The lighthouse, affectionately known as Little Red, was built in 1861 and designed by architect Kivas Tully. It was originally located on Queen’s Wharf, which was situated at the original foot of Bathurst St. The lighthouse remained in service until 1911.
In 1929, to prevent its demolition during lake filling, Little Red was carefully relocated using wooden rollers and moved to its current position, approximately 450 meters west of its original site. The archive photo, taken two years after the move, shows a horse-drawn snowplow heading west, passing in front of Little Red (City of Toronto Archives, Globe and Mail fonds, Fonds 1266 Item 23376)
The homes facing Spadina Ave date back to the mid-to-late 1880s. Notice the storefront in the corner of the residence in the archive photo. For several decades, it was formerly home to various drugstores and later the Campus Sundries shop, as shown in the vintage photo (City of Toronto Archives, Toronto Planning Board fonds, Fonds 2032, Series 841, File 55, Item 22)
A few of the shops in the archive photo include Liberation Garments, Lee Duck Hand Laundry & Cleaners, a barber shop, Student’s Elite, John’s Hardware and Maple Leaf Cigar Store (City of Toronto Archives, Toronto Planning Board fonds, Fonds 2032, Series 841, File 55, Item 19)
The archive photo shows the shops and businesses located at the corner, on Spadina Ave. From left to right, it features the Crescent Grill, Brock’s Billiards, The Homestead Restaurant, and the Royal Bank of Canada. When the vintage photo was taken, the Royal Bank branch building was relatively new, having replaced a structure that had stood at the corner for nearly 80 years.
The Homestead Restaurant closed in the mid-1970s, and the building was demolished a few years later, allowing for the bank’s expansion. RBC closed this branch in the late 1990s. Today, aside from the corner building, which now houses a Rexall pharmacy, many surrounding structures from the late 1800s remain standing.
One other item to point out in the archive photo is the red fire alarm box mounted on a wooden pole. These boxes were first installed on the city’s streets in 1871. When someone pulled the lever, an alarm would sound at the fire department headquarters, which would then relay the alert to the nearest fire hall. The person who activated the alarm was expected to stay at the location, but many would run back to the fire scene, leaving firefighters to search for it since the alarm boxes only indicated a general area. By the mid-1960s, there were calls to remove these boxes for several reasons, including the increasing number of people with phones, the development of modern fire alarm technologies, and the rising costs associated with maintaining the boxes (City of Toronto Archives, E.L. Ruddy Company fonds, Fonds 1488, Series 1230, Item 8951)
In the archive photo, there are several notable details. These include Coca-Cola and Gutta Percha tires billboards, along with various modes of transportation, including pedestrians, horse-drawn wagons (one of which belongs to Neilson Dairy), streetcars, and automobiles.
The vintage photo also features several buildings that still exist, in some form, today. About midway down the street on the left, there is a five-story building that has since had a sixth floor added. Next to it is a building with a triangular pediment, which was originally known as Freemasons’ Hall. This building later became the Latvian House, and its facade remains intact today. In the distance on the right, the tower of the College Street Baptist Church is visible. The church has since been converted into townhouses (City of Toronto Archives, E.L. Ruddy Company fonds, Fonds 1488, Series 1230, Item 2086)
The archive photo shows the streetscape well over a century ago. The building in the background, known as the Avenue Chambers-Bank of Commerce Building, was constructed in the 1880s. It was listed in a street guide as a public building, featuring meeting and social rooms, and housed various offices and businesses.
In 1905, the section of the building located at the corner was replaced by a new Canadian Bank of Commerce building. This corner remained unchanged until the early 1960s, when the rest of Avenue Chambers, along with the bank building constructed in 1905, was replaced by the current CIBC branch building and a small parking lot.
One constant in both photos is the streetcar line that runs along Spadina Ave (Toronto Public Library Pictures-R-5353)
The archive photo features buildings that no longer exist: the Bank of Commerce is on the left, the Broadway Tabernacle (Methodist) is in the centre, and on the right is a building that housed a branch of the Royal Bank of Canada on its main floor for several years.
Today, the northwest corner still houses a CIBC branch, although the previous building was replaced by the current structure in the 1960s. The northeast corner, which housed the church from its completion in 1889 until its demolition in 1930, has been occupied by a four-storey store and office building since that time. The southwest corner building was also replaced by the current structure around 1960, which served as an RBC branch until the mid-to-late 1990s and is now home to a Rexall drugstore (City of Toronto Archives, William James Family fonds, Fonds 1244, Item 7020)
The grand church with the tall tower in the archive photo was the Broadway Tabernacle, a Methodist, later United church, which stood at the corner starting in the late 1880s. Designed by architect E.J. Lennox, the church could accommodate over 1,800 worshipers. However, in the 1920s, the congregation’s numbers began to decline, leading them to join with College Street United Church. In 1930, the church was demolished to make way for the current four-storey commercial building, which was designed by architect Benjamin Brown and completed that same year.
In the vintage photo, you can also see the building to the right of the church. Built in the early 1890s for the Dominion Bank, it was designed by architects Darling & Curry. This building was replaced by the present-day structure circa 1970 and housed TD Bank until the late 1990s. It has since become home to a variety of restaurants and businesses. Notice the CN Tower in the background of the present-day photo (City of Toronto Archives, E.L. Ruddy Company fonds, Fonds 1488, Series 1230, Item 2056)
The archive photo shows the streetscape a century ago. Woodbine Drug Store is in the foreground on the left. Across Coxwell St, there are three billboards: one on the roof advertising White Brothers Clothiers, and two on the side of a building for Ideal Bread and Coca-Cola.
