HERITAGE ANALYSIS REPORT CARLAW AND DUNDAS DISTRICT LANDSCAPE AND PUBLIC REALM IMPROVEMENTS CITY OF TORONTO ONTARIO March 2016 Prepared for: City of Toronto Prepared by: HERITAGE ANALYSIS REPORT CARLAW AND DUNDAS DISTRICT LANDSCAPE AND PUBLIC REALM IMPROVEMENTS CITY OF TORONTO ONTARIO March 2016 Prepared for: City of Toronto Prepared by: Unterman McPhail Associates Heritage Resource Management Consultants 540 Runnymede Road Toronto, ON M6S 2Z7 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Purpose of Report 1 2.0 LOCATION 2 3.0 THEMATIC HISTORY 3 3.1 Industrial Development 3.1.1 Leslieville – Pre Industrialization 3 3.1.2 Carlaw-Dundas Industrialization: 1906-1914 5 3.1.3 The First and Second World Wars and Industrialization in the District 7 3.2 Transportation 9 3.2.1 Railway 9 3.2.2 Streetcar Extension 11 3.3 Residential Development 11 4.0 SUMMARY SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE DISTRICT 12 4.1 Women’s Contribution to the Workforce 12 4.2 James “Jimmie ” Simpson 12 5.0 HISTORICAL MAPS OF THE DISTRICT: 1850-1959 16 6.0 SUMMARY OF DISTRICT THEMES 25 6.1 Industrial History 25 6.2 Residential Development 27 7.0 POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTERPRETATION 28 SOURCES APPENDIX A: Carlaw & Dundas Landscape and Public Realm Heritage Resources Plan APPENDIX B: List of Streets named after Distinguished Persons APPENDIX C: List of Manufacturers APPENDIX D: Company Information APPENDIX E: Architectural Description & Photographs of Principal District Buildings APPENDIX F: Historical Photographs of the District APPENDIX G: Aerial Photographs 1947 - 2014 LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. Map showing the boundaries of the Carlaw-Dundas District [Schollen 2015]. 2 Figure 2. Wrigley Co. Factory, 1917 [City of Toronto Archives, Series 372, s0372, ss0001, ito246a]. 6 Figure 3. A view showing the existing rail siding on Dickens Avenue looking north. 8 Figure 4. Industrial chimney at 388 to 400 Carlaw Avenue. 8 Figure 5 Female workers at General Electric (Can.) c.1943. F 2082-1-2-6 9 Archives of Ontario, I0004899 Figure 6. View of Gerrard and Carlaw with the streetcar tracks curving north as part of the lost Harbord Line that once ran down Pape Avenue to Danforth Avenue, west on Riverdale Avenue, south on Carlaw Avenue, west on Gerrard Street to Broadview. This route was closed in 1966 when the Bloor-Danforth subway line was opened. [City of Toronto Archives, Series 71, s0071, it8093]. 11 Figure 7 Jimmy Simpson, Toronto’s 44th Mayor. en.wikipedia.org 15 Figure 8 Map of the Township of York in the County of York, 1851. 16 Figure 9. Tremaine Map, York, 1860 17 Figure 10. Map of the City of Toronto, Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of York, 1878. 18 Figure 11. Goad’s Atlas, Toronto 1884. 19 Figure 12. Toronto Railway Company's Map Showing Street Railway Lines, 1892. 20 Figure 13. Goad’s Atlas, Toronto 1899. 21 Figure 14. Goad’s Atlas, Toronto 1910. 22 Figure 15. Goad’s Atlas Toronto 1923. 23 Figure 16. Plan showing Boston Aveenue, westward to the CN Rail Corrider [City of Toronto Planning Board Atlas, c1959 24 Figure 17. Plan showing Pape Avenue westward to Pape Avenue [City of Toronto Planning Board Atlas, c1959]. 25 Figure 18. Remnant of railway marked “Dominion Wheel Foundries Ltd, 26 Toronto” found on Boston Avenue. Figure 19. Remnant railway spur line. 26 Figure 20. Carlaw Avenue Rail Underpass at Gerrard Street built in 1931. 26 Figure 21. Railway crossing signage. 26 Figure 22. A row of 1 ½ storey, semi-detached workers housing. 27 Figure 23. Brick, 2 ½ storey, semi-deatched houses at 176 and 178 PApe Avenue in the Toronto Bay & Gable style of the 1880s. 27 Heritage Analysis Report: Carlaw and Dundas District Landscape and Page 1 Public Realm Improvements, City of Toronto, Ontario 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose of Report Schollen & Company retained Unterman McPhail Associates Heritage Resource Management Consultants to participate in the completion of the Carlaw and Dundas District Public realm Improvements for the City of Toronto. In our role as the Cultural Heritage Consultant we are asked to complete a heritage study of the district to help inform a suite of public realm improvement projects that celebrate and highlight the area’s rich industrial heritage. The work comprised the review of existing cultural heritage studies and local histories, city directories, historical mapping including the late 19th century and 20th century Goad’s Atlas fire insurance plans, aerial photography, a discussion with local historian Joanne Doucette and a pedestrian survey of the extant buildings, and remnant railway infrastructure complemented with photography and a brief architectural description. The research incudes the following information; o a brief thematic historical overview; o a summary description some social history aspects of the area; o a summary description of the transit history of the area; o historical mapping of the study area; o identification of existing industrial properties; o identification