Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

[Earlscourt_Lad]

I also have a question. If I were to do research on my House in the Toronto Archives, would they have EVERYTHING? Like when the house was built + interiors?

Depending on the age you can find building permits and other information. Though it can be a bit of a mess, especially the farther back you go. It took me several hours to find the permits for the house I was researching. It seems, and someone who is more knowledgeable might like to comment, that permits could be issued well in advance of building. For example, the house I was looking at was finished in 1917, but the permits were from 1914.

In terms of photographs, it's less likely that there would be anything, but you never know until you look.

 

[ReiwaMagi]

Interesting that in the first picture there is what looks like a school building - the original Ryerson Public School? - quite close to Dundas. A later building is there now.

In the second picture there is the car repair garage - it's still in business.

Actually theres just lots of grass in that part of the school ground now. Ryerson Public school moved into the other building + Ugly 1970s Addon later.

Also, Charles G. Fraser used to have a School house too until it was demolished in 1995/1996/around the time when the gymnasium addon was built. I still retain my memories when I was in Kindergarten.

I could probably try get a picture of this 'School House' in Charles G. Fraser property, but I gotta look at old photos. I know that theres a photo of my older brother when he was young and his friend, and the School House is to the left of them in the distance.

Also @Earlscourt_Lad The house that i'm living in seems to be built in the late 19th century because the house was already there as of 1907. I'm guessing I'll have a difficult time?

 

[Earlscourt_Lad]

Also @Earlscourt_Lad The house that i'm living in seems to be built in the late 19th century because the house was already there as of 1907. I'm guessing I'll have a difficult time?

That's out of my area, but the staff at the Archives are exceptionally helpful and they'd be better placed to guide you along. It can be a great deal of fun researching that stuff.

 

[ReiwaMagi]

Well, the Archive is closed on weekends now, so the next chance I can go to the Archives is during Doors Open on the 29th of May, or in October..

Also, while in the topic of school houses, heres the picture I promised of my older brother when he was young and his friend taken around 1987/1988 by my parents I think. The school house is actually to the right of this picture, and not to the left as I thought.

I also checked all of Google, and there is no records of this School House in CGF Property anywhere.

 

[Goldie]

Originally Posted by TKWizard
I also have a question. If I were to do research on my House in the Toronto Archives, would they have EVERYTHING? Like when the house was built + interiors?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

If I'm not mistaken, the most comprehensive records of property (homes) in Toronto are in the Land Deeds and Titles offices - this may not be the corect name of the repository, but the records are available for all real-estate transactions.
Those records do not usually contain any photos, but I believe they do have dates and selling prices of each transfer of lands. I've often intended to study the history of my parents home in East York but have just been too lazy to search for the repository of those records. I suspect that the home where I was born was built around 1930 and sold (new) for about $3,000. The last sale is probably registered in the $400,000 range!
Some day I'll check those records to confirm my guesses.

 

[Mustapha]

May 6 addition.



Then. Ryerson and Carr. SE corner. December 5, 1939. Boarded up and ready to be demolished? The Now building looks to be early 60s; I wonder what, if anything, occupied that corner in the 40s and 50s?

Now. March 2010.

 

[ReiwaMagi]

May 6 addition.



Then. Ryerson and Carr. SE corner. December 5, 1939. Boarded up and ready to be demolished? The Now building looks to be early 60s; I wonder what, if anything, occupied that corner in the 40s and 50s?

Now. March 2010.

The then picture was taken in the NE corner, and not the SE corner. *points to the CARR sign in the then pic.* It could possibly be the SW corner, but I have my doubts as the bungalows on the SW corner (one of my family's relatives lives in that corner) look quite 1930s ish and you would see the factory/warehouse not to far from it which was obviously around since the 1900s.

Google Maps correction time! Not so the correct perspective, but still..

 

[Mustapha]

The then picture was taken in the NE corner, and not the SE corner. *points to the CARR sign in the then pic.* It could possibly be the SW corner, but I have my doubts as the bungalows on the SW corner (one of my family's relatives lives in that corner) look quite 1930s ish and you would see the factory/warehouse not to far from it which was obviously around since the 1900s.

Google Maps correction time! Not so the correct perspective, but still..

Thanks TKWizard! I defer to someone who is intimately familiar with their old stomping grounds. My wife grew up on the other side of Spadina from you guys; she attended Ogden, Lord Landsdowne and Harbord.



May 7 addition.



Then. 925 Yonge. Picture taken in 1960. This building existed from 1840 to 1961. Like many pictures in the Toronto Archives, a photographer hastened to the location to take a picture just before the building became a memory.

Now. March 2010.

 

[adma]

Wasn't that shop in "No Mean City"?

Oh, and that modernist building to the right was Parkin's Pitney-Bowes building--it went down for the 90s Pomo urbanism seen in the present photo...

 

[wwwebster]

Wasn't that shop in "No Mean City"?

Yes; the former Paisley Shop.

 

[Mustapha]

May 8 addition.




Then. From the Toronto Archives: "CA. 1945. Item is an image of A Good Hotel located at 572 Bay St., on the west side, between Louisa St. and Dundas St. W."

This corner has been a parking lot for decades. I remember it being it so in the 60s.

Now. March 2010.

 

[ReiwaMagi]

May 8 addition.




Then. From the Toronto Archives: "CA. 1945. Item is an image of A Good Hotel located at 572 Bay St., on the west side, between Louisa St. and Dundas St. W."

This corner has been a parking lot for decades. I remember it being it so in the 60s.

Now. March 2010.

So close to The Ward...

No wonder they got knocked down early, then the Ford Hotel thereafter.

 

[Mustapha]

So close to The Ward...

No wonder they got knocked down early, then the Ford Hotel thereafter.

Those walkup apartments on the north side of Dundas.. appear in an archive photo taken (relying on memory here) about 1918 from the top of one of the Eaton factory buildings. Can't believe they have survived down to now, given their prime location.



May 9 addition. Goldie sent me the "Then" photo to post. It's a sketch but it shows the small descent that the streets around here make from Front street - the old shoreline.

Goldie: "I've been browsing through a PDF version of Illustrated Toronto,
Past and Present (published 1877) and was surprised to see this drawing
which shows the Coffin Block. I didn't know the current appearance of
the intersection at Front and Wellington had such a long history(180
years!).
But many UTers already know this, right?"

Now. May 2010.

 

[Mustapha]

May 10 addition.


Then. 3291 Yonge street. The year: 1949.

Now. April 2010. The original building is still there; now a pet store.

 

[LowPolygon]

your 'now' photo will be exhibit 1 in my pending litigation: PJ's Pets Inc vs. The Sane People of Toronto. That thing is like the apotheosis of asinine clutter, the Valhalla of visual overkill. its like bro, we get it--its a pet store, how many references to pets do we need? we got a guy with a rabbit on his head; cuddly three shot of beagle surrounded by 'Children of the Damned' aryan wannabe's; a mixed race kid with 'adobable newborn puppy'; another aryan mutant engaged in a tête-à-tête with a rabbit; a bony catalogue model walking 2 dalmatians; the only thing missing is the skinhead with muzzled pit bull for that 'downtown vibe'. At least there is a 'school' upstairs and not a happy ending rub and tug, in which case "next to you we're your pet's best friend" might have to be slightly modified, something like "we're next to you, petting your best friend"