Looking north from Shuter St, between Jarvis St and George St, in the Garden District neighbourhood of Toronto.
The archive photo shows O’Donohoe Row, a set of four Georgian-style townhomes built circa 1856. In 1903, these homes were converted into apartments and renamed Walnut Hall Apartment House. In 1973, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police purchased Walnut Hall. The following year, the city leased the building and operated it as a low-income rooming house until 1976. When the lease was not renewed, Walnut Hall was boarded up.
Although the building was listed on the city’s heritage register, it fell into neglect, and in 1996, the RCMP sold Walnut Hall. The ownership of the building changed hands a few times. In May 2007, the structure partially collapsed and had to be demolished.
Today, the laneway to the left is named Walnut Hall Place, and the site is home to a condo known as O2 Maisonettes on George.
Then and Now
SOURCE
- City of Toronto Heritage Register
- Heritage Toronto
- Ontario Heritage Trust
- Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada
- The Globe Newspaper Archives: Aug 4, 1856, pg 2
- The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: Oct 17, 1975, pg 31
- The Toronto Star Newspaper Archives: May 21, 2007, pg A3
- Photo: Denise Marie for TorontoJourney416
- Vintage Photo: City of Toronto Archives
- City of Toronto: Maps
- Toronto City Directory courtesy of Toronto Public Library
