Looking northwest towards the corner of Jarvis St and Shuter St, in the Garden District of Toronto.
Notice the white building at 170 Jarvis St in the archive photo. According to the 1891 through 1912 Toronto City Directory, it was the residence of John Murray.
In 1912, the property was purchased by the St George’s Greek Orthodox Community of Ontario, with a down payment funded by contributions from Greeks across the province. This marked the establishment of the city’s first Greek Orthodox church. The main floor of the building was transformed into a place of worship, while the upper floor became home to the Athena school in 1921, where English and Greek languages were taught. Not only serving as a place of religious worship, the church also became a central hub for Toronto’s Greek community, facilitating social events and marriages and aiding new Greek migrants in finding their place in the city. In 1938, the church relocated to a converted synagogue on Bond St, and it remains active to this day.
The building at 170 Jarvis St now houses Haven Toronto, serving as a drop-in centre for elder homeless men.
Then and Now
SOURCE
- Photo: Denise Marie for TorontoJourney416
- Vintage Photo: City of Toronto Archives
