Sunday, November 20, 2011

Saturday, November 5, 2011

A Traffic Jam Near High Park, 1910


Two Ford Model T automobiles drive side-by-side what is probably the eastern shore of Grenadier Pond in High Park in 1910.  Note that, as with today, there were more people on Toronto's roads than there were cars.

A Ford Model T Drives Through High Park In 1910


A Model T motorcar drives past what looks like a stately oak in High Park in 1910.  At this point the Model T had only been available for a year and a half.

Unknown River, 191X


An unknown river, most likely the Humber, with a bridge and a building in the distance.

Humber River, 191X


A gentleman observes the Humber River early in the 20th century.  The Humber River watershed is now home to over 700 000 people, but early in Toronto's history it and the Don River were key to the city's milling and masonry needs.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Runnymede Road, 1911


Runnymede Road in 1911.  The neighbourhood of Runnymede doesn't look at all like this anymore.  That looks like a lovely big jack pine in the foreground.

Indian Road, Early 1900s


Indian Road (compare with the previous entry in February) in the early 1900s.  Based on the dates of the other photos on the same page as this one, it is somewhere between 1903 and 1911.  Suffice it to say that Indian Road, near the Toronto neighbourhood of High Park, is paved and heavily populated.

Indian Road Crescent 1903


Indian Road Crescent, south of Bloor Street West and near High Park, in February of 1903.  Check out the large, pre-global warming snowbanks.  Toronto doesn't look like that very often any more.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Unknown Road



An unknown road.  Given the picture's place in the album, it is likely around High Park area, and the road is most likely Bloor Street West.

Monday, October 10, 2011


I believe this is my grandmother in the area of High Park in the first decade of the 1900s.

Sunday, October 9, 2011


An unknown road in Toronto, sometime between 1909 and 1924.  Given the other photos nearby in the album, it is likely somewhere near High Park, and could even be Bloor Street West.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Dundas Bridge in the 1920s


Dundas Street West bridge in the 1920s.  It sure doesn't look like this any more.

A Roller Coaster from the 1920s


A roller coaster most likely at the CNE or Sunnyside Amusement Park (which would make this the Sunnyside Flyer), in the 1920s.  If this is indeed from Sunnyside, it would be built in the vicinity of this previous entry.

Brown's Hotel on Old Weston Road


Brown's Hotel (left) on Old Weston Road in 1924.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

"To Lambton" in 1912


On the way to Lambton Mills in 1912.  I'm unsure of what trail or road this is, but it sure doesn't look like the area around Dundas Street West and the Humber River these days.

Lambton Mills at Dundas Street West and the Humber River, 1912


Two ladies follow the sidewalk on Dundas Street West in 1912, at Lambton Mills.

Lambton Mills was a neighbourhood at the east side of the Humber River, where it intersects with Dundas Street West, near the modern neighbourhood of Lambton.  This is one of the oldest settled areas of Toronto, long pre-dating European settlement, originally site of the local First Nations peoples' Toronto Carrying Place Trail.  Originally founded c. 1806, 106 years before the taking of this picture, Lambton Mills was originally called "Cooper's Mills" and named after the many mills in the area that relied on the Humber.

In 1915, three years after this photo was taken, all but one building in Lambton Mills burned to the ground.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Boats on the Bay, c. 1910


Toronto Bay, c. 1910 - now commonly called the Toronto Harbour.  The Toronto Islands are visible on the horizon.

At this point in the city's history, Front Street was so named because it was the front street on the water.  Lake Shore Boulevard and Queen's Quay did not yet extend downtown, and the areas of Ashbridges Bay and the Redpath Sugar factory were still open water; the land for those projects was created following landfill projects in the decades after this picture was taken, meaning these boats plied the waters where there are now condos, cars, and parks.

A Humber Bridge, c. 1910


A bridge over the Humber River, at an unknown location.  It is unlikely that this is the predecessor to the Bloor Street West Humber Bridge at Old Mill, though many roadway pictures from this album are taken of Bloor Street West.  It is difficult to ascertain where this was taken as many bridges along the Humber were destroyed in the wake of Hurricane Hazel in 1954.  Toronto was not engineered to withstand a tropical storm, and as a result over 50 bridges were destroyed by flash flooding throughout the city.

Bridge, 1909


A young woman prepares to cross a bridge in 1909.  At first I thought it was a foot bridge, and then I remembered that many of Toronto's roads were hard-packed dirt a century ago.

Unknown location.

Sailing on Lake Ontario, 1909


Fine lines and fancy hats on display at the shores of Lake Ontario 102 years ago.

CN Rail Bridge, 1909


A CN Rail bridge in an unknown location; judging from the other rail photos from this album, it is likely somewhere around the Junction which, my mother informs me, had a bad name in those days.  It was important to let people know you were from south of Bloor Street if you lived in that area.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

West Toronto Station



A young woman waiting at West Toronto Station, built in 1911 and demolished in 1982 after failed preservation attempts.  It was here, near the Junction.

A Ravine Near Bloor West




A ravine around Bloor Street West, c. 1906.

Freshet Near Weston Road


A Freshet near Weston Road sometime around 1906.

Humber Valley 1906


The Humber Valley in 1906.

The Humber River in Lambton


The Humber River in the neighbourhood of Lambton.

Overlooking Grenadier Pond, 1906


Fashionable persons overlooking Grenadier Pond in 1906.

Bloor Street West, 1906


Bloor Street West...not certain of the location, but it looks like there's a fence or bridge railing on the right hand side of the image.

Machinery at the Todmorden Paper Mill


At the paper mill in Todmorden Mills, pre-Don Valley Parkway.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Meyer's Hotel in the Evening, 1906


Meyer's Hotel at the bottom of Indian Road in Sunnyside, 1906.  The hotel doesn't seem to be there anymore, but the site is somewhere near the Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion (built in the 20s) and Gus Ryder Pool.

Todmorden Road in 1906


Todmorden Mills Road doesn't look much like this anymore.  The DVP runs right next to it now.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Roncesvalles Bathing Beach, 1906


Looking across the tracks to Lake Ontario.  This would later become Sunnyside Amusement Park.

Sailing Sunnyside 1906


A sailboat off the shore of Sunnyside.

High Park on a Sunday morning 1906


High Park and buggies on Bloor Street, 1906.

Lambton Road, 1906


The picture says Lambton Road, but I'm only able to locate Lambton Avenue.

Sunnyside Waterfront 1906


Sunnyside waterfront looking west, 1906

High Park 1906


High Park, looking south from the other side of Bloor, 1906.

A young man on Bloor Street, 1906


Bloor Street, sans pavement, 1906.

High Park in the snow in 1906


A two-horse open sleigh in High Park.

Bloor Street 1906


The red rocket trundling down Bloor Street on 1906.

Riverdale Park Streetcar 1906


Riverdale Park streetcar.

Riverdale Park Gates 1906


Riverdale Park at Wikipedia.

Riverdale Park 1906



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Welcome to Old Toronto

"On the lake"
Two women observe a sailboat on Lake Ontario, c. 1909.

Welcome to Old Toronto. This blog will feature historical images of Toronto from the early 1900s on. Initially I will be relying on the photography of my grandfather, George Tomlin, but images from others will be included, and submissions are welcome. Email me at james.myslik@gmail.com if you are interested.