On April 19, 1904, fire ripped through downtown Toronto in what is now the Financial District. It started in a tie factory. Wooden exterior fire-escapes and window-sills meant it spread quickly. New-fangled elevators became chimneys. Because of the strong winds and cold, ice congealed on the telegraph wires, the streets Read More →
Down south, it’s election time! Before Twitter, we relied on slower means of communications. Below, a crowd of concerned Ontarians await the result of the provincial elections on June 8, 1908, at the corner of Bay and Melinda. Creator: Unknown Date: 1908 Identifier: B 10-36a Format: Ephemera Rights: Public domain Read More →
On April 19, 1904, fire ripped through downtown Toronto in what is now the Financial District. It started in a tie factory. Wooden exterior fire-escapes and window-sills meant it spread quickly. New-fangled elevators became chimneys. Because of the strong winds and cold, ice congealed on the telegraph wires, the streets Read More →
Taken just a year and a few weeks after the Great Toronto Fire of 1904, this dramatic shot of the fire at the Canadian Feather & Mattress Company on Melinda St. just east of Bay Street, illustrates the difficulty that the new taller buildings posed to firefighters. The relatively newly-developed Read More →
Another snowy Thursday long ago… This week, a newspaper photo of Yonge Street, south of Temperance. The caption reads “REMOVING THE "BEAUTIFUL: Carting Thursday’s snow from downtown Toronto streets” (December 30, 1922). How à propos! Creator: Unknown Date: 1922 Identifier: X 65-97 Format: Ephemera Rights: Public domain Courtesy: Toronto Public Read More →
This picture, showing the construction of the Union Bank at the south east corner of Bay and King, appeared in the Toronto Evening Telegram on April 4, 1910. It was drawn by the celebrated Canadian artist Owen Staples. Creator: Staples, Owen, Canadian, 1866-1949 Date: 1910 Identifier: B 9-33a Format: Ephemera Read More →
In the mid 19th-Century, Rossin House Hotel was one of the most prestigious hotels in Toronto and one of the early city’s tallest structure. Located at the southeast corner of King and York Streets in Toronto, it was originally built in 1856. As this picture shows, it was destroyed by Read More →
Winter on Yonge St. in the 1870s looks just as cold as it does now! Fewer cars, more horses, perhaps… and electric lights replaced both types of gas streetlights you see here, at the intersection of Yonge and King. The advertisement (which used to be painted directly on the buildings) Read More →
In the summer of 1893, it was hot and it was dry. There was a drought, and that September the City’s water intake pipe broke. This meant that water had to be brought in by wagon—people would go out into the street to meet the wagon and fill their buckets, Read More →
In the summer of 1893, it was hot and it was dry. There was a drought, and that September the City’s water intake pipe broke. This meant that water had to be brought in by wagon—people would go out into the street to meet the wagon and fill their buckets, Read More →
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