[thecharioteer]

Were there ever buildings there before it was a parking lot and then a park, or has it always been an oddly shaped vacant lot?

Front, east of Scott:



1910:

 

[Conrad Black]

That 1977 Flatiron shot reminds me of Belleville of some other south eastern Ontario town. Old school architecture, low density etc.

 

[Goldie]

York St. barber shop 1979

 

[Ex-Montreal Girl]

If I'm not mistaken, this 1930 photo shows Central Station.
Windsor Station is out of sight (on St. Antoine St. W. at Peel) behind the cathedral (Mary Queen of the World).
The open-cut was amazingly covered over mid-century and became the site for new buildings (Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Place-Ville-Marie, etc.).

I see you are correct as Central Station is accessible from both PVM, the Queen E as well as Place Bonaventure which recalls the original station name, Bonaventure Station, shown in those amazing maps provided by TheCharioteer.

But there's something about the angle that I found disorienting at first and your post made me spend the past half hour twisting my neck.

I finally figured it out. The cut goes north-south, or Montreal's version of north-south, south being defined at the riverfront. Which isn't south but whatever. So what we're see would be running under what is now the block between Mansfield and University Ave.

The boxy building on the far right would be the almost finished Sun Life Building and the "bridge" is Dorchester Blvd (now Rene-Levesque.) The church on the left would be the Church of St. Paul.

In 1931, St. Paul's Church was slated to be demolished to make way for the construction of Central Station. It was saved from demolition by the Pères de Sainte-Croix who purchased the building for the symbolic sum of $1. Over sixty days it was dismantled stone by stone and moved to the grounds of the Collège Saint-Laurent.

I thought it looked familiar as I must have passed it 100 times in its new home while visiting friends in Ville St Laurent.

But enough of my hijacking the thread for Montreal stuff. Carry on.

 

[thecharioteer]

York St. barber shop 1979

Could this barbershop be the sole survivor of the buildings that stood on the west side of York between Adelaide and Richmond?

1906 (TPL):






York, north from Adelaide, 1926. Barbershop mid-block:

 

[Anna]

Could this barbershop be the sole survivor of the buildings that stood on the west side of York between Adelaide and Richmond?

York, north from Adelaide, 1926. Barbershop mid-block...

Was it always a barbershop?

1856

 

[Goldie]

I can't help but wonder how much the "Wealthy Barber" settled for when the 'big-money' developers finally arrived.

 

[Conrad Black]

Plenty I would imagine.

 

[AlbertHWagstaff]

I can't help but wonder how much the "Wealthy Barber" settled for when the 'big-money' developers finally arrived.

He did quite well considering his lot was never actually built on. It's the small "parkette" space behind 150 York St. Screen capture from Google Streetview attached.

 

[adma]

By the looks of things in the photo (i.e. the bracing looks awfully "fresh"), it might even have been a very temporary condition as the rest of the block was demolished for 150 York--sometimes, such things happen incrementally...

 

[Edward]

Pretty cool.

 

[thecharioteer]

Here's another view of the west side of York, south from Richmond in the 1950's (barbershop on left?):

 

[Goldie]

As we reach the final days of newsprint, it may be of interest to study an early press-room - Toronto Telegram, 1904.

 

[Uncle Teddy]

For some reason I'm thinking that's too big and sophisticated for 1904.

 

[Goldie]

For some reason I'm thinking that's too big and sophisticated for 1904.

Really? I think one would be amazed by the 'sophistication' of technology existing a century ago!