One notable similarity between both the past and present photos is the streetcar tracks (City of Toronto Archives, E.L. Ruddy Company fonds, Fonds 1488, Series 1230, Item 2148)
The Dufferin Gate was completed in time for the opening of the 1959 Canadian National Exhibition (CNE). Designed by architect Philip R. Brook, this Mid-Century Modern style parabolic archway is constructed with slender steel encased in concrete. The Dufferin Gate stands 20 m tall and cost over $250,000 to construct.
In 1993, it received heritage status from the city. The Government Building, which is today home to Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament, can be seen in the right background (City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 1465, File 363, Item 11 – Urban Design photographs)
The archive photo shows crowds gathered around the Princess Margaret Fountain, with portions of the Queen Elizabeth Building and the former Exhibition Grandstand visible in the background, to the left, and the former Manufacturers’ Building to the right. The fountain was inaugurated by Princess Margaret in 1958. Today, this two-tiered fountain, surrounded by a beautiful flower garden, continues to be a graceful centerpiece at the CNE and Exhibition Place (CNE Archives)
The iconic gates were built in 1927 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. Initially, the entrance was to be named “The Diamond Jubilee of Confederation Gates.” In early August 1927, officials learned that H.R.H. Edward, the Prince of Wales, and his brother, Prince George, would be attending that year’s exhibition. As a result, a special meeting was held, and it was decided to rename the new eastern entrance gateway the Princes’ Gates in honour of the two royal princes. Both brothers attended the official opening of the Canadian National Exhibition on August 30, 1927. During the ceremony, Prince Edward cut a purple-and-white ribbon to dedicate the new gates.
This Beaux-Arts-style structure was designed by Toronto architects Chapman & Oxley, while the cement sculptures were created by Charles McKechnie. The nine Ionic columns that flank the arch represent the nine provinces that were part of the Confederation at that time (Library and Archives Canada PA-060458)
The archive photo shows the waterfalls that once cascaded over the exterior of the entrance, along with kids enjoying the pool (Courtesy of the Canadian National Exhibition Association Archives)
The archive photo shows the waterfalls, which were once a design feature, cascading over the entrance’s exterior (CU110867062, by Panda Associates, Courtesy of Canadian Architectural Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary)
The archive photo shows the storefront of J.C. Wright Grocer and features signs for Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Canada Dry, Black Cat Cigarettes, Orange Crush, and Buckingham Cigarettes (City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 372, Sub Series 58, Item 2342 – Dept. of Public Works photographs)
The archive photo shows the Food Building in the year it was completed. Designed in the mid-century modern style by Toronto architect Richard Fisher, the building features windowless walls and two rows of lamps on its main facade. The building received heritage status from the city in 1993 (CU110865472, by Panda Associates, Courtesy of Canadian Architectural Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary)
The archive photo shows two of the three steel barrier walls of the bridge in the foreground. This bridge was constructed between 1911 and 1912 when the railway track in the area was lowered to create a safer crossing to the lake, and during the CNE. The vintage photo also features the previous Dufferin Gate, which stood from 1912 until its demolition in 1958 to make way for the Gardiner Expressway. The following year, construction began on the existing Dufferin Gate, a parabolic archway built 10.6 meters south of its predecessor. During that time, a second bridge over the Gardiner Expressway on Dufferin St was also constructed.
In 2013, due to deterioration, the Dufferin St bridges were removed, leaving only the two outer girders and barrier walls over the rail corridor, one of which is visible in the present-day photo in the centre right. Temporary bridges over the rail corridor and the Gardiner Expressway were completed in 2014 (City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1231, Item 1446 – James Victor Salmon photographer)
SOURCE
- City of Toronto Heritage Register
- Heritage Toronto
- Heritage Toronto (Queen’s Wharf Lighthouse plaque)
- Ontario Heritage Trust
- Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada
- The Globe Newspaper Archives: Nov 12, 1906, pg 6 (Dufferin St bridge, looking southeast)
- The Toronto Star Newspaper Archives: Aug 19, 1911, pg 1 (Dufferin St bridge, looking southeast)
- The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: Nov 7, 1958, pg 15 (Dufferin St bridge, looking southeast)
- Toronto.com: De-Constructing the Dufferin Bridge (Dufferin St bridge, looking southeast)
- The Globe Newspaper Archives: Aug 6, 1927, pg 15 (Princes’ Gates, looking west on Lake Shore Blvd W)
- The Globe Newspaper Archives: Aug 30, 1927, pg 2 (Princes’ Gates, looking west on Lake Shore Blvd W)
- The Globe Newspaper Archives: Aug 31, 1927, pg 1 (Princes’ Gates, looking west on Lake Shore Blvd W)
- Landmarks of Toronto: Volume IV by J Ross Robertson (1904), pgs 384-387 (Broadway Tabernacle, northeast corner of College St & Spadina Ave)
- The Globe Newspaper Archives: Feb 22, 1930, pg 15 (College St & Spadina Ave, northeast corner)
- The Globe Newspaper Archives: Mar 4, 1931, pg 14 (College St & Spadina Ave, northeast corner)
- The Toronto Star Newspaper Archives: Apr 1, 1964, pg 5 (College St & Spadina Ave, southwest corner)
- Toronto Railway Timetable and Street Guide (1885), pg 94 (Avenue Chambers, northwest corner of College St & Spadina Ave)
- The Varsity, Volume 12, Number 1, October 12, 1892, pg 94 (Avenue Chambers, northwest corner of College St & Spadina Ave)
- Lighthouse Friends: Queen’s Wharf Lighthouse
- Photos: Denise Marie for TorontoJourney416
- Vintage Photos: City of Toronto Archives, Toronto Public Library, Archives of Ontario , Library and Archives Canada & CNE Heritage
- City of Toronto: Maps
- Toronto City Directory courtesy of Toronto Public Library
