Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

[Mustapha]

Here's another here and now technique, not about Toronto, but about "Wonderful London"

http://vimeo.com/93120068

Now that is very, very cool. London, another one of my favourite cities. Only been three times. I guess I should consider myself lucky...

 

[Long Island Mike]

Then and Now in Toronto...Always good..and thoughts about Italian-Americans in NYC...

Then.


Photo from 1890ish. A Toronto Public Library picture.




Holland House.

http://books.google.ca/books?id=-R4...lland house wellington street toronto&f=false

Wellington Street, S side between Bay and York. Built 1831, demolished 1904. This is the S side of the house looking N. In this picture Wellington Street would be behind the house. It's interesting that whatever kind of coating it was that was applied mimicking cut stone is falling off by the time this photo was taken.








Now. February 2014.

The various maps at UTer plink's Goads Maps webpage helped me approximate the present day location - the E side of 79 Wellington W; also known as the TD South Tower.

There was an interim building(s) on this site before the TD Tower was built in the 1970s.. I'll see if I can find a picture later.




So, it's the Victoria Day Weekend again. I wonder if they will be doing the Monday noon artillery gun salute at the north end of Queens Park as they usually do. I'll wander over for a look-see anyways. Strangely, small children, especially the ones about age four and up seem to delight in the noise. It's all fun and games until a war starts but in the meantime, the crack of the guns, shouted orders and waft of smoke is weirdly exciting.



In my childhood I spent much time in New York City's Chinatown - my grandfather had friends from the 'home village' there so we went often. 'Little Italy' was/is just to the north of Chinatown and I remember the hub bub of the 50s 60s and 70s in these two areas well. That's why I always posting links to the history of New York City. I've finally explained my fixation. Here is another New York City history link with old pictures to look at:



http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/on-mulberry-street-a-nuanced-view-of-italian-americans/

I wish I could cite where I read this factoid: but someone did a survey in Little Italy recently and they could not find anyone who was actually born in Italy living in Little Italy...

Mustapha: As usual good Toronto Then and Now comparisons...As you know this has become one of my favorite
UT sections because of the history of Toronto that is here - I never fail to learn something fascinating about Toronto...

The mention of Manhattan's Little Italy caught my eye - the NYT articles were very interesting in that the writers
could not find Italian-Americans living there that emigrated themselves from Italy...It shows how many generations
have come and gone since their ancestors came to New York City - I knew that Little Italy itself was shrinking
primarily because Chinatown next door was growing...I have also learned that some of NYC's other Italian enclaves
like Bensonhurst and Bay Ridge in Brooklyn and Belmont in The Bronx are also losing their large Italian base to other
ethnic groups - Bensonhurst for example is now becoming more like Brighton Beach nearby attracting a large Russian
immigrant community...Many Italian New Yorkers have moved to places like Staten Island - which is 40 percent Italian-
American - and further into central New Jersey and down south to Florida...

What we are seeing is how some older ethnic groups adapt to their adopted country and how they are replaced with
newer immigrants that settle in specific areas over time...LI MIKE

 

[r937]

apologies if this has been posted before, i trust it's worth seeing again...

Time -- A simulated time-lapse created with elements from thousands of pictures, each scene starts with a historical photograph from the Toronto Archives.

 

[Goldie]

Time -- A simulated time-lapse created with elements from thousands of pictures, each scene starts with a historical photograph from the Toronto Archives.

A truly wonderful video - thanks Rudy.

 

[DSC]

A truly wonderful video - thanks Rudy.

Yes, absolutely WONDERFUL!

 

[thecharioteer]

Then.


Photo from 1890ish. A Toronto Public Library picture.




Holland House.

http://books.google.ca/books?id=-R4...lland house wellington street toronto&f=false

Wellington Street, S side between Bay and York. Built 1831, demolished 1904. This is the S side of the house looking N. In this picture Wellington Street would be behind the house. It's interesting that whatever kind of coating it was that was applied mimicking cut stone is falling off by the time this photo was taken.








Now. February 2014.

