{"id":62472,"date":"2020-08-12T11:35:49","date_gmt":"2020-08-12T15:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?p=62472"},"modified":"2021-02-18T11:04:30","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T16:04:30","slug":"the-dufferin-grove-stones-and-the-surprisingly-winding-trail-to-discover-the-origins-of-mysterious-toronto-architectural-ruins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2020\/08\/12\/the-dufferin-grove-stones-and-the-surprisingly-winding-trail-to-discover-the-origins-of-mysterious-toronto-architectural-ruins\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dufferin Grove Stones and the surprisingly winding trail to discover the origins of mysterious Toronto architectural ruins"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hidden amongst the shrubs of one of Toronto\u2019s best-loved parks lies a collection of architectural ruins \u2013 carved stones \u2013 recently identified as originating from the Toronto Custom House. Built in 1845, <a href=\"https:\/\/tayloronhistory.com\/2016\/03\/06\/torontos-historic-old-customs-houses\/\">some historians<\/a> have described it as one of Toronto\u2019s most impressive buildings, but that didn\u2019t save it from being demolished in 1919.<\/p>\n<p>Despite their once high profile, the search to identify the origins of the ruins and, as it turns out, the many lives they\u2019ve led since they first kept watch over the corner of Yonge and Front Streets until arriving at Dufferin Grove Park, was a surprisingly winding trail. A trail which touched on the history of cinema in Toronto, put me in conversation with local artists, archivists, park managers and even involved stories of Satan worshipping teenagers. Collectively, these stones represent a significant piece of our city\u2019s lost architectural heritage, and a rare local example of one of nineteenth-century Ontario\u2019s most prolific architects, Kivas Tully.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_62479\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-62479\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-62479\" src=\"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/pictures-r-3949-600x545.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"545\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/pictures-r-3949-600x545.jpg 600w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/pictures-r-3949-300x273.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/pictures-r-3949-768x698.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/pictures-r-3949-1536x1396.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/pictures-r-3949-940x854.jpg 940w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/pictures-r-3949.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-62479\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Custom House in 1910 at the southwest corner of Front and Yonge Streets. Photo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.torontopubliclibrary.ca\/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMDC-PICTURES-R-3949&amp;R=DC-PICTURES-R-3949\">via<\/a> the Toronto Public Library<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In 1844, Tully arrived in The Province of Canada from Ireland, gaining employment at the Toronto firm of John George Howard, one of Upper Canada\u2019s first professional architects (he later donated the land that became High Park). Established on arrival, Tully immediately undertook several high-profile commissions. Along with the Custom House, he designed St. George the Martyr Church (ruined, just the steeple remains, but is now home to the Music Gallery at the southern edge of Grange Park) and the original Trinity College (demolished, now the site of Trinity-Bellwoods Park). After his 1868 appointment as the first official architect of the newly created Province of Ontario, Tully designed the still-surviving Courtroom Two in Osgoode Hall and the Mimico Asylum for the Insane (now Humber College Lakeshore), as well as being the supervising architect for the Ontario Legislature at Queen\u2019s Park. It should be noted that many examples of Tully\u2019s work outside the GTA remain standing including the St. Catharine\u2019s Courthouse and the Trenton Town Hall.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_62477\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-62477\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-62477 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/IMG_76261-e1597241152996-600x600.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/IMG_76261-e1597241152996-600x600.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/IMG_76261-e1597241152996-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/IMG_76261-e1597241152996-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/IMG_76261-e1597241152996-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/IMG_76261-e1597241152996-940x940.jpeg 940w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/IMG_76261-e1597241152996-62x62.jpeg 62w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/IMG_76261-e1597241152996.jpeg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-62477\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The stones in Dufferin Grove. Photo by Andrew Lochhead, June 2020<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Despite their celebrated origins, there\u2019s no sign in Dufferin Grove of where the stones came from and identifying them took some sleuthing. After a month of searching, the mystery was solved in the best possible way: by accident. A friend was showing me Doug Taylor\u2019s Lost Toronto, a book about the city\u2019s demolished architectural heritage, and suddenly the stones were staring back at me clear as day. I also contacted artist and heritage preservation activist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dufferinpark.ca\/gardens\/gene.html\">Gene Threndyle<\/a> who told me the stones are part of his 1998 collaborative artwork with the Friends of Dufferin Grove Park called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dufferinpark.ca\/gardens\/wiki\/uploads\/Gardens\/GardenE_Book.pdf\">Marsh Fountain<\/a>, confirming their Custom House origins.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_62480\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-62480\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-62480\" src=\"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/pictures-r-4360-600x479.