Queen and Ossington/Then and Now

Looking west along Queen at the foot of today's Ossington. When this photo was taken in 1919
This intersection was the start of Dundas Street. It would be many years until the various small streets that make up today's Dundas would be joined together.
The hotel on the right is were James Earl Ray spent his days in the summer of 1968 and to the left the original north wall of the Lunatic Asylum. According to Ron Brown in his excellent book, Toronto's Lost Villages, the tavern's name was "The Gondoratu". An earlier Hotel on the same site was called "The Queen's Head".

This photo is from 2010 (Google) and while the old hotel is still there it won't be for long.
The old hotel during demolition in the summer of 2010.
A section of the original wall (1846) surrounding the Asylum.
The original Provincial Lunatic Asylum was designed by John Howard and stood on the same site as today's facility on Queen at the foot of Ossington.
Built in 1850 it survived until 1956.
Looking south down Ossington in 1920 the Asylum's dome is visible in the distance.
A hand tinted postcard of the Asylum from 1910.

The Strange Case of James Earl Ray-The Spring of 1968

James Earl Ray.
After the assasination of Martin Luthor King in Memphis on April 4, 1968, James Earl Ray, the alleged assassin managed to evade capture and make his way to Toronto by bus, taxi and train. He spent the month of April here biding his time before travelling to London England on a Canadian passport using a name he had found in the Telegram Newspaper's archives.
Ray's Canadian passport under the alias of Ramon George Sneya.

He first took a room here on Ossington Ave.
To avoid suspicion, he also rented a room in this house on Dundas St W. alternating his time
between the two.
He was known to frequent the bar at the foot of Ossington. The Gondoratu House 1958.
The old Hotel being demolished to make room for.....
more condos!
He's also rumoured to have hung out at the old Drake Hotel further west on Queen.
For the full story of Ray's time in Toronto click here.
He's also believed to have spent time here at the Silver Dollar Room at the Waverly Hotel.
Two early postcards from Chuckman's of the Waverly Hotel. The Dining Room.
The Exterior.