We've often looked at comparisons on this thread of old buildings replaced by new buildings. We've seen buildings vanish as streets get widened or linked (Bay/Terauley, Davenport, Dundas). We've seen blocks vanish for new roads (Bay/Terauley, University, Mt. Pleasant). Some of these "ghost" buildings (such as the Princess Theatre which would be in the middle of the King/University intersection) can even be imagined on foggy nights.
One such ghost building wasThe Golden Lion at 33-37 King Street East, which vanished in 1901 when Victoria Street was extended southerly to Colborne (at the time of the construction of the King Edward Hotel). Once one of the premier early department stores in Victorian Toronto, its passing also symbolized the transition of King Street from its Georgian/Victorian scale to the new world of Edwardian "heft" and early skyscrapers (required reading:
Patterns of the Past Dundurn Press 1988, chapter titled: "Streetscape and Society: The Changing Built Environment of King Street Toronto" by Gunther Gad and Deryk W. Holdsworth).
1857; The Golden Lion at left before alterations:
1880:
Middle left:
On the right:
From
Landmarks of Toronto
1890:
1910:
1907 The Golden Lion gone;