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"479\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/pictures-r-4360-600x479.jpg 600w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/pictures-r-4360-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/pictures-r-4360-768x614.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/pictures-r-4360-1536x1227.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/pictures-r-4360-940x751.jpg 940w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/pictures-r-4360.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-62480\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Custom House in 1901 with mourning decoration for Queen Victoria. Photo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.torontopubliclibrary.ca\/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMDC-PICTURES-R-4360&amp;R=DC-PICTURES-R-4360\">via<\/a> the Toronto Public Library<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Where were the stones before 1998? According to High Park Supervisor Michael V. Hindle, they had been in a corner of a maintenance yard at High Park for some time prior to his arrival in 1991. High Park locals recall the stones as \u201cThe Witches Circle\u201d, arranged in a semi-circle near Colborne Lodge, the home of Tully\u2019s old boss John Howard, and that they had become associated with teenage bush parties, Satan worship, and animal sacrifice, necessitating their removal by park staff, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/sookie\/100071605\">or so goes the story<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_62486\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-62486\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-62486\" src=\"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/f0124_fl0001_id01371-600x431.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"431\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/f0124_fl0001_id01371-600x431.jpg 600w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/f0124_fl0001_id01371-300x216.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/f0124_fl0001_id01371.jpg 761w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-62486\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo of the old Bay (Colonial) theatre via <a href=\"https:\/\/tayloronhistory.com\/2013\/11\/28\/torontos-old-movie-theatresthe-bay-originally-the-colonial\/\">Doug Taylor&#8217;s Historic Toronto<\/a> site.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>We do know that parts of the demolished Custom House, including the Dufferin Grove<br \/>\nstones, were <a href=\"https:\/\/tayloronhistory.com\/2013\/11\/28\/torontos-old-movie-theatresthe-bay-originally-the-colonial\/\">once incorporated into the Colonial Theatre<\/a>, Toronto\u2019s first purpose built movie<br \/>\nhouse. The heavy masonry work added an incongruous heft to the upper floor of the<br \/>\nneoclassical building that stood for over 50 years across from Toronto\u2019s Old City Hall. The Bay Theatre, as the Colonial would later be known, was demolished in 1966 to become the Simpsons Tower, the facade of which the stones were initially intended to be preserved. A Toronto Star photo by Mario Geo from 1966 shows the stones, in far better condition than at present, being salvaged for this very purpose.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_62481\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-62481\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-62481\" src=\"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/tspa_0110569f-600x797.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"797\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/tspa_0110569f-600x797.jpg 600w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/tspa_0110569f-226x300.jpg 226w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/tspa_0110569f-768x1020.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/tspa_0110569f-1156x1536.jpg 1156w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/tspa_0110569f-707x940.jpg 707w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/tspa_0110569f.jpg 1445w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-62481\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">1965 Toronto Star photo by Mario Geo. Original caption: &#8220;No one knows how old they are or who created these stone figures at the Bay theatre at Queen and Bay Sts.; but it is hoped to preserve them to incorporate them into the Simpson Tower which is to be built on the site in the near future.&#8221; Photo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.torontopubliclibrary.ca\/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMDC-TSPA_0110569F&amp;R=DC-TSPA_0110569F\">via<\/a> Toronto Public Library collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>How the stones came to High Park from downtown Toronto is a mystery that likely will never be solved. Threndyle speculates that the City may have collected the stones following the theatre\u2019s demolition and, inspired by the contemporaneous architectural relic collecting of Rosa and Spencer Clark of the Guild Inn, brought them to High Park in a decorative capacity.<\/p>\n<p>Today, \u201cMarsh Fountain\u201d and the ruins of the Custom House lay in two thickets of trees and shrubs along the western border of Dufferin Grove Park, not far from the pizza oven and rink house. Leafy capitals and broken gothic arches sit haphazardly amongst the undergrowth, the large keystones, bearing distinct faces, peer back through the vegetation. Visit them and you\u2019ll find a mustachioed man with a tall hat (perhaps Samuel de Champlain), a man with a squat hat (likely Giovanni Caboto, aka John Cabot), a figure with a winged helmet (the Roman God of Commerce, Mercury), and a female figure \u2013 the embodiment of the City of Toronto \u2013 whose brick crown and collar, bearing the old motto of the City of Toronto, \u201cIndustry, Intelligence, Integrity,\u201d underscore the commercial nature of the original building and its local significance.<\/p>\n<p>That the stones have survived no less than 175 years is in and of itself a minor miracle. Now that they have been identified it is time to appreciate this important link to our built heritage and the life they lead now. I hope other Torontonians will seek them out and appreciate them in their current context, and that of any future lives they might lead.