gemmell was commissioned to design a to the congregation's specifications. larger church; it opened in March 1885. Most of the old church was demolished Robertson's Landmarks described the in 1988. A seven-storey multi-use build­ new building as "a very handsome ing was constructed around the original church, red brick with stone dressing church tower in 1988-9. Part was re­ [with] a tower 90 feet high .... It is a served for a new College Street United CoU distinguishing feature of that portion of Church, and part for an 89-unit condo­ the city and a credit to the beautiful minium, with the two parts having avenue on which it is built." The inte­ separate owners. rior could seat 1,200 people on the main The project had its problems both floor and gallery, and was renowned for financially and architecturally. The its columns, arches and polished oak. developers went into receivership be­ One hundred years later, though, fore completion. Critic Christopher the congregation found, as did many Hume assessed the resul ts in the Toronto other Protestant churches downtown, Star in 1989: its numbers and revenues had dwindled The condo has been designed as members moved away; and that it carefully -but ultimately un­ could no longer afford to maintain the successfully -to blend in with cavernous (37,000 square ft.) old dete­ exquisite 19th century archi­ riorating church, nor to ignore the high tecture. Retaining the tower real estate value of the property. The was a compromise, an ironic minister, Dr. Ralph Spence, and the one as it turns out. Ironic be­ congregation explored several develop­ cause it now serves as a dra­ ment options to meet its twin goals - to matic reminder of how much continue as a traditional, Sunday serv­ the new addition lacks ... ice ministry and tofinance anew, smaller situated so closely to a building on the site. The Toronto His­ remnant of something infi­ torical Board wanted the old church to nitely finer, the condo be­ be retained, though, and on 20 May comes not only banal but 1986 Toronto City Council passed a poignant. It is a measure of Col bylaw designating it under the Ontario how much has been lost, not 20] Heritage Act. However, on 8 July 1987 gained. 34 1S h: le le ~e ty ts ld s. ld d­ al e­ !d 0- College Street Presbyterian Church, ca. 1900. Ig

;h Ie

College Street United Church and 456 College Condominium, 20 February 1993. 35 21. Freemasons' Hall, now Latvian House 2 491 College Street. 1910. Edwards & Saunders 51 I.;

I::: I::: til S Q) N j Co ..s Cl 3o ~ Pediment detail of Freemasons' Hall, 18 February 1993. The Masonic Order was a very popular dependent Baltic state from 1918 to and powerful fraternal organization in 1940 when it was annexed by the Soviet Canada when it constructed this build­ Union. It declared its independence on ing as a central meeting place for sev­ 21 August 1991. The first Latvian set­ eral Toronto lodges. Architect Frank tlers in Canada were farmers who ar­ Saunders was a Mason, and incorpo­ rived in the 1890s and settled in west­ a rated Masonic symbols in the Classical ern Canada, gradually moving east to exterior. The massive white sandstone find jobs in the cities. During the Sec­ E facade typified "the long heritage of ond World War, more than 110,000 fi Mason builder traditions from which Latvians fled their occupied homeland. the Order sprang," a 1911 Construction Of this group, some 15,000 emigrated to magazine noted. An illuminated medal­ Canada. In Toronto, the early commu­ lion bearing the symbolic letter G (for nity was scattered throughout the city, God) was placed in the gable above the with higher concentrations in the High keystone. The four 33-ft. high Corinthian Park area, along Broadview Avenue, col umns, the bronze lam ps on them, and and in the suburbs of Weston and Wil­ the three stars set in a circle in the lowdale. The 1991 Canadian census pediment were also symbolic of Masonic indicates there are approximately 8,000 allegory and ritual. Canadians of Latvian origins living in The interior of the 46.5 x 110 ft. Metropolitan Toronto, the largest con­ o building contained three floors and a centration in the country. 'I full oosement. Each ofthe bottom three Today Latvian House quarters a li­ b levels had one large room - a supper brary, a credit union, and a fraternity. F room for 400 in the basement, an audi­ It offers weekly seniors programs and torium on the first floor, and a lodge evening classes for teenagers where the r room on the second -and several smaller Latvian language and culture are d rooms. The lodge room featuredmahog­ taught. Depictions of scenes and sym­ any woodwork and a pipe organ.The bols from the homeland are displayed in building was listedon the Toronto His­ the entrance way and the three large torical Board's Inventory of Heritage banquet halls. The Latvian Canadian Properties in 1976. Cultural Centre, 4 Credit Union Drive, In 1964/5, the building became Lat­ has largely replaced Latvian House as vian Hall, a cultural home to Toronto's the centre of the city's Latvian activi­ Latvian community. Latvia was an in- ties. 36 22. College Street Baptist Church, now Port~guese Seventh-Day Adventist Church 506 College Street, northwest comer of Palmerston Boulevard. 1888. III l;angley & Burke. ~ .gCIS ,s~ ___

