More Lost Toronto in colour

[chriskayTO]

Wow, you're not kidding - this is an amazing collection! I'm only a fraction of the way into the shots, and already there's a collection of pictures from 1983 in Liberty Village that are just spectacular. I'm having trouble tearing myself away so that I can get on with my day.

 

[yonderbean]

I know what you mean. I've found a great collection of photos from the late 1970s into the 1990s on this Flickr user's photostream. For anyone who likes looking at historical photos of Toronto online, the collection is a must-see. They're photos taken by an archivist, perhaps working at the City archives. They're mostly black and white but feature aspects of Toronto rarely photographed by the public: storefronts, abandoned buildings, and Victorian residential and industrial areas. For instance, there are some great photos of Mill Street and the Distillery District in the 1980s when it was an unrefined and dirty industrial area. I also found old photos of the Stockyards by search for photos on St. Clair Avenue West, which I found meaningful as a Junction resident.

That's the amazing collection of Patrick Cummings, featured in this article in the globe recently.

He's also got work showing in Contact right now, at Eclectic Revival in the Junction: Link here.

 

[Blovertis]

Fascinating. Here's a fellow who developed a taste for urban decay long before it became voguish.

I loved how many of his shots of Liberty Village and the West Don Lands showed auto wrecks just lying there on the street. These areas of the city were apparently so forsaken that no one could be bothered to have them hauled away.

 

[Edward Skira]

Having them in black and white helps the mood.

 

[LowPolygon]

I know what you mean. I've found a great collection of photos from the late 1970s into the 1990s on this Flickr user's photostream. For anyone who likes looking at historical photos of Toronto online, the collection is a must-see. They're photos taken by an archivist, perhaps working at the City archives. They're mostly black and white but feature aspects of Toronto rarely photographed by the public: storefronts, abandoned buildings, and Victorian residential and industrial areas. For instance, there are some great photos of Mill Street and the Distillery District in the 1980s when it was an unrefined and dirty industrial area. I also found old photos of the Stockyards by search for photos on St. Clair Avenue West, which I found meaningful as a Junction resident.

thank you for pointing those out to me. i know Pat Cummins but didn't know he had a flickr site. he's amassed a very important body of work over the years, just by sticking to a very simple paradigm. i love the earliest one's from 1983 or so. outside of his urbanist work he also has some pretty amazing photos of the punk and art rock scene in toronto in the late 70's, great live band photographs, great early Queen street portraits. outside of toronto he has some absolutely staggering photos of Soho in New York in the darkest days of the late 70's before the loft conversions and galleries started to happen. Soho looks like the scariest place on earth! be nice to see some of those on his flickr site too....

 

[junctionist]

It's good to see some recognition because his work is very important documentation project of neighbourhoods which have changed dramatically over the last decades. It would be unfortunate if only a few people saw the undertaking. He also has some more recent photos of esoteric interest like ordinary street tagging and smashed up pop cans. I can imagine that his other photography of subject matter like derelict New York in the 197-s and the rock scene in Toronto is of interest to those communities. I'll definitely visit Eclectic Revival this week to see more.

 

[Edward Skira]

I assume this building still exists under new cladding.

 

[adma]

I've been trying to recall, too, whether that was a strip/rebuild rather than a total-demolition affair; the form's roughly the same, after all...

 

[west_end_kid]

I'm prety sure I remember it being a rebuild. If you look at the support colums, the layout looks to be identical.

 

[seemsartless]

Not exactly lost, but here's the only photo I've seen of the New City Hall under construction (with a yet another reminder that the photographer usually seems to be male - do a search for Centreville in the City of Toronto Archives to see what I mean - that miniature train never looked minature-er!)

 

[Goldie]

Toronto's Twin Towers. Wow!!!

 

[adma]

That's Mad Men-era brassieres for you.

 

[thecharioteer]

In light of the recent competition for the North St. Lawrence Market, a few pictures moving backwards in time:

Construction of the "new" north market in 1900:

Original north market (between 1885 and 1895):

 

[adma]

Interesting how in the overhead view, St Lawrence Hall is already cleaned; while the following ground-level view shows it pre-restoration--unless, judging by its "fresh" appearance, the cupola was restored first...

 

[reetdoontoon]

Man Oh Man Alive!
That Gooderham Flatiron building sure does look lonely.
Excellent post.