Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

[Conrad Black]

You're welcome, and I wish I could join in on some of the conversations such as the most recent one about the St. Lawrence area. Alas I have to stay mute - it's not my area of training

That's more than OK. Your thread is the basis of said wonderful conversation.

 

[junctionist]

The loss of these bodies of water seems regrettable, like the streams downtown. In some cases it was inevitable given how dirty some became and the drive to develop land, but the urban landscape today would be more interesting with them. There has been recent movement to resurface urban bodies of water, which would be interesting to see if it gains traction in Toronto.

 

[Mustapha]

The loss of these bodies of water seems regrettable, like the streams downtown. In some cases it was inevitable given how dirty some became and the drive to develop land, but the urban landscape today would be more interesting with them. There has been recent movement to resurface urban bodies of water, which would be interesting to see if it gains traction in Toronto.

I was reading an online article about how a drowning death spurred the infill of this pond. I wonder if this pond had an inlet and an outlet. If it had a outlet to Lake Ontario, this pond would have had perch, sunfish or catfish. Young perch escape the heat of summer days by finding shade from overhanging trees - those willlows - or perhaps under that plank bridge. I taught my kids this up at the Penetanguishene docks. Hopefully they will teach my grand kids. And of course, barbless hooks to allow release of the fish with no lasting damage.

I wonder how many older people have memories of fishing here. Young boys and girls of the time would have spent many hours here.

'Resurfaced' bodies of water / streams are often canalized. Nothing wrong with this at all. Safety barriers can be put in place.

 

[NomoreaTorontonian]

Thank goodness they never filled in the lagoons at Centre Island for safety's sake.

Ex-Islander as well as NomoreaTorontonian.

 

[thecharioteer]

Mustapha, thank you for my suprise of the day; I had no idea that pond existed in the east end! Love that they named the east leg "The Serpentine"; the east end's version of Hyde Park, eh?

Here it is in the 1910 Goad Atlas:

To answer your question, it would appear that there was no outlet to Lake Ontario from this pond:

 

[wwwebster]

To answer your question, it would appear that there was no outlet to Lake Ontario from this pond:

Actually, this 1889 map shows the connection from Small's Pond to Ashbridge's Bay:

http://prod.library.utoronto.ca/maplib/digital/G_3524_T61_N46_1889_R.jpg

The plan below shows a deep underlying cut in the shale at that point, which must date back to the Admiralty phase of Lake Ontario, when it was considerably lower than it is now:

https://gencat4.eloquent-systems.co...esource/ser372/ss0025/s0372_ss0025_it0103.jpg

Terrorists, please do not view that image.

 

[Urban Shocker]

Even though the visual evidence of the creeks and streams that once cut through the city has mostly gone, some of the aural evidence remains - in the rush of water heard through the metal grates beneath your feet when you're on Logan around Bain, for instance, and further north west on - if I recall correctly - Hampton. The Bain co-op was built over one such buried stream.

 

[Long Island Mike]

Miscellany Toronto Then And Now...These pics...

Charioteer: I like that pic at King/Bay in 1965-The CCC van looks like a Ford Econoline to me.

Goldie: What is the address or location of that angular building?
Let's call it the FLATANGLE building!

Mustapha-Those latest pics 10/26 look to be early to mid 60s to me.
LI MIKE

 

[Mustapha]

Even though the visual evidence of the creeks and streams that once cut through the city has mostly gone, some of the aural evidence remains - in the rush of water heard through the metal grates beneath your feet when you're on Logan around Bain, for instance, and further north west on - if I recall correctly - Hampton. The Bain co-op was built over one such buried stream.

http://www.lostrivers.ca/

Quite right; in my section of town the rush of water underneath Bedford Park Avenue in front of Blessed Sacrament school...

 

[Mustapha]

Thank goodness they never filled in the lagoons at Centre Island for safety's sake.
Ex-Islander as well as NomoreaTorontonian.

I wonder if you can still rent rowing boats over at the Island. Haven't been in 20 years. Every dating couple on a budget did the rowboats.

thecharioteer, wwwebster: Those are priceless maps. Interesting that by the time of the 1910 Goad map, the outlet from Small Pond had been buried.

'Serpentine'. How funny. And provincially pretentious. To borrow a phrase from a certain American senator: 'I knew the Serpentine, sir, and that is no Serpentine'.

 

[thecharioteer]

Thank goodness they never filled in the lagoons at Centre Island for safety's sake.

Ex-Islander as well as NomoreaTorontonian.

On the contrary. The evolution of the Toronto Islands is one of continual landfill and resculpting of the lagoons:

1818:

1848:

1894:

1898:

1910:

2006:

Close-up on Hanlan's:

1910:

 

[Aladone]

What Could Have Been...

University Remix 2

 

[Mustapha]

University Remix 2

Superb composition. London Ontario had a downtown armoury; now a hotel; but they still saved theirs. Coulda been, indeed.





thecharioteer... Until you posted those Toronto Island maps, I never really paid any attention to their man-made historical topographical evolution. Most most interesting how Hanlan's Point really was a point at one time. One of the maps shows the racetrack and another map the hotel that existed there in the past.




Nomoreatorontonian... you being a former Islander, please check out the Toronto Archives again:
http://gencat4.eloquent-systems.com...6000_11222_11222&MenuName=Image+search+screen

They've thrown up many more images since last I looked. Use search word 'island'.






October 28 addition.



Then: Gerrard, 1st lane E of Broadview, looking S. October 1960. 49 years ago. Where's LIMike? I hope he likes vintage two-tone cars as much as I do.

Now: October 2009.

 

[Urban Shocker]

Jun Jun, a favourite local Chinese restaurant of mine even before the smoking ban made restaurants much healthier places to eat, used to be downstairs in that building on the left of the Broadview/Gerrard laneway that's now a supermarket. It closed in the spring of 1999.

Was that a Chinese laundry, d'ya think, Mustapha? They offered a 'complete bachelor service'!

 

[Mustapha]

Was that a Chinese laundry, d'ya think, Mustapha? They offered a 'complete bachelor service'!

Innocent days, those, that you could post a sign like that, without fear of double entendre.


In our laundry, there were indeed 'bachelor' customers who brought in everything, even socks. Imagine sending out your socks to be cleaned now. But that was in the day when home washers and laundromats weren't prevalent. Some elderly men brought in detachable shirt collars - the idea being that you would wear a clean collar to present daily to the world but wear the shirt bodies for a few days. Indeed, every inbound soiled package of shirts of this configuration always had more collars than shirts. This would have been the early 60s so these men would have been born around the turn of the century. My grandfather did well cleaning these collars. Clean was not enough, they had to have a matt 'sheen' and be stiff. There were special presses for this; an iron, ironing board and spray starch weren't enough.

Now you've really got me going. I think that one of the reasons the TV show 'Mad Men' has spurred a small fashion revival in period fashion is that you never see a white stiff cotton collar and thin soled black shoes that take a shine anymore.

OK, rant off. Back to our regular programming tommorrow.