City
A visual history of Yonge and Queen
After a brief trip westward, our visual history series heads back to Yonge Street to survey one of the most photogenic intersections in the city. Yonge and Queen has always been a hub in Toronto since the turn of the century when both City Hall and the Timothy Eaton Co. took up residence nearby. Oddly, not much has changed in this capacity as Viljo Revell's City Hall and the Eaton Centre are still draws to the area.
In fact, as far as Toronto intersections go, preservation of the original character of the intersection has been pretty good, with three of the corners retaining direct connection with buildings that date back over 100 years. The northeast and southwest are best, of course, but despite the ugliness of the upper portion of the facade on the northwest corner, at least some of the original is exposed and the rounded shape of the building remains intact.
As an illustration from the 1920s shows (see below), all of the land to the northwest of the intersection was owned by Timothy Eaton throughout much of 20th Century, and even before the Eaton Centre, there existed a complex of buildings related to his retail operation. With the construction of Toronto's downtown shopping mall in the 1970s, the streetscape in the area underwent profound change, but a walk along Yonge today reveals that a number of buildings on the east side of street are still in existence.
1890s
1900s
1910s
1920s
Late 1940s
1950s
1970s
1980s
Early 1990s (north)
Contemporary
Other entries in the series:
- A visual history of Yonge and Dundas
- A visual history of Yonge and Bloor
- A visual history of Queen, King and Roncesvalles
All images prior to the 1970s are from the Toronto Archives (via the Wikimedia Commons). The 1970s postcard is from the Commons, the first 1980s shot is by CanadaGood. The second 80s shot and the 90s shot are also from the Toronto Archives. Contemporary photos are by (in order): Jarret E Hather, 9:30, and Wherever I Roam.
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It definitely is interesting seeing Toronto grow up, especially from some of the pictures in these history series where it still had dirt roads (Muddy York!). Looking at these pictures I also notice how old some of the buildings, or at least the facades, are that are still kicking around that I've never noticed as I walk by. Maybe I should be more like a tourist and stop looking in front of me and look upwards.
Also, a girl I know from school is part of the family that owned Heintzman's Pianos that you see advertised on the walls along on Yonge.
IT would be amazing if these were restored.
Shaun
@bob: Nobody wants to preserve ads at all not these days. Even the Toronto Public Space Committee hates them (although Dave Meslin one told me he wants to preserve most of the old neon signs, owing that they were mostly for independent businesses.)
stores with dining rooms. The candy
was equivalent to Laura Secord and
a box of "Dianas" was a thoughtful
gift. The chain was owned and
operated by Gus Boukydis.
Diana Sweets offered sit-down dining
with table cloths and linen napkins
instead of paper serviettes and Arborite
table tops. For many of us, it was
a Friday treat to go to Diana's for
lunch and order a meal from a menu
that was more sophisticated than what
was on offer elsewhere.
One would dress up to dine at Diana's
as it was a destination dining room.
Actually, one would dress up to go to
Yonge Street because it was the "smart
street" for shopping with all the
flagship stores. The dining room
was sought after for birthday, going-
away and retirement parties as well
as the Sunday afternoon family dinners.
It was the closest one could come to
hotel-like dining without the extra
expense that comes from it.
The candy and baked goods selection was
always much sought after and there was
a continuous line-up for take home purchases.
In later years, the second floor became a
licensed lounge and offered draught beers
on tap--a radical departure since draught
beer was usually considered as for the
taverns only.
There was another quality dining room in the
old Toronto Star building and it was called
Stoodleigh's. It was in the same league
as Diana's. I wonder if anyone else out there
remembers Stoodleigh's.
And as far as the corner BMO goes: remember that it's but a shell w/a recreated interior, facadectomied as a result of the tower behind it. (Though interesting to see how foursquare/compact it originally looked before it was extended several bays down Queen.)
First Photo:
Gary Cooper and Lupe Velez star in Victor Fleming's "The Wolf Song", 1929
Second Photo, identified at Jan 1929:
Steamboat Bill, Jr. starring Buster Keaton and Ernest Torrence.
1945 - Our Vines Have Tender Grapes starring Edward G. Robinson as Martinius Jacobson, Margaret O'Brien as Selma Jacobson. Opened at Loew's November 16, 1945 with shows at 9:30(am), 11:55, 2:20, 4:45, 7:10 and 9:35. Count Basie was playing at the Queensway, Lakeshore and Humber; "State Fair" was at Shea's and "God is My Co-Pilot" was playing at the Christie.
I also remember the Murray's on Front Street
where the RBC towers now are. There was
another Murray's on Yonge St. above St.
Clair and the blue-rinse crowd would
go there for dinner almost daily.
There were Murray's in other cities and
usually close to bus/train stations so
that travellers could home in on consistently
reliable, good and safe food.
No, but he does hate the current ones a lot....
The problem with bringing back the old ones is that the businesses that had them are long gone! What we need are new one for the businesses that are here <i>now</i> (and for Mel Lastman not to have torn down the building to make way for Dundas Square, but to put something up that could use a neon sign-like a nightclub or something else along those lines.)Or maybe even a video arcade (I hear tell it that cloud computing will be killing off game platforms anyway one day, and maybe arcades can make a comeback!)