Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

[Goldie]

I discovered the something the other day that I thought might be of some interest, namely that the Nordheimer's had a family burial vault (and quite a lovely one) on Glen Edyth Drive which seems to have been covered over and forgotten till some contractors stumbled upon it in 2006 at which time archeologists were called in.

The detailed report along with maps and photos is at http://www.iasi.to/reports.htm

That's a wonderful item, ambleDexterous.
Anyone interested in modern archeology (and the associated mysteries) will appreciate your tip.
That long-lost family burial vault story reminded me of the many time capsules that have been buried, lost and forgotten.
Also worth studying are the reports on the Fort York and Queen's Wharf digs - also at http://www.iasi.to/reports.htm.

 

[Mustapha]

September 8 Then and Now.



Then. Bond and Shuter. c1910. 'South wall of Parsonage, Metropolitan Church'. etc. Photo sourced by wwwebster.

Now. June 2011.

Whoops, forgot to post this.

 

[brewster]

Love this Mustapha , the addition on the front looks to match perfect but not a big fan of the windows top left of the church.

 

[brewster]

Zion Wexford--Lawrence East north side between Warden and Birchmount

 

[Mustapha]

Love this Mustapha , the addition on the front looks to match perfect but not a big fan of the windows top left of the church.

Those 'fortress' windows [my term], so small. It must be an oven in there during the summer..

 

[Mustapha]

Zion Wexford--Lawrence East north side between Warden and Birchmount

The Then was taken from across the street right? Amazing. Lawrence was just a track.

 

[Goldie]

Zion Wexford--Lawrence East north side between Warden and Birchmount

Here's a later view of the same road:

 

[Mustapha]

Sep 9 Then and Now.



Then. c1891. 25 Front street east. 'Warehouse of Messrs. Hickson, Duncan & Co.' I wonder what kind of trade they were in? 'Fancy Goods' - what's that?

Now. June 2011. This is 27 Front W, so I think I'm in the ballpark.

 

[brewster]

Here's a later view of the same road:

Nice one Goldie. Not much of a road in the 40's let alone the track of land it was in the 1890's. Got your message and I think I responded , still learning how to navigate this site.

 

[brewster]

The Then was taken from across the street right? Amazing. Lawrence was just a track.

You are correct Mustapha. In all of Scarborough there isn't much over 100 years old , I hope they can hang onto the few remaining houses and churches they have. This heritage farm house at the N/E corner of Midland and Ellesmere was recently torn down.

 

[Goldie]

You are correct Mustapha. In all of Scarborough there isn't much over 100 years old , I hope they can hang onto the few remaining houses and churches they have.

This one is 147 years old - and the following, 144.

 

[NomoreaTorontonian]

Fancy goods. A term which covered a whole lot of things in the 1860s. There were 25 merchants in fancy goods in Mitchell's Directory (1864). Some of them went into quite a bit of detail as to what they sold in the bigger alphabetical directory, but just now I couldn't find an interesting one to quote from, darn it. From memory, they were a sort of offshoot of the dry goods trade and dealt in trimmings, sewing supplies like needles, threads and scissors, etc. Some of them mentioned selling straw bonnets and hats. One was also a barber, another a bookseller. Many of the address were in St Lawrence Arcade and on the east side of Yonge, north of Queen.
Most dry goods merchants in Toronto were Scots and this was also true of fancy goods sellers. A term known in England was "Scottish pedlar"--a Scotsman who travelled from town to town with a pack on his back selling dressmaking necessities and the like from door to door--a travelling "fancy goods" salesman. Even into the 20th century the big dry goods firms in the vicinity of St Lawrence Market employed Scottish pedlars who had found their way across to Toronto--my grandfather was a commercial traveller with Gordon and McKay for 25 years after he arrived in 1903.

 

[Anna]

Here's a later view of the same road:

I like the little 'bridge' over Massey Creek and the crossing for that rail spur that used to go through there.

I've seen the before picture before - there was a question as to what those kids were looking at with the paper in front of their faces - the heavy equipment? - and what was it doing?

 

[Mustapha]

You are correct Mustapha. In all of Scarborough there isn't much over 100 years old , I hope they can hang onto the few remaining houses and churches they have. This heritage farm house at the N/E corner of Midland and Ellesmere was recently torn down.

In a way, one can't blame property owners for tearing down an outmoded building on a lot that has become centrally located or strategic. Imagine having a retail/service space in an old building like this - surrounded by the sleek new and shiny - how inviting would it be to potential customers? Not very, I think, not in this day and age. And, there can be only be a limited number of restaurant business entrepreneurs in Scarborough willing to do the 'Stone Cottage' thing that Goldie has shown us.

It's interesting to me how small law firms have a penchant in North America for locating themselves in downtown 'heritage' type buildings - usually former homes - saving the building from teardown or at least postponing the inevitable.

brewster, your pictures show how the tree and hedge on the left in both pictures have survived down until the moment of the bulldozer, so we lost more than a historic farm house.

 

[wwwebster]

I wonder what kind of trade they were in?

Attached is an ad from the January 1890 issue of Canadian Druggist.