cityscape The Oldest Known Photos of Toronto

Images of Toronto in its colonial infancy, taken more than 150 years ago.

SHOW CAPTION  ✉ Share on:  238174 <b>King Street East, south side, looking west, 1856.</b> <br /> City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1498, Item 1.<br /> <br /> At the left of this row of buildings is the Golden Lion, which rivalled Eaton’s and Simpson’s as one of Toronto’s major department stores during the late 19th century. Officially known as Robert Walker and Sons, the store earned its lasting name when a golden lion statue was placed above its entrance soon after it moved to the location shown here in 1847. <br /> <br /> Renovated in 1867 and expanded in 1892, the store appeared to have a healthy future. But when no one in the Walker family was left to carry on the business, it closed in 1898. Some observers had doubts about the site’s future when the store was demolished in 1901. “In Toronto they are pulling down the old Golden Lion to make room for a new White Elephant in the form of a palace,” wrote the <em>Hamilton Herald</em>.<br /> <br /> The replacement? The still-operating King Edward Hotel. <br /> 20130225slide1 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide1-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide1.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide1.jpg 1000 709 https://torontoist.com/2013/02/the-oldest-known-photos-of-toronto/slide/20130225slide1/ 20130225slide1 0 0 238175 <b>King Street East, south side between Yonge and Church streets, looking east, 1856.</b> <br /> City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1498, Item 2.<br /> <br /> Among the businesses seen in this view is the <em>British Colonist</em>, one of Toronto’s first enduring newspapers. Launched in 1838, it was originally backed by supporters of the Church of Scotland. Considered “a staunch but not rabid Conservative paper” by the book <em>Early Toronto Newspapers 1793-1867</em>, it graduated from semi-weekly to daily publishing in 1851. The paper was sold to rival Conservative paper the <em>Leader</em> in 1860.<br /> 20130225slide2 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide2-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide2.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide2.jpg 1000 760 https://torontoist.com/2013/02/the-oldest-known-photos-of-toronto/slide/20130225slide2/ 20130225slide2 0 0 238176 <b>Bank of British North America, north-east corner of Wellington and Yonge streets, 1856.</b> <br /> City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1498, Item 3. <br /> <br /> Opened in 1846, the limestone <a href="http://www.torontohistory.org/Pages_ABC/Bank_of_British_North_America.html">Bank of British North America</a> was designed by John Howard, whose personal property later became High Park. Howard also designed the adjoining warehouses, which were initially occupied by a grocer. The building was rebuilt into its present form in the mid-1870s. The site housed branches of the Bank of Montreal and CIBC, then a variety of tenants before the Irish Embassy pub settled in.<br /> 20130225slide3 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide3-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide3.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide3.jpg 1000 806 https://torontoist.com/2013/02/the-oldest-known-photos-of-toronto/slide/20130225slide3/ 20130225slide3 0 0 238177 <b>The Exchange, Wellington Street, north side, east of Yonge Street, 1856.</b> <br /> City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1498, Item 4.<br /> <br /> Modelled on a similar exchange across the Atlantic in London, the Toronto Exchange was established in 1854 for speculation traders specializing in produce. One-time Toronto postmaster <a href="http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=3782">Charles Berczy</a> donated land he owned at the present-day northwest corner of Wellington Street and Leader Lane to the organization. Opened in 1855, it was renovated in 1877 and renamed the Imperial Bank Chambers when <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Bank_of_Canada">that financial institution</a> moved in. Damaged by fire during the 1930s, it was demolished during World War II.<br /> 20130225slide4 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide4-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide4.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide4.jpg 1000 818 https://torontoist.com/2013/02/the-oldest-known-photos-of-toronto/slide/20130225slide4/ 20130225slide4 0 0 238178 <b>Second United Presbyterian Church under construction, 1856.</b> <br /> City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1498, Item 7.<br /> <br /> Established in 1851, the Second United Presbyterian congregation renamed itself Cooke’s Presbyterian Church in 1856, in honour of Irish minister <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Cooke_%28minister%29">Henry Cooke</a>. After holding services at several downtown locations, including St. Lawrence Hall, the congregation moved into its permanent home at Queen and Mutual streets in 1858. A Romanesque-style replacement was built in 1891 and became one of the city’s most popular churches. During the 1920s, woshippers had to get there early to grab one of its 2,250 seats. When the church closed in 1982, its congregation had dwindled to 150. Despite a last-minute heritage designation, the church was demolished in 1984. Though there were hints of future office/residential development, the site, which sits across from <em>Torontoist</em>’s office, became a parking lot.<br /> 20130225slide5 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide5-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide5.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide5.jpg 1000 766 https://torontoist.com/2013/02/the-oldest-known-photos-of-toronto/slide/20130225slide5/ 20130225slide5 0 0 238179 <b>Normal School building, Gould Street, north side, east of Yonge Street, 1856.</b> <br /> City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1498, Item 8.<br /> <br /> Founded in 1850 by Egerton Ryerson, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Normal_School">Normal School</a> served as training institution for teachers, who would populate the province’s emerging public school system. Its home in St. James Square opened in 1852 and expanded a few years later to include the Model School, where boys’ grammar classes were held. Among its amenities was a museum of natural history and fine arts which evolved into the Royal Ontario Museum.<br /> <br /> The Normal School was moved out in 1941 to make room for an RCAF training centre. After World War II, the site was used to prepare veterans to return to civilian life, via a school that evolved into Ryerson University. The building was demolished to make way for the present Ryerson quadrangle in 1962. Only <a href="http://www.torontoplaques.com/Pages_STU/Toronto_Normal_School.html">a portion of the central façade</a> remains today.<br /> 20130225slide6 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide6-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide6.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide6.jpg 1000 708 https://torontoist.com/2013/02/the-oldest-known-photos-of-toronto/slide/20130225slide6/ 20130225slide6 0 0 238180 <b>Osgoode Hall, 1856.</b> <br /> City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1498, Item 9.<br /> <br /> Built between 1829 and 1846, <a href="http://www.osgoodehall.com/">Osgoode Hall</a> served as the headquarters of the Law Society of Upper Canada. Shortly after this picture was taken, the central section was reconstructed by the architectural firm of Cumberland and Storm. <br /> 20130225slide7 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide7-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide7.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide7.jpg 1000 746 https://torontoist.com/2013/02/the-oldest-known-photos-of-toronto/slide/20130225slide7/ 20130225slide7 0 0

