Bruce Bell's History Show

The view east along the south side of Front St. from Church in 1915. Looking north towards Front St. on Market St. The remaining delivery passageway can be seen in the lower left corner. The Great Western Train Station, converted to a wholesale vegetable market, as seen in 1930.

Page two of The History Around Front & Church Streets The area surrounding C'est What by Bruce Bell back to previous page Trains And Warehouses In 1858 larger and more modern warehouses were needed to hold all the goods that were streaming into our city. Built along the south side of Front Street (thus cutting off the once exceptional view of the lake) they still stand today. Numbers 85 (Ra emporium), 83 (Wonderful and Whites) and 81(Starbucks) Front Street East, all have after a recent face lift, emerged looking like they did 150 years ago. These warehouses backed out onto the piers, where horse-drawn wagons loaded with products would enter through the rear, ascend the grade and come out onto Front Street.These tunnels have long since been bricked-up except for one used by The Performing Arts Lodge as a passageway out onto Market Street. Toronto in the mid to late 1800's had room for train tracks, wharves, piers, horse drawn wagons, industry, and an Esplanade.Of course it was getting a little crowded but The Esplanade as a Peoples Walkway along the waterfront managed to survive. In 1863 Toronto's first great train station, The Great Western, was constructed on the site of the present day Hummingbird Centre. Architect William G. Storm constructed the entire building out of wood and overlaid its enormous arched roof with a covering of lead. At the beginning of the 20th century the station, having outlived its usefulness, was converted into a wholesale vegetable market. On May 17 1952 it was destroyed by fire thus sparing its ultimate fate of being demolished. Then, as all things admirable about Toronto, the end too, came for the old harbour and it's Esplanade. Landfill.

Landfill And Industry There were five major landfills, beginning in 1890 and lasting well into the 1950's.That first land-fill brought the waters edge to where the train tracks are today, created a new harbour and transformed The Esplanade into a dockyard. Over the next 80 years it was to become an industrial nightmare and it's after effects were to turn The Esplanade into, according to author Pierre Burton, the most toxic street in Canada. The Esplanade at the beginning of the 20th century was dominating by two giant coal and lumber yards owned by The Elias Rogers Company. At the foot of Market Street were its docks, pier and distribution Centre. Ships would unload the coal and lumber, where it would sit in massive heaps (where Old York Tower and 55 The Esplanade now stand), before being placed on trains that would run the length of The Esplanade where it would then be unloaded at the refinery at Berkeley Street.This refinery yard was colossal, taking up the block bounded by Sherbourne, Front, Berkeley and The Esplanade and it shared its acreage with the Consumer Gas Company, still standing in part and is now home to The Canadian Stage Company and The Canadian Opera Company at Front and Berkeley. Coal ran this city much like electricity does today. This was the Industrial Age and the more smoke that billowed out over a metropolis, the more prosperous it appeared. No one then (and it would be years) would dare approach a factory owner and say 'Excuse me, do you think you could do something about the smell?' They would have thought you were nuts or worse, a communist. Until they were cleaned in the late 1970's and early 80's, Toronto's landmark buildings suffered through years of soot and grime turning their original red sandstone, yellow brick or white limestone facades, black. Coal dust and thick smoke was everywhere, it filled peoples lungs and when mixed with rain or fog the consequences became a deadly mix, but the furnaces kept blasting away and the chimneys kept pouring out its toxic poison. Click here to continue

The view from Sherbourne east along The Esplanade in 1894. The current Canadian Opera House and Canadian Stage buildings can be seen at the left center of the picture. The old Consumers Gas buildings at Berkeley and Front now house the Canadian Stage Company (top) and The Canadian Opera Company