Ill('/) -~ 10 i~ t:~ ~iS ~§ S ~ College Street Baptist Church, oE-t ca. 1900 . ~'o The Portuguese are predominately try. This pattern repeated itselfmany Roman Catholic - St. Mary's Church at tim~s as thousands ofPortuguese gladly Bathurst and Adelaide is a Portuguese embraced the opportunity to escape from to parish - but belong to other Christian conditions of poverty, unemployment et denominations, such as Pentecostal, and political oppression in their home­ In Baptist and Seventh Day Adventist land. t­ churches. The Portuguese Seventh Day The growth of the Portuguese popu­ r­ Adventist Church located at this site lation in Toronto was rapid. In 1955, t­ about 20 years ago. there were fewer than 100 in the city; by to The building began as College Street 1962, the number had grown to 10,000; c- BaptistChurch,establishedin 1872. At by 1971 there were almost 50,000. The 10 first, the congregation met in a modest 1991 Canadian census lists 140,910 d. roughcast church at the northeast cor­ people of Portuguese origins residing in to ner of College and Lippincott. Re­ the Metropolitan Toronto, the largest J­ markably, the 1872 building stands concentration in the country. Most of y, today at 410 College Street, and still is them originate from mainland Portu­ ;h used for a church, St. George Lutheran. gal, the Azores Islands, and Madeira. e, In 1888, College Street Baptist Church The Portuguese first settled in the 1- acquired a property a few blocks west Kensington Market and Alexandra Park IS along College, and commissioned the areas of Toronto. They were welcomed 10 Toronto architectural firm of Langley & . at Sousa's Restaurant at the comer of .n Burke to design a larger church. It Nassau and Bellevue - owner Antonio 1- officially opened in September 1889. The Sousa had arrived on the Saturnia -and Toronto Historical Board listed the at the First Portuguese Canadian Club, i- building on its Inventory of Heritage founded in 1956 above a store on Au­ y. Properties in 1973. gusta Avenue and relocated to larger Id Portuguese immigrants began to ar­ quarters on College Street in the 1970s. le rive in Canada in substantial numbers Gradually the Toronto community 'e during the 1950s. The first contingent pushed westward as the Portuguese 1- consisting of 85 Portuguese men landed opened businesses along Dundas Street, n in Halifax aboard the Saturnia on 13 Ossington Avenue, and College Street. May 1953. They had been recruited by Later the community grew to Lansdowne .n the Canadian government to work as Avenue and northward to Dupont Street. e, farm labourers. After the initial con­ In the 1970s, a Canadian-trained sec­ lS tracts were completed, many resettled ond generation emerged, producing a i- in larger Canadian cities where they wide variety of professionals of Portu­ found jobs in construction or in indus- guese descent. 37 23. Gates to Palmerston Boulevard at College Street ca. 1910