238181 <b>Parliament Buildings, Front Street West, 1856.</b><br /> City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1498, Item 10.<br /> <br /> This was the third set of parliament buildings erected in Toronto. Three separate blocks were built on the north side of Front Street, between John and Simcoe streets, from 1829 to 1832. Architect John Howard was brought in to finish off the interiors. The complex was used intermittently during the United Province of Canada era (1841 to 1867), when legislators also sat in Kingston, Montreal, and Quebec City. When this picture was taken, work had begun to fill in the spaces between the blocks for offices, in case Toronto became the permanent capital. Post-Confederation, the buildings served as the home of Ontario’s government until the present Ontario Legislative Building in Queen’s Park opened in 1893. The Grand Trunk Railway purchased the site and demolished the buildings a decade later. The site currently houses the Canadian Broadcasting Centre.<br /> 20130225slide8 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide8-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide8.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide8.jpg 1000 733 https://torontoist.com/2013/02/the-oldest-known-photos-of-toronto/slide/20130225slide8/ 20130225slide8 0 0 238182 <b>Trinity College, Queen Street West, north side, 1856.</b><br /> City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1498, Item 11.<br /> <br /> When the University of Toronto declared itself a secular institution in 1850, Bishop John Strachan felt an institute of higher learning with ties to the Church of England was still required. He established <a href="http://web.trinity.utoronto.ca/about/historical-background.html">Trinity College</a> and hired architect Kivas Tully to design a Gothic-styled school, the first section of which opened in 1852. <br /> <br /> Trinity joined U of T in 1904 and moved to the main campus in 1925. The buildings it left behind in what became Trinity Bellwoods Park were briefly used as an athletic centre, then demolished in the mid-1950s. The only remaining portions are part of the gate at the park’s entrance and the former St. Hilda’s College building on Shaw Street, now <a href="http://www.loftcs.org/johngibsonhouse.html">John Gibson House</a>. <br /> 20130225slide9 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide9-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide9.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide9.jpg 1000 609 https://torontoist.com/2013/02/the-oldest-known-photos-of-toronto/slide/20130225slide9/ 20130225slide9 0 0 238183 <b>Rossin House Hotel, southeast corner of King and York streets, 1856. </b><br /> City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1498, Item 12.<br /> <br /> Introduction to an article on the opening of the Rossin House, the <i>Globe</i>, May 5, 1857:<br /> <br /> “The want of proper hotel accommodation has long been a standing reproach to Toronto, and the boasted enterprise and energy of our citizens has often been called into question by visitors from other places. No longer, however, will this be needed, for by the completion of the Rossin House, ample accommodation can be afforded for as large a number of guests as are likely to visit the city at any one time, and, as far as the house is concerned, satisfaction will be given to the most fastidious.”<br /> 20130225slide10 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide10-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide10.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide10.jpg 1000 699 https://torontoist.com/2013/02/the-oldest-known-photos-of-toronto/slide/20130225slide10/ 20130225slide10 0 0 238184 <b>Toronto from the top of Rossin House Hotel, looking northwest, 1856.</b><br /> City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1498, Item 14.<br /> <br /> This image formed part of one of <a href="http://www.toronto.ca/archives/earliest_3_ab&h.htm">three panoramas</a> of the city, shot from the top of the Rossin House, which were meant to impress Queen Victoria with how much Toronto had grown. <br /> <br /> As for the Rossin House, though a fire in November 1862 gutted its interior, fire safety measures included by architect William Kauffman left the walls intact. There was only one fatality. Rebuilt by 1867, it remained one of Toronto’s most fashionable hotels until the King Edward opened in 1903. Later known as the Prince George Hotel, the building was demolished in 1969.<br /> 20130225slide11 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide11-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide11.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/20130225slide11.jpg 1000 762 https://torontoist.com/2013/02/the-oldest-known-photos-of-toronto/slide/20130225slide11/ 20130225slide11 0 0



