The Garfield Court Apartments were part of a complex of apartment buildings that occupied half of the block, to the laneway. Garfield Court first appeared in the Toronto City Directory in 1918 and was last listed in 1977. This complex included the Garfield Court, Prince Arthur, and Roxton Apartments, which have since been replaced by the present-day building that features the nameplate “The Roxton Group 1989” (City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 372, Sub Series 3, Item 1368 – Dept. of Public Works photographs)
The archive photo shows the F.W. Woolworth Co., a five-and-dime department store that opened at the corner on November 30, 1949. Dubbed the “New Wonder Store to Serve the People of Toronto,” the seven-storey building featured two sales floors with a total of half a mile of store counter space, luncheon counters with 181 stools, and a stand-up lunch counter for those in a hurry. The store was air-conditioned and included an escalator connecting the two floors. It sold a variety of items, including jewelry, cosmetics, handbags, lingerie, men’s accessories, housewares, toys, office supplies, and more. The upper floors housed several departments for Woolworth’s Canadian Head Office.
Even in 1985, Bay Street executives lined up at Woolworth’s popular lunch counter for a quick bite; at that time, an “all-dressed” hamburger and a medium Coke cost $2. The Woolworth’s store was last listed at this location in the 1993 Toronto City Directory.
The property was sold for $4 million, and the building was demolished in 1997, making way for a parking lot. In 2008, construction began on what was originally the Trump International Hotel & Tower, which opened in 2012. Today, it is known as The St. Regis Toronto.
A notable building visible in both photos is The National Club, which features columns and can be seen in the right background (City of Toronto Archives, Toronto Planning Board fonds, Fonds 2032, Series 841, File 64, Item 1)
In the 1870s, John Dempster owned a bakery at the corner. In 1908, he sold the bakery to brothers William and Charles Carruthers, along with Robert McMullen. The three bakers gradually expanded their property holdings at the location, and in 1914, they named their business the “Ideal Bread Company.” They hired Montreal-based architect Sydney Comber to design their new factory, which was built in 1919, with expansions in 1923 and 1933.
Each floor handled a different stage of bread making: the 5th floor was for mixing, the 4th floor was the dough room, the 3rd floor was for shaping and baking, the 2nd floor was for packaging, the 1st floor was for loading goods onto wagons and trucks, and the basement was for storage. There was also a 400-seat assembly hall on the 5th floor.
The factory operated as a bakery until 1957, after which the building housed a variety of businesses, suppliers and manufacturers. The heritage-designated building was converted into residential units, with the conversion completed in 2007 (City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1034, Item 839 – F.W. Micklethwaite Studio photographer)
The archive photo shows the corner as it appeared over 65 years ago, featuring the Church of the Redeemer, the homes that once stood nearby and the streetcar track that once ran along Bloor St. The Church of the Redeemer, an Anglican church, was built in 1879 and designed by architects Smith & Gemmell in the English Gothic style. The neighbouring house was constructed circa 1910 and, before it was torn down in the early 1960s, it housed various doctors’ offices.
Since 1983, the 25-storey Renaissance Plaza has surrounded the historic church, as shown in the present-day photo. This building was designed to enhance the intersection and complement the church’s architecture. Its vertical glass centre reflects the church’s features, including its bell gable (City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 220, Series 65, File 56, Item 137 – Alexandra Studio photographs)
A few of the establishments in the archive photo, from right to left, include Grenville Antique Shop, Precision Jeweller, Danforth Cleaners, Kengar Lighter Clinic, Train Kaiser Parts, Mildred’s Lunch, and Hope’s Bird Store. The taller building at the corner in the distance was the Grovenor Hotel. The old photo also shows the streetcar tracks that were once on Yonge St (Toronto Public Library Pictures-R-4056 – James Victor Salmon photographer)
There are a few constants in both photos. The first is the building on the right in the foreground. It was built in 1911 for the Bank of Toronto and served as a branch of the Toronto Dominion Bank until the 1980s. The second constant is the building on the left, known as the Campbell Block. This orange-brick building dates back to the late 1880s, and its beautiful restoration was completed in 2015.
The archive photo also shows a time when streetcars operated along the two streets (City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 16, Series 71, Item 2618 – Alfred Pearson photographer)
The archive photo shows the Avon Smoke Shop alongside a two-storey building that served as the Avonmore Hotel from 1891 until the early 1970s. In the late 1970s, the corner was converted into a parking lot. Since 1989, the present-day residential building has stood at the site.