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>EDITOR&#8217;S NOTE (Dec, 2020):<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>After much back and forth with the City&#8217;s historical experts, the source of the stone is an 1876 building by Richard Windeyer, <strong><u>NOT<\/u><\/strong> an 1845 building by Kivas Tully.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The 7<sup>th<\/sup> Toronto Custom\/s House went up on the same site in 1873-76. William Dendy has some very unkind words to say about it in Lost Toronto. What&#8217;s amazing is that the Great Fire of 1904 came within a few feet of the Custom\/s House, but didn&#8217;t quite reach Yonge St. The clearing of the area to the west brought the construction of the Dominion Public Building starting in 1926, seven years after the Custom\/s House had been demolished.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>On the reuse of the 1876 stones in the theatre building, you can check out Eric Arthur&#8217;s No Mean City. It&#8217;s remarkable what they did in 1919, combining (on the theatre&#8217;s new 3<sup>rd<\/sup> floor), cut and carved stone from the 1<sup>st<\/sup> and 3<sup>rd<\/sup> storeys on the 1876 building.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Andrew Lochhead is a local artist, activist and amateur historian whose current work explores public commemoration and memory. The author wishes to acknowledge the essential contributions of Elenore Chesnutt to this article. You can find him on Twitter <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/andrewlochhead\">@Andrew Lochhead<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hidden amongst the shrubs of one of Toronto\u2019s best-loved parks lies a collection of architectural ruins \u2013 carved stones \u2013 recently identified as originating from the Toronto Custom House. Built in 1845, some historians have described it as one of Toronto\u2019s most impressive buildings, but that didn\u2019t save it from being demolished in 1919. Despite<a href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2020\/08\/12\/the-dufferin-grove-stones-and-the-surprisingly-winding-trail-to-discover-the-origins-of-mysterious-toronto-architectural-ruins\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"sr-only\">&#8220;The Dufferin Grove Stones and the surprisingly winding trail to discover the origins of mysterious Toronto architectural ruins&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8458,"featured_media":62476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22,13,24,18,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-architecture","category-green-space","category-history","category-neighbourhoods","category-parks"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Dufferin Grove Stones and the surprisingly winding trail to discover the origins of mysterious Toronto architectural ruins - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2020\/08\/12\/the-dufferin-grove-stones-and-the-surprisingly-winding-trail-to-discover-the-origins-of-mysterious-toronto-architectural-ruins\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Dufferin Grove Stones and the surprisingly winding trail to discover the origins of mysterious Toronto architectural ruins - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hidden amongst the shrubs of one of Toronto\u2019s best-loved parks lies a collection of architectural ruins \u2013 carved stones \u2013 recently identified as originating from the Toronto Custom House. Built in 1845, some historians have described it as one of Toronto\u2019s most impressive buildings, but that didn\u2019t save it from being demolished in 1919. DespiteContinue reading &quot;The Dufferin Grove Stones and the surprisingly winding trail to discover the origins of mysterious Toronto architectural ruins&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2020\/08\/12\/the-dufferin-grove-stones-and-the-surprisingly-winding-trail-to-discover-the-origins-of-mysterious-toronto-architectural-ruins\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-12T15:35:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-18T16:04:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/IMG_76191-e1597240761285.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andrew Lochhead\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andrew Lochhead\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2020\/08\/12\/the-dufferin-grove-stones-and-the-surprisingly-winding-trail-to-discover-the-origins-of-mysterious-toronto-architectural-ruins\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2020\/08\/12\/the-dufferin-grove-stones-and-the-surprisingly-winding-trail-to-discover-the-origins-of-mysterious-toronto-architectural-ruins\/\",\"name\":\"The Dufferin Grove Stones and the surprisingly winding trail to discover the origins of mysterious Toronto architectural ruins - 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Built in 1845, some historians have described it as one of Toronto\u2019s most impressive buildings, but that didn\u2019t save it from being demolished in 1919. DespiteContinue reading \"The Dufferin Grove Stones and the surprisingly winding trail to discover the origins of mysterious Toronto architectural ruins\"","og_url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2020\/08\/12\/the-dufferin-grove-stones-and-the-surprisingly-winding-trail-to-discover-the-origins-of-mysterious-toronto-architectural-ruins\/","og_site_name":"Spacing Toronto","article_published_time":"2020-08-12T15:35:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-02-18T16:04:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":960,"height":960,"url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/IMG_76191-e1597240761285.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Andrew Lochhead","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Spacing","twitter_site":"@Spacing","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andrew Lochhead","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2020\/08\/12\/the-dufferin-grove-stones-and-the-surprisingly-winding-trail-to-discover-the-origins-of-mysterious-toronto-architectural-ruins\/","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2020\/08\/12\/the-dufferin-grove-stones-and-the-surprisingly-winding-trail-to-discover-the-origins-of-mysterious-toronto-architectural-ruins\/","name":"The Dufferin Grove Stones and the surprisingly winding trail to discover the origins of mysterious Toronto architectural ruins - 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