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The arch from the demolished St. Andrew's re-erected Yonge & Granby was one of the Urban Design Department's more bizarre exercises:

Odd but always a kind of pleasant surprise when walking up that stretch of Yonge. I always seem to forget it's there until I pass it.
 
View south from the Park Plaza:

1930's/40's: The Orange Day Parade:



Today (thanks to Jasonzed):

 
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Queen's Park Crescent looking south from Bloor 1910:



1930:



Looking north 1930:



City of Toronto Archives notation indicates that a newspaper article (undated) attached to the print reads: "Fate of Noble Old Elms at Stake. The proposal of Works Commissioner R.C. Harris to widen Avenue Rd. between Queen's Park Cres. and Bloor St. to a width of 54 feet, would destroy the two rows of elm trees shown ABOVE. In all there are over 50 large trees which grace the northern approach to Queen's Park. The proposal to widen the thoroughfare was approved last week by the works committee, but their decision was rescinded when objection was raised by Parks Commissioner Charles Chambers. He urged the widening to a width of 36 feet, thus saving the trees. The present roadway is 28 feet wide. The approach to the home of Sir Joseph Flavelle would be affected by the widening."

1934 (In a scene that would be repeated on University Avenue, Jarvis, St. George, Sherbourne, Church.....):



1954 (note the Alexandra Gates):



Today:

 
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And, I miss the original no-nonsense top of the Park Plaza, before it got all Zeidler-PoMo'd...
 
Then.


Photo from 1890ish. A Toronto Public Library picture.




Holland House.


1246HollandHousefromrearWellingtonssbetwYorkandBay_zps608d2d67.jpg



http://books.google.ca/books?id=-R4...lland house wellington street toronto&f=false

Wellington Street, S side between Bay and York. Built 1831, demolished 1904. This is the S side of the house looking N. In this picture Wellington Street would be behind the house. It's interesting that whatever kind of coating it was that was applied mimicking cut stone is falling off by the time this photo was taken.








Now. February 2014.

The various maps at UTer plink's Goads Maps webpage helped me approximate the present day location - the E side of 79 Wellington W; also known as the TD South Tower.


1247_zps66be1509.jpg



There was an interim building(s) on this site before the TD Tower was built in the 1970s.. I'll see if I can find a picture later.




So, it's the Victoria Day Weekend again. I wonder if they will be doing the Monday noon artillery gun salute at the north end of Queens Park as they usually do. I'll wander over for a look-see anyways. Strangely, small children, especially the ones about age four and up seem to delight in the noise. It's all fun and games until a war starts but in the meantime, the crack of the guns, shouted orders and waft of smoke is weirdly exciting.



In my childhood I spent much time in New York City's Chinatown - my grandfather had friends from the 'home village' there so we went often. 'Little Italy' was/is just to the north of Chinatown and I remember the hub bub of the 50s 60s and 70s in these two areas well. That's why I always posting links to the history of New York City. I've finally explained my fixation. Here is another New York City history link with old pictures to look at:



http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/on-mulberry-street-a-nuanced-view-of-italian-americans/

I wish I could cite where I read this factoid: but someone did a survey in Little Italy recently and they could not find anyone who was actually born in Italy living in Little Italy...
 
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Thanks, Mustapha - It's quite wonderful to realize that this "castle" was once on the site of the TD Tower.

P.S. Neither of your two links appear to work!


Goldie, try the links now.. don't know what I did the first time; it's late you know.. :)
 
Thanks for those corrected links, Mustapha.
I discovered this map at one of them.

Torontomap1888_zpse8d1aadc.jpg
 

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