Downtown Toronto: A quick look at how it once was

With all the construction and change that is currently underway downtown it is sometimes difficult to imagine what it looked like before all the office buildings and condos were built.  To satisfy my own curiosity I’ve put together a collection of a few pictures of historic downtown Toronto dating from 1866 to 1950.  If you would like to see more visit the Archives found on the City of Toronto’s website, they have a tonne of great stuff.  Enjoy!

(As a side note I found it amusing that even in the 1920s traffic downtown seemed to be an issue!)

Nortwest corner of King and Yonge 1866 Toronto Ontario

Adelaide St.West Grand Opera House1890 Toronto Ontario

South side Adelaide from Bay to York 1899 Toronto Ontario

Richmond & Bay Royal Visit 1901 Toronto Ontario

St. Charles Hotel Christmas 1908 Yonge Street Toronto Ontario

Bay and Adelaide 1910 Toronto Ontario

Bay Street looking north from King 1910 Toronto Ontario

Front Street looking east over Bay 1919 Toronto Ontario

Dundas & Bond Streets 1923 Toronto Ontario

Bay Street looking north from Adelaide1924 Toronto Ontario

Queen Street between Simcoe & University1926 Toronto Ontario

Front Street between York & Simcoe1928 Toronto Ontario

Yonge Street looking south from Dundas (then Wilton Square)1930 Toronto Ontario

Yonge St looking south at Trinity Square 1935 Toronto Ontario

Eaton's at College Street 1944 Toronto Ontario

College Street looking east from Bay 1950 Toronto Ontario

Comments

  1. Wow – what a treasure trove of photos. Neat to recognize some landmarks that are still in the city.

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