JasonParis
Moderator
I "think" it may have been used only when the CNE was open at one time. I have a vague recollection of it.
I always thought that bridge still served some industry on the west side of the 410, but perhaps I'm wrong.
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Lost Neighbourhood: Blondin Avenue
- Thread starter Lone Primate
- Start date
urbandreamer
recession proof
Interesting. Love the homes up there (I am not familar with that area at all.) I wonder how much a 1950's bungalow in the area sells for today? That's the kind of suburban home I could live in!
I sort of have a similar interest to yours--but have never taken it to this level of detailed research. Of course, the area I grew up was mostly rural and facts were hard to come by.
I sort of have a similar interest to yours--but have never taken it to this level of detailed research. Of course, the area I grew up was mostly rural and facts were hard to come by.
Skeezix
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Given that one hold-out house remains, I can only imagine that a developer bought out everyone, rather than a public action of some kind (in which case, the hold-out house would presumably have been expropriated).
adma
Superstar
The Old Cummer bridge--I'd suspect it might even be 1910s, 1920s or something (have the railings been renewed lately?).
In a similar vein: down below the Lawrence/Bayview high-level, a concrete arch on the Glendon College grounds, don't know whether it's a former Lawrence path or former Bayview path or what...
In a similar vein: down below the Lawrence/Bayview high-level, a concrete arch on the Glendon College grounds, don't know whether it's a former Lawrence path or former Bayview path or what...
Lone Primate
Active Member
It's poured concrete. There's a fairly intricate inlay to it; I wouldn't put it much earlier than the 1950s. That's a guess, but it's ornate enough to be urban, yet simple enough to be rural. Given that it was superseded in 1968, it's not too recent. But it's stood up very well; the only change I've seen in it is the removal of graffiti. It strikes me as the kind of improvement the Township of North York would have undertaken after the war, but not much before that. I know there was a bridge, and even a mill in the vicinity, in the late 1800s, belonging to the Kummer family... hence the name.
It's not an arch. And I know the bridge you mean. It's this one...
More here.
adma
Superstar
As your link affirms, it *is* an arch--just not a "through" arch. (Unless you thought I was referring to the high-level as an arch.)
As far as Old Cummer goes; I still holds it might be substantially earlier--and judging by said "intricate inlay", I'm even wondering if it's by Frank Barber, who did a lot of fascinating concrete (and even non-concrete, like the Leaside Viaduct and Sewells Suspension) bridgework in Ontario in the early 20th century...
As far as Old Cummer goes; I still holds it might be substantially earlier--and judging by said "intricate inlay", I'm even wondering if it's by Frank Barber, who did a lot of fascinating concrete (and even non-concrete, like the Leaside Viaduct and Sewells Suspension) bridgework in Ontario in the early 20th century...
Lone Primate
Active Member
It's possible. But it doesn't have the wear of anything that old (compare it to the bridge on the West Don at Lawrence and Bayview, which WAS built in the 1910s or 20s), and remember, it's been off the grid for the better part of 40 years. There hasn't been much call to keep ti up since the 60s, really. Anything's possible but the state of the thing suggests to me it's more recent.
adma
Superstar
The suspiciously "fresh" state of the railings in that photo indicate that there might have been some renewal done over the past generation (cf. the Middle Rd Bridge, etc).
And if there's anything to motivate "keeping it up", it's that (unlike the Lawrence/Bayview bridge) it's within/serves public park property...
And if there's anything to motivate "keeping it up", it's that (unlike the Lawrence/Bayview bridge) it's within/serves public park property...
Lone Primate
Active Member
There's no question they've done restorative work on the Old Cummer bridge, at least cleaning up the graffiti. I'm not sure how much structural work they'd have to do. It hasn't borne anything like vehicle traffic in most of 30 years. Even the bridge at Lawrence and Bayview, lost in the trees since the 40s, isn't that far gone, and I'm pretty sure nobody's bothered a whit with it. Rain will take its toll, obviously, but if you're not stressing a bridge, it really stretches out it lifespan... well, obviously.
Railroads notwithstanding, most of the road bridges I'm aware of from before the war that still exist are concrete-clad rebar of some sort. The ones I've seen that are bare steel frames I tend to think of as more recent... they seem to have used a lot of them in the fringes of expanding urban centres, almost with an eye to their transitoriness. They replaced something makeshift that wouldn't have stood the traffic, but were themselves only meant to last a generation or so till the 'real' bridge was built. That seems to have been a fairly common paradigm across the GTA. Lots of what we now think of as indispensable 'main' roads had nothing little bridges on them in the early part of the last century, replaced with modest but sturdier structures in the 30s, 40s, and 50s, and then those themselves were replaced with the tall, broad, valley-spanning box girder constructions we have today from the 60s onward.
Still, anything's possible. It would take a lot of research to answer the question for just about any one of these bridges, and records can get pretty scarce when municipalities change names, borders, and statuses as often as they have in this part of the country. I could be wrong about all this; it's just how it seems to me.
Jarrek
Active Member
Burnhamthorpe Road - Oakville - Victim of the 407
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=43.460189,-79.783841&spn=0.002071,0.004334&t=k&z=18&om=1
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=43.460189,-79.783841&spn=0.002071,0.004334&t=k&z=18&om=1
Lone Primate
Active Member
Fascinating stretch; someone pointed it out to me last year. Visited it myself. It's not easy to get to.
adma
Superstar
Are you thinking of Bailey bridges, maybe? (There's one surviving on Old Finch near the Sewells suspension.)
ShonTron
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Lone Primate,
Some of the stuff you're writing about is perfect for other blogs such as Spacing Wire.Would you be up for me writing some summaries of your posts, like Blondin, Second Line WHS and Indian Line, and linking to your flickr pages? I find your stuff absolutely fascinating, and I am sure others would as well.
Some of the stuff you're writing about is perfect for other blogs such as Spacing Wire.Would you be up for me writing some summaries of your posts, like Blondin, Second Line WHS and Indian Line, and linking to your flickr pages? I find your stuff absolutely fascinating, and I am sure others would as well.
Lone Primate
Active Member
Some of the bridges we had at the fringes of the city were Bailey bridges, and I gather they were usually meant to be temporary. There's another one on the abandoned track of Don Mills Road as it descends into the valley; it used to carry traffic one lane at a time over the CN line. It probably replaced a wooden structure; my guess is it was put at in an era when there was already planning in the works for something more permanent.
Lone Primate
Active Member
It's kind of you to say, ST.
I'd be flattered if you did. These things are extremely synergistic... look at all the new things I've learned and seen in just bringing it up... the shot of the bridge at Flindon, the image of the trolley turn at Blondin... Imagine what other people might know!