Cherry and Front/Then and Now

 The old Canary Restaurant and School on Cherry Street (formerly Palace Street)

More on the history of this building here.

 It doesn't look much different now but it will!

An old house on the opposite side of the street circa 1983. It's hard to imagine that not only was this once a residential neighbourhood but that it was also the centre of the town. The Parliament buildings were a block away and Gooderham and Worts a major employer.

B&W photos by Cummins

The Canary Restaurant/Then and Now

The iconic Canary Restaurant as shot by Bill Wrigley.

The sign has been salvaged and can be found in a warehouse on Wabash Av in Parkdale. Originally built as a school more info can be found below.

The Palace Street School at Front and Cherry Street (1858) is the oldest multi-room school house in Toronto. At the time Cherry Street was called Palace Street and this area was considered "downtown". Fern Street in Parkdale was called Cherry Street.
The red square outlines the original school and the blue outline a later addition known as the Palace Street Hotel.

A well preserved interior classroom window.

The boys entrance.

This view shows the Hotel addition that for many years was known as the Canary Restaurant. These buildings are all owned by the Provincial Government and will be used in the upcoming Pan Am Games.
Looking into the empty hotel a safe can be seen at the back. Legend has it that bootleg whiskey was stored here during prohibition, before being smuggled south of the border. For more detailed information on the Palace Street School click here.

The Canary.

This school on Alice Street, built in 1862, is strikingly similar in design to the Palace School.

Alice Street is no more but it did run east west between Yonge and Terauley (Bay) south of Agnes street (now Dundas).