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Canadian Urbanism Uncovered

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7 comments

  1. Amazing photo. I only wish we still had the 1915 building around today…

  2. Coolest way that I have seen “then and now” photos ever displayed. Love it! Keep up the good work from the BuzzBuzzHome team!

  3. King Street East “Beginnings”? It was already at least one hundred years old at the time the black and white photo was taken.

    I wish we had preserved more of the city and built the modern downtown around it. But alas, the Modernists followed the Victorians in clearing a significant part of the old city. (Little of Georgian Toronto was left by the end of the Victorian era.) No one bothered to preserve the cobblestone streets of old Toronto either, but maybe they’re still there under many layers of asphalt.

    With respect for what the city’s forefathers built and achieved, the city can become more beautiful, interesting, and valuable from a cultural and economic perspective.

  4. It looks like there is construction hording next to the building. Is that because it has just finished construction or is about to be demolished?

  5. Given that the present CP Building was finished in 1911, I’d question the date…

  6. The building on the corner was the city ticket office of the Canadian Pacific Railway, who had occupied the structure since 1884 when they first began operating trains into the city. This building was replaced by the present structure, which opened on March 1, 1913.

    Therefore the older part of the photograph has to date 1912 or earlier. The hoarding may signify the beginning of demolition of the older building. At 15 stories, the present structure was briefly the tallest building in the city and was designed by Darling & Pearson, who also designed the CPR’s North Toronto Station/Summerhill LCBO. The railway sold the building around 1990 and the beautiful marble ticket office was torn out to accommodate the Shoppers drug store.

    Above the second floor, one can still see where the letters CANADIAN PACIFIC BUILDING were affixed to the limestone cladding on both the King and Yonge Street sides of the building.

  7. Maybe he means that’s where king street east begins?