Toronto in photos from the 1850s to the 1990s

Although anything but comprehensive, the point of the decade-by-decade historical Toronto photo posts we've run over the last few months was to offer a glimpse of the various developments and transformations of a city that's often accused of having a troubled relationship with its past.

As easy as it is to navigate from one decade to another, it thus seemed to make sense to gather some of the best images from the series into one big post that illustrates Toronto's growth over the time period in question. As far a selection criteria goes, I've been anything but scientific. Limited to photos that appeared in the original posts (with a few exceptions), I've selected three to six images from each decade that either mark the arrival of significant buildings/structures, establish what Toronto looked like in general at the time (survey style skyline shots), or that are particularly compelling on a visual level.

So that's it for these particular posts. But we'll continue to feature our Nostalgia Tripping articles and to examine Toronto's past via more specific offerings like visual histories of important intersections and buildings.

1850s

From the 1856 Armstrong, Beere and Hime panorama

The city in 1854

House of Providence (lost to the DVP's Richmond off-ramp)

1860s

Provincial Lunatic Asylum (999 Queen West)

The view from St. Lawrence Market

Toronto City Hall 1868

1870s

Front and Wellington streets (Coffin Block)

The Crystal Palace (lost to fire)

King and Yonge streets looking east

1880s

Grand Opera House

Toronto Harbour

Horse-drawn streetcar

The Yonge Street Arcade

1890s

Old Union Station (a.k.a Union Station II)

Queen's Park (provincial Legislature)

Knox College

Track work for electric streetcars

1900s

Board of Trade Building (lost to demolition)

Celebrating the end of the Boer War (Yonge Street)

The Fire of 1904

Diving Horse at Hanlan's Point

City Hall and Terauley Street (now Bay Street)

Looking West along Front Street (Old Union Station in the background)

1910s

Arrival of Immigrants at (Old) Union Station

Looking southeast from Richmond and Bay streets

Soldiers leave for war at (Old) Union Station 1914

Excavating the site for New Union Station (Queen's Hotel in the background)

Bloor Viaduct nearing completion

299 Queen Street West in 1919

1920s

Muddy Mount Pleasant Road

Queen and Bay streets

Brand new Royal York Hotel 1929

TTC Bus

Yonge and Lawrence

1930s

Yonge Street Mission during the Great Depression

South of City Hall

Carlton and Yonge (prior to re-routing)

Air Ship and Canadian Bank of Commerce Building

Canada Life Building and Osgoode Hall

Looking up Bay Street (City Hall in background)

Maple Leaf Gardens 1934

1940s

Christie's Wartime ad

Imperial Bank of Canada Building

Streetcars in front of Union Station

Sunnyside Pool and Beach

Wartime factory work

Subway construction begins 1949

1950s

Subways arrive at Toronto Harbour 1953

Dundas Station

Interior of a subway car

Skyine in 1959

1960s

Letros Building

Bay and Wellington

Nathan Phillips Square

Steinbergs

Skyline

1970s

Approching Yonge and Bloor

CN Tower construction

The Gooderham/Flatiron Building

Carlton Line

City Hall 1973

Toronto Star Building 1976

1980s

Skyline and bus

The Manulife Centre

The Monorail (Toronto Zoo)

Ontario Place

Bellair Street

Exhibition Stadium

1990s

Skydome

Skyline

Yonge and Dundas

Chinatown

Queen West

The Royal York

See additional photos from each decade here:

• Toronto of the 1990s
• Toronto of the 1980s
• Toronto of the 1970s
• Toronto of the 1960s
• Toronto of the 1950s
• Toronto of the 1940s
• Toronto of the 1930s
• Toronto of the 1920s
• Toronto of the 1910s
• Toronto of the 1900s
• Toronto of the 1890s
• Toronto of the 1880s
• Toronto of the 1870s
• Toronto of the 1860s
• Toronto of the 1850s

Images up to the 1980s were sourced from the Wikimedia Commons and the Toronto Archives, with the exception of the lead image, which was originally published in Time Magazine and the skyline shot from the early 1960, which appeared in National Geographic. Credits for photos from the 1990s are as follows: billcummins, cliffordstead, Olga S, CanadaGood, nothingtoseehere, and also nothingtoseehere.