For the earliest known photographs of Toronto, we have a sales pitch to thank.

Following the union of Upper and Lower Canada as the United Province of Canada in 1841, Canada’s new parliament drifted from city to city. Kingston, Montreal, Quebec City, and Toronto all hosted the wandering colonial government. On April 14, 1856, the legislature voted 64 to 54 in favour of ending its recent practice of alternating parliamentary sessions between Toronto and Quebec City. The job of determining a permanent capital was handed to Queen Victoria, who examined presentations from those two cities, along with presentations on behalf of Kingston, Montreal, and Ottawa.

While Toronto’s pitch failed to sway the queen (she named Ottawa the capital in 1857), it preserved a record of what the growing city looked like. The photographic and civil engineering firm of Armstrong, Beere and Hime was hired to provide a set of 25 photos for Victoria’s consideration, which were forgotten until an archivist found them by chance in 1979 while researching images of the British Columbia gold rush at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Library in London, England. The photos were exhibited at the Market Gallery in 1984, and a set of copies were presented to the City archives as a gift for the city’s 150th birthday.

Step inside our photo gallery for a glimpse of some of Toronto’s major landmarks a decade before Confederation, along with a little history of them.

Additional material from Lost Toronto by William Dendy (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1993), Early Toronto Newspapers 1793–1867, Edith G. Firth, editor

(Toronto: Baxter Publishing, 1961), Choosing Canada’s Capital by David B. Knight (Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 1991), the May 5, 1857 edition of the Globe, the March 22, 1984 edition of the Globe and Mail, and the April 12, 1901 and May 22, 1982 editions of the Toronto Star. A hat tip to Reddit for bringing these images to our attention.