Palmerston Boulevard was built up at building lots, and included within it the the turn ofthe 20th century; most build­ north-south streets of Bathurst, Mark­ ingwas done between 1903 and 1910. It ham, Ontario (now Palmerston Blvd.), was developed as an upper-middle-class and Lumley (now Euclid); and the east­ street, composed of houses, mostly de­ west streets of Buller (now Ulster), tached, that were skilfully conceived Harbord, Herrick, and Lennox. The and constructed to reflect the weal th plan, as it extended northward, con­ and social status of the new owners. tained diminishing lengths of blocks. Early residents included such impor­ The lots on the longest two blocks, from tant Torontonians as Mayor Horatio College north to Harbord, were also the Hocken at no. 340, Mayor Sam McBride largest (132 ft. to 145 ft. wide). They at no. 351, and Professor John Squair at were more than double the width of the no. 368. George Weston, whose bread lots on the three equally-sized blocks factory was close-by, had the largest from Harbord to Bloor (53.3 ft.). Lot and grandest house on the boulevard, a depths throughout were more uniform - central hall plan on two lots at no. 469. from 125 to 135 ft. Palmerston Boulevard still has many It would be many years, though, be­ features which distinguish it from other fore this subdivision was developed, and local streets. Stone and iron gate posts, only Palmerston Boulevard would evolve topped with double-fixture globe light more or less as planned originally. By standards, are located at its two en­ 1884, there were already signs offuture trances. One pair is at College Street trends - the west side of Lippincott was and the other at Bloor Street. Together lined with buildings crammed onto much with pairs of trees which line the boule­ smaller lots. Eventually only Palmer­ vard, they give the impression of an ston retained wider (and more expen­ approach to a large estate. Palmerston sive) lots, ensuring the construction of Boulevard has remained faithful, de­ higher quality, larger houses. It also spite conversions of many single-family had more controlled development than residences to apartments and offices, to surrounding streets, according to a study the concept of one house on one lot. on Palmerston Boulevard by architects Palmerston Boulevard was originally E. K. Storey and James K. Brown. part of a subdivision called Seaton Building on Palmerston took place si­ Square, laid out in 1854 by James M. multaneously on both sides ofthe street, Strachan, a son of Toronto's first Angli­ rather than randomly. The sale oflots can bishop John Strachan, and his part­ and construction of houses moved north, ner W. J. Fitzgerald. The subdivision block by block. The architects also note was created from part ofthe old Crook­ that Palmerston Boulevard is 24 meters shank farm, and it extended from Col­ wide, significantly wider than Euclid lege Street to the north city limits (Bloor and Markham streets, which are the Street) between Lippincott and Hope standard street width of20 meters or 66 (now Manning). Plan 93 laid out 328 ft. 38 ,, e

:l e Gates at the College Street entrance to Palmerston 'I Boulevard, 18 February 1993. e s h. '-

,f o n y S I.

" s I, e s d e 6 Palmerston Boulevard between College and Ulster streets, 18 February 1993. 39 24. Streetlamps on Palmerston Boulevard from College Street to Bloor Street. Attributed to S. Hamilton Townsend, ca. 1905-10. 4

Take an evening stroll along Palmer­ and by the electric lights shown at ston Boulevard, and experience an in­ world's fairs and expositions being held ~ tact turn-of-the-century residential in the United States. Beauty and effect street environment. The rows of houses were the prime considerations. with common setbacks, the lines oftrees The lamps on Palmerston Boule­ I running in pairs down the boulevard's vard pre-date the common use of the length, and the original street lamps automobile, and were designed to illu­ are all important ingredients in creat­ minate the way for pedestrians, not I ing this distinctive, well-coordinated motorists. Ontario Hydro engineers atmosphere. reported in 1912 that each lamp on Alfred Holden, an historic preserva­ Palmerston Boulevard was 9 ft. 6 in. tionist who has studied street lighting high. This is shorter than most modern extensively, describes Palmerston street lamps, but perfectly adequate to Boulevard as "an authentic street light­ light the sidewalk, and also not too high ing installation ... an electrical time to interfere with the new trees growing capsule." The street lamps on Palmer­ on the boulevard. Each lamp was 100 ston date from 1905 to 1910, about the watts and approximately 80 lumens (a same time the street was developed. measuring unit for brightness); the Known as single pole-top lamps or light average street illumination was .023 I pillars, they consist of single upright foot candles - all much lower levels than standards made of decorative cast iron, modern standards. The lamps were - and smooth glass "Haskins" globes. By placed on the lawn side of the sidewalk, the late 1910s, these lamps were com­ rather than on the street side: to light monplace in North American cities for the sidewalk rather than the street. The I general use, parks and boulevard light­ lights were spaced every 95 in. approxi­ ing. Business districts usually were mately - closer together than today. illuminated with two fixtures on an The automobile altered the scale of ornamental pole, while prestigious municipal lighting fixtures and the in­ downtown streets often featured three tensity and character of the light they lamps per pole. were required to provide. Beginning in Palmers ton Boulevard is one of only the 1920s, lighting for automobile driv­ two places in Toronto to have preserved ers became increasingly important. single pole-top lamps. Similar lamps Pole-top lamps became higher, and also still exist on Chestnut Park in moved closer to the street. Gradually Rosedale. Both these examples of the bracket-type standards were introduced city's lighting heritage were placed on to hold the lamp over the street rather the Toronto Historical Board Inventory than the sidewalk. This was to enable of.Heritage Properties in 1973. They are drivers to see farther, and to make attributed to S. Hamilton Townsend, pedestrians appear as silhouettes. Illu­ mination levels also increased with the Ontario-born architect ofa distinc­ 8t tive body ofNeo-Tudor suburban houses traffic, and in many cities, soft incan­ in the late 1800sand early 1900s. Street descent lights were replaced with lighting at that time was heavily influ­ brighter but harsher sodium-vapour enced by the City Beautiful movement lamps. 40 f

