Queen and Ossington/Then and Now

The N/W corner sometime in the 1950's, when it was called the Columbia Hotel.2012.
For more on this old hotel and the strange case of James Earl Ray click here.
The Columbia Hotel 1955.

Queen and Ossington/Then and Now

The north side of Queen West just east of Ossington on a summer's day in 1919.
Ninety years later and not too much has changed.
Another view from the mid 1970's.

Queen and Ossington/Then and Now

The north side of Queen just east of Ossington in 1919. I suspect the point of this photo was to
document the large "McCullough Fine Hats" sign that seems to be sagging over the sidewalk.

2011.

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.