Looking northeast on Court St, between Toronto St and Church St, in Toronto’s St Lawrence neighbourhood.
The archive photo shows what was known by this time as Police Station No. 1. Built in the mid-1870s, it initially served as both the Police Court and Fire Hall No. 5. Once 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 mainly for police operations.
In approximately 1901, the Police Headquarters relocated from the Court St building to the newly constructed (Old) City Hall. Even though the Court St building continued to function as Police Station No. 1, it also housed other departments, including the Mounted Police, Patrol Wagon, and Ambulance services, until 1926, until 1926, when it became a police station solely.
Police Station No. 1 moved to the Stewart Building on College St in 1960. The Court St building was then torn down, and the site became a parking lot. In 1997, the area was transformed into Courthouse Square Park, as shown in the present-day photo.
Then and Now
SOURCE
- City of Toronto Heritage Register
- Heritage Toronto
- Ontario Heritage Trust
- Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada
- 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
- Photo: Denise Marie for TorontoJourney416
- Vintage Photo: City of Toronto Archives
- City of Toronto: Maps
- Toronto City Directory, courtesy of Toronto Public Library