'I 1

' 0

:l 'I :l r e e

1 Streetlamp on Palmerston Boulevard, 17 February 1993.

1 r

41 Origins of Local Street Names comln, worke Augusta: Augusta Elizabeth (Eliza) Crookshank's Lane to Bathurst Street depar1 Sullivan (1810-36), the wife of Robert until 1870. George Crookshank (1773- 1848} Baldwin. The couple married in 1827, 1859) was born in New York City. After includ had two sons and two daughters, and the Revolution, the family moved to St. Railw. were blissfully happy during their nine John, N .B. In 1796, George Crookshank and th years together. Baldwin became ob­ came to York and entered the Commis­ ara (1: sessed with his lost wife in his later sary Department. During the War of Casim years. His will dictated that certain of 1812, he was promoted to assistant Street Eliza's possessions and letters be buried commissary general, serving from 1814 Clint< with him and their coffins be chained until his retirement in 1816. He was a 64), SE together. Most important, he asked member of the Legislative Council of He vis that his body be operated on with a Upper Canada, 1821-41. Crookshank ColleJ similar incision to the Caesarian sec­ made a fortune in business and land privat, tion that Eliza had suffered. See Robert, speculations. Colleg Baldwin. Bellevue: For Belle Vue, the home of sityof Baldwin: Dr. William Warren Bald­ George Taylor Denison (1783-1853). sity A, win (1775-1844), a doctor, militia offi­ Built in 1815, Belle Vue stood at the Colleg cer, JP, lawyer, office holder,judge, busi­ northeast corner of the modern streets Street nessman, politician, and the owner of a of Denison Square and Bellevue Ave­ Denis country house on Davenport Hill called­ nue, roughly in the middle of Denison's nally c Spadina. He was born in County Cork, 156-acre estate (park lots 17 and east Queen Ireland, studied medicine at the Uni­ half of 18). Belle Vue's four sides faced dencel versityofEdinburgh and came to Upper squarely to the points of the compass, Taylor Canada with his family in 1798. In said to be the only house in Toronto so his de, 1803, he married Phoebe Willcocks, and built. See Borden, Denison, Lippincott, RGber1 was called to the bar. He was appointed Major. Denise master in chancery in 1806, and district Borden: Esther Borden Lippincott Denise court judge in 1809. He wasjudge of the (1791-1823), daughter of Captain Rich­ lor,wh surrogate court, Home District from ard Lippincott. She married George in 179: 1812 to 1836. From 1821 to 1830 he was Taylor Denison in 1806 at age 15, and Denise a member ofthe House of Assembly. He brought to the marriage the United War of and his son, Robert, originated the con­ Empire Loyalist (U.E.) designation, and York i cept of responsible colonial government. her father's land holdings. The couple prison' Baldwin Street was called Clyde Street had eight children. Two boys and a import until 1896. SeeAugusta,Phoebe,Robert, daughter died in infancy, but Sophia, volunt Spadina, Willcocks. Eliza, George, Mary, and Robert sur­ organi Bathurst: Henry, third earl Bathurst, vived. See Bellevue, Denison, Lippin­ the Y( secretary for War and the Colonies, 1812- cott, and Major. mande 27. This name applied to the present Casimir: Sir Casimir Stanislaus Gzow­ as "D. street south of Queen (then Lot) when ski (1813-98), a civil engineer, business­ Goven given in 1837. The northern section was man, and militia officer, whose home, 1866. E known as Crookshank's Lane, after The Hall (now Alexandra Park near Major. George Crookshank, who owned a 300- Bathurst and Dundas), was built in the Dund: acre farm (the west half of park lots 18, vicinity in 1858. He was born in St. countr 19 and 20) from today's Queen Street to Petersburg, Russia, the eldest son of a Like Y Bloor Street, between Lippincott and Polish count. He studied engineering in laid Ol Manning. Crookshank's Lane was a Russia, and