Demolished Queen Street West

As I mentioned in an earlier post, all of the south side of Queen between Bay and University was demolished after the construction of New City Hall in 1966. Here are some photos.

Click on any image for a better look.

South side of Queen looking east from York Street in 1926 or so.

Looking west towards University in 1953

The S/W corner of Queen and York in 1953The present site of the new Opera House.
Looking east from Bay with the old Lyric Theatre.
The Alexandra Hotel was located on the N/W corner of Queen and Elizabeth Street.
Demolished to make way for Toronto's new City Hall.

Harbord and Clinton/Then and Now

The N/W corner of Harbord and Clinton during construction 1916.
Today.

King and Cowan/Then and Now

Looking east on King across Cowan Avenue in 1903.

Today.

Parkdale Twins

This house on Sorauren has a twin....
....on Macdonnel. Except the plan for this one is reversed.

Parkdale/Then and Now

A very nice postcard from 1910 looking east along Queen from O'Hara Avenue.

Skip ahead 100 years and a lot of changes, although the north side of the street is relatively intact. the bank has been replaced by a Dollarama and of course too many cars on the road.

Queen and Parliament Pt.2/Then and Now

The south west corner of Parliament and Queen in 1914. Note the horse trough as well as the public washrooms. The furniture store has big second story display windows.

And today it's still a furniture store.. Marty Millionaire.

Another view, note the awnings.
An ad for the Home Furniture and Carpet Co. from 1911.

Queen and Parliament/Then and Now

Looking south on Parliament towards Queen Street East in 1959.
The building on the right with the "Drugs" sign is the former Rupert Hotel.
Built in the late 1870's it was considered one of the better hotels in the area.
In the late 1980's there was a tragic fire there that claimed 10 lives.

Today
You can see the hotel sign on the side of the building.

Queen and Manning/Then and Now

Looking north up Manning at Queen,
Not much to say about this one....Although I do like the awning.

Queen and Portland/Then and Now

The north side of Queen West in 1958. Haba's Grill looks like the kind of place I would go to.

In 2010 the Epicure has taken Haba's place on the strip

Queen and Peter/Then and Now

The north side of Queen just west of Peter Street in the 1930'sThe stores looked better with the awnings...

Queen Street Subway/Then and Now

The cornerstone.

From the overpass looking at the s/w corner of Queen and Dufferin 1898.

The building of the Queen Street Subway (underpass) was a major undertaking for the town of Parkdale in January of 1884. The level crossing at Dufferin Street was proving to be a major hurdle for access and trade. Queen and Dufferin were re-graded several feet below street level

and the existing buildings shored up. Over time as these structures were demolished the recovered land was also altered. The construction costs at the time totalled over $20,000.

Looking east.

Looking south/east.

Looking at the north side of Queen and east towards the subway.
The Gladstone Hotel can be seen in the distance.

The same view in 2010
The S/W corner of Queen and Dufferin 1897.Today.
Still under construction.

Looking west from the foot of Gladstone Ave towards the recently completed subway in 1896The same view today

From Queen looking south down Dufferin during construction.
Dufferin looking north.
2010.

Sorauren and Pearson/Then and Now

Another corner store in Parkdale listed for $58,00 in May of 1979. Note the phone booth outside. There're not too many public phones left now that everyone has a cellphone.

This building has also been converted into a private residence.

Sorauren and Fern/Then and Now

Another listing from May 1979. A corner store on the N/W corner of Sorauren and Fern listed for $53,000 with taxes of $708. What do you think this property would cost today?

In 2010 the store is gone and the ground floor is an apartment.