Looking northwest along Court St from west of Church St in the St Lawrence neighbourhood of Toronto.
Both photos show a parking lot in the right foreground. The archive photo shows what was then known as Police Station No. 1 in the centre and Toronto Mortgage Chambers in the background on the left, at the corner of Toronto St.
Police Station No. 1 was built in the mid-1870s and originally served as both the Police Court and Fire Hall No. 5. After the fire hall on Lombard St was completed in 1887, firefighters from the Court St fire station moved to the new facility, leaving the Court St building primarily for police operations. Around 1901, Police Headquarters relocated from Court St to the newly constructed (Old) City Hall. In 1960, Police Station No. 1 moved to the Stewart Building on College St. Following this, the Court St building was demolished, and the site became a parking lot until 1997, when it was transformed into Courthouse Square Park, visible in the present-day photo.
The building that housed the Toronto Mortgage Chambers was originally known as the Building & Loan Association Chambers, which was constructed in 1879. It was demolished in the early 1960s to make way for the current 11-storey office building, which features black glass and cream-coloured brick and is located at 15 Toronto St.
Then and Now
SOURCE
- City of Toronto Heritage Register
- Heritage Toronto
- Ontario Heritage Trust
- The Globe Newspaper Archives: Dec 24, 1874, pg 4
- The Globe Newspaper Archives: Feb 9, 1876, pg 2
- The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: Sep 3, 1960, pg 5
- The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: Dec 14, 1995, pg D3
- GBCA: Heritage Impact Assessment for 15 Toronto St, dated Aug 24, 2023
- Photo: Denise Marie for TorontoJourney416
- Vintage Photo: City of Toronto Archives
- City of Toronto: Maps
- Toronto City Directory courtesy of Toronto Public Library
