By Chris Bateman
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How the Eaton Centre nearly wrecked Old City Hall
Ever since Toronto city council moved over the street in 1965, Toronto hasn’t quite known what to do with Old City Hall. The exquisite heritage...
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The mysterious case of the grave of Stella Vanzant
When little Stella Vanzant died of causes unknown some time in the early 1800s, her bereaved father interred the girl’s young body in a six by...
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Forgotten TTC architecture a reminder of nixed transit plans
Toronto is building the East Bayfront LRT. Well, sort of. This week, Metro News reported that the City of Toronto has set aside $2 million to “rough...
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Happy birthday to the Toronto streetcar system
There are perhaps few things more symbolic of Toronto than its streetcars. For more than 150 years, surface rail has formed the backbone of the...
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Dead rail lines, lost streets, and more Toronto oddities
There’s a couple of new lofts at the southeast corner of Carlaw and Dundas. The courtyard between the two buildings curves elegantly south...
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The Toronto link to America’s bloodiest serial killer
The bodies of the children were buried under the cellar floor. In a gloomy crawlspace beneath the home at 16 St. Vincent St. near Yonge and College...
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The oldest bit of Toronto subway opened 50 years ago
50 years ago this week, a special gasoline-powered TTC subway car trundled east along an unfinished Bloor-Danforth line towards the maintenance yard at...
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The fall of Sir Henry Pellatt, king of Casa Loma
A carved marble fountain of child figures supporting a dolphin, a solid bronze buffalo head, and hundreds of champagne flutes, wine glasses, and ceramic...
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A dizzy history of revolving restaurants in Toronto
Nothing epitomizes space age urbanism quite like the revolving restaurant. Imagine sitting at the top of a modern skyscraper, the lights of the city...
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A proud history of sidewalk superintendents in Toronto
Between 1931 and 1939, the construction at Rockefeller Center in New York City was a magnet for curious onlookers. America was mired in the depths of the...
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First Canadian Place: 40 years on top in Toronto
First Canadian Place has been the tallest skyscraper in Canada for four decades now. At 298.1 metres from sidewalk to rooftop, the brilliant white tower...
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How Toronto learned to love the patio
For all the time Torontonians will spend sipping lager and pinot on patios this summer, it would be easy to conclude that the people of this city have...