entered the Russian army tended semi-private thoroughfare connecting but joined his compatriots in an 1830 at Yorl the farm with York. The upper portion uprising in Warsaw. He was exiled to west a: of it was not officially changed from the United States where he lived until on La1 42 coming to Canada West in 1842. He Toronto's boundaries, Dundas Street worked as an engineer for the Canadian today is formed from a series of earlier department of public works, but left in streets, including St. Patrick, Ander­ 1848 for private practice. His contracts son, Agnes and Arthur west of Yonge; included building the Grand Trunk and Crookshank, Wilton and Beech Railway from Sarnia to Toronto (1850s), between Yonge Street and the Don Ri ver. and the international bridge over Niag­ Euclid: The Greek mathematician ara (1871-3). He was knighted in 1890. (fl.300 B.C.), whose Elements became Casimir Street was changed from Bear the basis of future geometry. The origi­ Street in 1893. nal 1854 subdivision plan named the Clinton: Probably Henry Clinton (1811- street Lumley. It was changed to Euclid 64), secretary for the Colonies 1852-4. Avenue in 1896. He visited Canada in 1860. Gore: Likely Francis Gore (1769-1852), College: Its original use (1829) was a lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, private avenue of approach to King's 1806-17. College, but it was leased by the Uni ver­ Grace: the daughter ofE. O. Bickford, a sity of Toronto, along with the Univer­ later owner of Gore Vale, built ca. 1820 sity Avenue, as public streets, ca. 1888. by Duncan Cameron and named for College Avenue was renamed College Francis Gore. See Gore. Street in 1888. Li ppincott: Esther Borden Li ppi ncott, Denison: Denison Avenue was origi­ wife of George Taylor Denison, or her nally a half-mile carriage drive up from father, Captain Richard Lippincott. Queen Street to Belle Vue, the resi­ Richard Lippincott (1745-1826), a na­ dence at Denison Square built by George tive of Shrewsbury, New Jersey, served Taylor Denison (1783-1853) and, after asan officer with the New Jersey Volun­ his decease, owned by his son Lt.-Col. teers during the American Revolution­ Robert Brittain Denison. George Taylor ary War, and was implicated in the Denison was the eldest son of John hanging of a prisoner of war. After the Denison (1757-1824) and Sophia Tay­ Revolution, he immigrated to New lor, whocame to Canada from Yorkshire Brunswick, and about 1793 moved to in 1792, settling at York in 1796. G. T. Upper Canada where he was granted Denison served as a militia officer in the 3,000 acres ofland in Vaughan Town­ War of 1812, and during the defence of ship near the present Richmond Hill. York in 1813 was captured and held Lippincott's land became the basis of prisoner for six months. He played an George Denison's fortune; he lived with important role in the organization of the his son-in-law until his death in 1826. volunteer militia of Canada. In 1822he See Bellevue, Borden, Denison, Major. organized a troop of volunteer cavalry, Major: Major Robert Brittain Denison the York Dragoons, which he com­ (1821-1900), the third son of George mandedin the Rebellion of1837. Known Taylor Denison and Esther Borden as "Denison's Horse", it became the Lippincott, and inheritor of his father's Governor General's Body Guards in home, Belle Vue. He divided his ener­ 1866. See Bellevue, Borden, Lippincott, gies between the militia and church Major. building. He personally underwrote the Dundas: Sir Henry Dundas, first Vis­ cost of St. Stephen-in-the-Fieldsin 1858, count Melville, Home Secretary 1791-4. and after it burned, its 1865 replace­ Like Yonge Street, Dundas Street was ment. He joined his father's troop in laid out by Lt.