One notable building visible in both photos is the one on the far left. Originally known as the Haddon Hall Apartments, this six-storey building at 262 Jarvis St was constructed in 1929 and designed by architect Norman Armstrong (City of Toronto Archives, Toronto Planning Board fonds, Fonds 2032, Series 841, File 9, Item 5)
The archive photo shows the industrial-looking building when it housed a silk-screening business, with the Truck Stop Restaurant next door. From 1997 to the early/mid 2000s, the corner building was home to the Plastique Lounge, a trendy Europop dance club that often had line-ups wrapped around the building.
The present-day photo shows that the buildings have been torn down and the site is being prepared for a condo development (City of Toronto Archives, Toronto Planning Board fonds, Fonds 2032, Series 841, File 48, Item 33)
The 2021 photo shows the building that once stood at the corner. Over the years, it housed a variety of businesses, including the Toronto Steam Bath Co., Del-Mar Clothes (men’s wear), General Quilting Co., and Plastique Lounge. In the 2026 photo, the building has been demolished, and the site is being prepared for the construction of a condo tower
The archive photo features several 19th-century buildings, but one notable structure we will focus on is Equity Chambers. This four-and-a-half-storey office building stood directly at the northeast corner and was built in 1877 for Robert Carswell. He commissioned the architects Hancock & Townsend to design the red-brick, late Victorian building, which featured Gothic elements.
By the time the construction was finished, Equity Chambers was fully rented, housing primarily insurance companies, lawyers, real estate agents, and Adam G. Mercer, the author of the book from which much of this information originates. It was the first business building in the city to have a passenger elevator. Mr. Carswell, a law bookseller and publisher, aptly named the building Equity Chambers, as it was suitable for law offices.
In 1957, several buildings on the block, including Equity Chambers, the neighbouring five-storey Victoria Chambers to its north, and the General/Adelaide Street Post Office to its east, were demolished to make way for the Mackenzie Building, a Federal government facility that was completed in 1960. Today, that building is known as the State Street Financial Centre.
In the right foreground of both photos, a small portion of the Millichamp Building is visible. The archive photo shows it when it housed a branch of the Imperial Bank of Canada (Toronto Public Library Pictures-R-5953 – James Victor Salmon photographer)
SOURCE
- City of Toronto Heritage Register
- Heritage Toronto
- Ontario Heritage Trust
- Ontario Heritage Trust: 162 Bloor St W (Church of the Redeemer, northeast corner of Bloor St W & Avenue Rd)
- Ontario Heritage Trust: 2854 Dundas St W (Bank of Toronto, looking north up Keele St from Dundas St W)
- Ontario Heritage Trust: 183 Dovercourt Rd (Ideal Bread Company, northeast corner of Dovercourt Rd & Argyle St)
- The Toronto Daily Star Newspaper Archives: Sep 15, 1919, pg 9 (Ideal Bread Company, northeast corner of Dovercourt Rd & Argyle St)
- Construction: Jan 1920, Volume 8, Issue 1, pgs 14-18 (Ideal Bread Company, northeast corner of Dovercourt Rd & Argyle St)
- The Toronto Daily Star Newspaper Archives: Nov 29, 1949, pg 7 (Woolworth’s, southeast corner of Bay St & Adelaide St W)
- The Toronto Star Newspaper Archives: Jun 26, 1985, pg E3 (Woolworth’s, southeast corner of Bay St & Adelaide St W)
- The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: Apr 20, 1998, pg B5 (Woolworth’s, southeast corner of Bay St & Adelaide St W)
- The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: Apr 17, 2012, pg B6 (Trump International Hotel & Tower, southeast corner of Bay St & Adelaide St W)
- The Globe Newspaper Archives: Dec 9, 1891, pg 3 (Avonmore Hotel, northeast corner of Gerrard St E & Jarvis St)
- Contract Record: Jan 4, 1928, Volume 42, pg 49 (Haddon Hall Apartments, northeast corner of Gerrard St E & Jarvis St)
- The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: Nov 5, 1983, pg H8 (Church of the Redeemer, northeast corner of Bloor St W & Avenue Rd)
- The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: Sep 7, 1998, pg A7 (Plastique Lounge, southwest corner of Richmond St W & Peter St)
- Toronto: Old and New by Adam G. Mercer (1891), pgs 172-173 (Equity Chambers, looking northeast on Victoria St towards Adelaide St E)
- The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: Mar 8, 1957, pg 3 (Mackenzie Building, looking northeast on Victoria St towards Adelaide St E)
- The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: Dec 19, 1959, pg 30 (Mackenzie Building, looking northeast on Victoria St towards Adelaide St E)
- Photos: Denise Marie for TorontoJourney416
- Vintage Photos: City of Toronto Archives, Toronto Public Library, Archives of Ontario & CNE Heritage
- City of Toronto: Maps
- Toronto City Directory, courtesy of Toronto Public Library