of City listed or designated properties under the OHA; o a list of historical manufactures and the dates of operation; o a list of historical manufacturing types and associated business; o an architectural description of the existing industrial buildings; and o summary of potential interpretation opportunities in the study area. Acknowledgements We wish to thank the following for their assistance: Schollen and Co. (Markus Hillar), Joanne Doucette, Mark Laird, Councillor Paula Fletcher, City staff: Kelly Jones, Community Planning, City Planning; Sheila Boudreau, Urban Design, City Planning; Beatrice Saraga Taylor, Parks Development and Capital Projects, Parks, Forestry and Recreation. Also thank you to Marta O’Brien, Architectural Historian, who compiled the historical information contained in the Appendices A and B. Unterman McPhail Associates March 2016 Heritage Resource Management Consultants Heritage Analysis Report: Carlaw and Dundas District Landscape and Page 2 Public Realm Improvements, City of Toronto, Ontario 2.0 LOCATION The district outlined in this report is situated in Leslieville in the City of Toronto. The district is delineated by Gerrard Street East on the north, Queen Street East to the south, the CNR rail tracks on the west and Pape Avenue to the east. Figure 1. Map showing the boundaries of the Carlaw-Dundas District [Schollen 2015]. Unterman McPhail Associates March 2016 Heritage Resource Management Consultants Heritage Analysis Report: Carlaw and Dundas District Landscape and Page 3 Public Realm Improvements, City of Toronto, Ontario 3.0 THEMATIC HISTORY 3.1 Industrial Development 3.1.1 Leslieville - Pre Industrialization It was the First Nations, like the Kichigos of the Mississauga Nation, who were present when Euro-Canadian settlers came to the Leslieville area. First Nations have inhabited Leslieville for ten millennia or more. Different cultures with different languages hunted in the woods, fished in Ashbridge’s Bay and camped beside the little creeks. They introduced the settlers to the area. For more information on First Nations settlement in Toronto please see: (http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=ae5752cc66061410VgnVCM 10000071d60f89RCRD) From the mid to the end of the 19th century, the district, recognized as part of Leslieville, was known for three major industries: brickmaking, market gardens and livestock.1 The Brickenden Brothers, butchers and carriage makers, built handsome terraces of homes along Logan Avenue and Booth Avenue just north of Queen Street East in the latter 19th century.2 This study focuses on the unique industrial character of the existing buildings and the associated remnant rail infrastructure and how the settlement community has evolved. Market Gardening The 1850s to the 1870s were the height of the market gardening industry in the Leslieville area. As the population grew with immigrants arriving from Britain, the demand for farm products increased significantly. Kingston Road allowed produce to be easily transported to market and the arrival of the Grand Trunk Railway in 1854 provided access to wider markets for the local farmers and market gardeners. As the demand for market garden produce grew, new technology was adopted to expand yields, and the industry became established in the area. The market gardeners in the Leslieville area were small-scale producers of vegetables, fruit, flowers, bedding plants, exotic plants and shrubs and trees. For the most part, they sold their produce directly to an established customer base. Some sold to stores and at the St. Lawrence Market.3 A number were African Americans who had arrived in Toronto using the Underground Railroad network also operated market gardens in the area.4 1 Joanne Doucette, Pigs, flowers and brick: a history of Leslieville to 1920 (Toronto: 2011) 119. 2 Ibid., 152; and, Conversation with Joanne Doucette, November 2015. 3 Ibid., 75. 4 Conversation with Joanne Doucette, November 2015. Unterman McPhail Associates March 2016 Heritage Resource Management Consultants Heritage Analysis Report: Carlaw and Dundas District Landscape and Page 4 Public Realm Improvements, City of Toronto, Ontario Two prominent streets within the Carlaw and Dundas district, Pape Avenue and Logan Avenue, were named after local market gardeners. Joseph Pape (1815-1889) was one of Canada’s first florists and John Logan (1828-1905) owned a prominent market garden business.5 To the east of the district, George Leslie established the Toronto Nurseries in 1845. By the 1870s, Toronto Nurseries was advertised as the largest business of its kind in Canada. Leslie and his family operated a store that contained the Leslie Post Office and gave their name to the nearby community of Leslieville.6 Later, Lesliegrove Park, a small public park located on Queen Street East at Jones Avenue, was opened by as a public park in the early 1900s named after George Leslie.7 Another market gardener in the district was Patrick Fogarty who became a master gardener and florist with a business on Pape Avenue from 1866 to 1904.