-Gov. Simcoe, who in­ 1843 as coronet, and in 1857 became a tended that it join the provincial capital major, commanding the Toronto Field at York with the Thames River on the Battery. In 1862 he became brigade­ west and the mouth of the River Trent major of the 10th Military District, and on Lake Ontario on the east. Within was commander ofa provisional battal- 43 ion at Clifton during the Fenian Rail in Robert, who described her as "the mas­ 1866. He was deputy adjutant-general ter mind of our family." She and her ofthe Canadian militia, 1881-6. He also sister, Maria, inherited the huge Russell served as alderman for St. Patrick's estate in 1822, including the property Ward. See Bellevue, Borden, Denison, on both sides of today's Spadina Ave­ Lippincott. nue. See Baldwin, Robert, Wilcocks. Manning: Alexander Manning (1819- Robert: Robert Baldwin (1804-58), a 1903), mayor of Toronto, 1873 and 1885. lawyer and politician, the eldest son of Born in Dublin, Ireland, he emigrated Dr. W. W. Baldwin and Phoebe to Toronto in 1834. He was a building Willcocks. His many accomplishments contractor whose projects included rail­ include "the genius of responsible gov­ ways, canals, and the Parliament Build­ ernment and the centrally important ings in Ottawa. He was also a major heritageofa bicultural nation." He was developer and owner of property. Man­ born and educated at York, and called to ning served for many years on Toronto the bar in 1825. He was amemberofthe City Council, beginning in 1856. When Legislative Assembly in 1929-30, and of he died, he had the largest individual the Executive Council in 1836. He was property taxes in Toronto. The street solicitor-general, 1840-1,and with Louis was called Hope Street in the original LaFontaine formed two ministries in 1854 subdivision plan, and changed to 1842-3 and 1848-51. See Augusta, Bald­ Manning Avenue in 1888. win. Phoebe, Willcocks. Nassau: Possibly for the eldest son of St. Andrew: After the patron saint of Ogle R. Gowan (1803-76), first grand Scotland. master of the Grand Orange Lodge of Spa dina: For Spadina, the home built British North America and M.P. for in 1818 on the brow of Davenport Hill by Leeds County intermittently from 1836- Dr. William Warren Baldwin: "a very 61. He later moved to Toronto and lived commodious house in the Country - I at the corner of Augusta Avenue. His have called the place Spadina, the In­ son was named in honour of William of dian word for Hill - or Mont." Dr. Orange, a member of the house ofNas­ Baldwin took the name from the Ojibway sau. Nassau Street was called Cambr­ word "Ishapedenah." It was always idge Street until 1876. See Oxford. pronounced "Spa-deena" by the Bald­ Oxford: After the English university. win family, the only possible pronuncia­ Next to it used to be Cambridge Street tion because there is no hard "i" in the (now Nassau). For a time ca. 1870 Ojibway language. Baldwin "cut out an Oxford Street was called Augustus. avenue through the woods all the way so Palmerston: Lord Palmerston, prime that we can see the vessels passing up ministerofEngland, 1855-8. In theorigi­ and down the bay." See Baldwin. nal subdivision plans, the street from Willcocks: William Willcocks (1736- Queen to College was called Muter, and 1813), a native of County Cork, who in from College to Bloor, Ontario. Both 1793 was granted park lot 15, the prop­ were changed to Palmerston Avenue in erty from today's Queen to Bloor be­ 1888. The section from College to Bloor tween Huron Street and Spadina Ave­ became Palmerston Boulevard in 1950. nue. He was an early merchant at York Phoebe: Phoebe Willcocks, the second and its first postmaster. He sold the daughter of William Willcocks, and the park lot to first cousin, Peter Russell, in wife of William Warren Baldwin. Born 1802. His two daughters, Phoebe and in Ireland, she came to Upper Canada Maria, inherited the property with the with her family ca. 1801 and married in Russell estate in 1822. See Baldwin, 1803. Phoebe had five sons, including Phoebe.

44