The various maps at UTer plink's Goads Maps webpage helped me approximate the present day location - the E side of 79 Wellington W; also known as the TD South Tower.

There was an interim building(s) on this site before the TD Tower was built in the 1970s.. I'll see if I can find a picture later.

Been thinking about Holland House since your post last week, Mustapha. Though it was not a particularly skillful example of the Gothic Revival style (as compared to Strawberry Hill House in London), its place in the Bay/Wellington/York neighbourhood illustrates how rapidly the area changed over its 70+ years of existence.

It appears in the 1842 Cane map with gardens extending to Front Street and views of the lake:



The earliest photo of it is from the famous 1856 Rossin House panorama. The railroad has already appeared south of Front:



As illustrated in the 1858 Boulton map:



1870:




1880:



1885:



By the 1880's, the Queen's Hotel has been built on Front Street (site of the Royal York), and from its gardens the rear of Holland House can be seen:



By 1893, the house is surrounded by warehouses and manufacturers:



1903:



And narrowly misses being swept away by the Fire of 1904:



By 1910:

All gone:



As can be seen in this photo of Wellington looking east from York in 1912:



Today:

 

[Anna]

There was an interim building(s) on this site before the TD Tower was built in the 1970s.. I'll see if I can find a picture later.

Are these the buildings you are referring to?

A bit east of 79 Wellington West & now the site of Royal Bank Plaza North Tower (1976) taken from the TD Centre (1968) - the Boiler Room was #61 but the buildings match up with the Charioteer's 1910 map.

They also can be seen in this photo of the TD Tower construction from the Globe and Mail/Panda.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/multimedia/moment-in-time-td-centre-opens-in-toronto/article18649691/

 

[thecharioteer]

Thanks, Anna! I searched and searched for that colour pic and couldn't find it!

Here's an early pic of the Brock Building, SW corner of Bay and Wellington, which was rebuilt after the 1904 fire:





As can be seen in this photo from Anna's link:




And an earlier pic from 1867 of the same corner (Ontario Archives), with Holland House peeking out to the right:

 

[Anna]

Thanks, Anna! I searched and searched for that colour pic and couldn't find it!

Here's an early pic of the Brock Building, SW corner of Bay and Wellington, which was rebuilt after the 1904 fire:

I can find colour pics of the Brock Building too

all of them came from the - Buildings, Part 2 - 1966-1972 collection.

 

[adma]

I can see that between the tower construction view and the street views, the Boiler Room lost its western neighbour.

 

[Mustapha]

That was an interesting exchange, thecharioteer and Anna... I think we all benefited.

I'm also fascinated by that streetlamp.

 

[Mustapha]

Then.


'Demolition of Lennox building on Bond St., N of Dundas St., November 1978.'

Now. February 2014.

Heya gang it's Doors Open Toronto again.

http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/c...0f89RCRD&vgnextfmt=default&WT.rd_id=doorsopen

For me the vault at One King West is always worth a repeat visit. Photo worthy too.





I did my own personalized 'Doors Open' a few days ago. An interesting and historical place that included a toasted club on white.

The fries were ordinary enough but the sandwich used meat off a roasted chicken - like the meat in the hot chicken sandwich [sliced white bread, gravy, peas] that used to be available at Swiss Chalet. Terrific; as was the cole slaw. I won't say 'slaw'; that's so American.

 

[adma]

Then.


'Demolition of Lennox building on Bond St., N of Dundas St., November 1978.'

Actually, 1981 (Bond Street Congregational)

http://www.blogto.com/city/2012/01/top_10_buildings_lost_to_fire_in_toronto/

 

[M II A II R II K]

[video=vimeo;9733014]http://www.vimeo.com/9733014[/video]

 

[FAW]

What happened to the images?

Paul

Thanks, Anna! I searched and searched for that colour pic and couldn't find it!

Here's an early pic of the Brock Building, SW corner of Bay and Wellington, which was rebuilt after the 1904 fire:





As can be seen in this photo from Anna's link:



And an earlier pic from 1867 of the same corner (Ontario Archives), with Holland House peeking out to the right: