Walking Toronto streets - Jarvis and Church (part 1)

Continuing through the downtown - this walk starts at the north end of Jarvis Street, south to the Gardiner Expressway and then north again on Church Street until it curves around to Yonge Street. So many interesting things to see - some in my old 'hood. And perhaps *too* many mansions to do history on for now!

Click on any picture to see a big version! Also part of this map.

Jarvis Street (click for the Wikipedia entry)

On my way to Jarvis I walked over the Prince Edward Viaduct (aka Bloor Street Viaduct - see also pics from my walk across Toronto on Bloor-Danforth). Here's a shot looking down over the Don Valley with the Don Valley Parkway (DVP) far right, trails down the middle and a patch of what look like stones almost in the middle of the picture. I'll zoom in on the 'stones'...

...definitely something interesting near the trail. I'll zoom in once more...

...ahhh - cool sculptures down in the Don Valley.

Near the north end of Jarvis and just to the east, here's where Mount Pleasant Road curves down into Jarvis.

And here's the northernmost part of Jarvis Street (looking north). Mount Pleasant curves in a block or so south of this point.

Seems to have been some interest in 'pipe art' by the buildings in this area. These being vertical...

...and these at more of an angle.

There are many mansions along Jarvis Street. The following 12 pictures are ones that I thought looked interesting. See also https://hikingthegta.com/2020/07/04/the-mansions-of-jarvis-street/
Mansion #1 - now Casey House (AIDS/HIV Healthcare facility). Commissioned by clothing manufacturer William R. Johnston, and built in 1875

Mansion #2 - now the Eishler Estates - built in 1888 for Thomas Taylor, who was involved in paper mills on the Don.

Mansion #3 - George H. Gooderham house (1889). And for those who have seen some of my other blogs, one of MANY 'Gooderham-related' buildings in the downtown!

Mansion #4 - Chester Massey House. And beside it (to the right in this picture) is the MacMaster/Massey House (Hart Massey) - now the Keg Mansion. There's a picture of that building in my Wellesley Street walk.

Mansion #5 - Samuel R. Briggs House (1872). Around the time of the construction of this house, Samuel R. Briggs was a lumber merchant and the President of the Canada Organ and Piano Company. 

Mansion #6 - now holds various dance organizations. Originally the John N. Lake house which I believe is the same John Neilson Lake who founded Saskatoon!

Mansion #7 - now the Betty Oliphant Theatre. Built in 1863 for J. Blaikie and W. Alexander

Mansion #8 - now the Johnstone and Cowling building, but originally the A. J. Mason House (1881)

Mansion #9 - built in 1898 (Havergal Ladies College), later a CBC building, and now part of the National Ballet School (the Margaret McCain Academic Building)

Part of Mansion #10 - the Sheard House (1865). Soon to be condos.

I happened to walk by it a year earlier (314 Jarvis Street, so of interest to mathematicians who always see 'pi' when they see those three numbers) and it had obviously been abandoned for a while.

And since it then got my interest, I managed to find this earlier Google Maps picture, as well some info on 314 Jarvis from which we can see an earlier picture (and some suspicious fires in the last few years).

Mansion #11 - William Carlyle House (1890). Soon to be incorporated into condos. Carlisle built three buildings in the 'Richardsonian Romanesque Style'. This one (and the next below) abandoned and boarded up for now.

Mansion #12 - mirror image of Mansion #11 and also built by William Carlyle (1891). And also soon to be incorporated into condos.

Still on Jarvis Street - only 2 churches visible so I know I'm not on Church Street yet 😀

Ontario Court of Justice building. Designed by Peter Dickenson in 1954. It has "...a checkerboard front of 411 tiny windows on a concave, Queenston limestone wall"

- Dave LeBlanc, Globe & Mail, 'Architourist' column

The old Sears building.

Liked the look of this old apartment building. Imagining the semi-circular bay windows as originally being a sitting area perhaps.

Just off Jarvis on Lombard Street - the Old Firehall (and former home to Second City)

The MacFarlane Hotel (originally) aka Jarvis House. Background here: https://lombardstreethistory.wordpress.com/2018/04/23/the-untold-story-of-mary-macfarlanes-hotel/

Weird sculpture that reminded me of upside-down flower pots.

St Lawrence Hall (South side of King, just west of Jarvis). 

The new north building of the St Lawrence Market

Inside the basement level of the St Lawrence Market (south)

South end of the St Lawrence Market - South building

Jarvis going under the tracks and to Lakeshore.

And as this blog seems to be getting a little long, I think I'll actually break it up into two parts and do Church Street in a separate one!

Walking Toronto streets - Parliament and Sherbourne

Now I'm getting into the downtown again, and so much history! This walk starts at the north end of Parliament Street, south to Lakeshore and then north again on Sherbourne Street. We start to see a few mansions on Sherbourne (and stay tuned for more on my next walk on Jarvis Street!)

Click on any picture to see a big version! Also part of this map.

Some of you may recognize this as the tree I made a time-lapse movie of one spring. So I think it deserves a mention in this walk as I passed by it on my way to Parliament Street! According to the app on my phone this is a linden tree.

Parliament Street

At the start (north end) of Parliament Street. Looking west at the corner of Bloor (to the right) and Parliament (to the left) with a brand new condo building in the middle.

Saint James Cemetery on the east side of Parliament just south of Bloor. Many prominent Torontonians resting here.

Some cheap gas on Parliament! 😀

This building looked interesting - and sure enough it has some history dating from 1888 when it was Temperance Hotel, then Lakeview Hotel (1890), and finally Winchester Hotel (to 2020).

 

Now a dance studio, this modest-looking building was the Carlton Theatre for a number of years. See also: http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/24762

The Ben Wicks Pub (owned by the cartoonist) used to be here (Parliament just north of Gerrard and down the stairs) from 1980 to 2009. Still has the picture on the wall.

Another theatre (building to the left - http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/24515) and some cool-looking housing to the right.

I saw this HUGE area of grass and parking lot east of Parliament just north of Shuter Street. Thinking condos in the future.

Original homes on the right losing a little sunlight due to a 'monster home' built just south of them.

This new building is the Parliament Street Data Centre! Nice design.

Looking west, south of Front Street. This is the site of the original parliament buildings (to the left).

Very sharp corner on this building! In the distillery district. If you zoom in you will see a green skeleton on the 2nd floor beside the streetlight. 💀

Looking east at the distillery district and Gooderham and Worts Distillery buildings.

And then a short walk from Parliament to Sherbourne along Lakeshore.

Sherbourne Street

Named after a town in Dorset, UK ('Sherborne' - the extra 'u' being added at some point for some reason) by Samuel Smith Ridout, Sherbourne Street has an interesting background of killing by the rich. In 1817 John Ridout was killed in a duel by Samuel Jarvis who was acquitted of the charge of murder (since at that time participants in a duel were acquitted if the formalities of a duel were followed). 

John Ridout's older brother, Samuel, bought land east of the Jarvis family a year after his brother's death, on which Sherbourne Street was created. The acreage had belonged to Attorney General John White, who was killed in an 1800 duel.

Starting at the south end of Sherbourne - here's a typical saving of a couple of floors of an older building. In this case, the Imperial Bank of Canada (1908). 

Here's a building - originally townhouses - built in 1842!

Now a few big homes on Sherbourne Street - each bigger than the last (if you line them up that way).

1. This is the William Dineen House (1872, updated 1895).

2. This is 260 Sherbourne Street, built 1890, now apartments. 'Richardsonian Romanesque' style.

3. The A.M. Orpen House. Abe Orpen was known for owning various racetracks. Slightly earlier picture here: https://www.acotoronto.ca/building.php?ID=2131

The plaque below says "The aviator Amelia Earhart (1897-1937?) ... lived in the St. Regis Hotel on this site from 1917 to 1919."

The Phoenix Concert Theatre (and people lining up to see 'NIKI - THE NICOLE TOUR').

Back to houses/mansions:

4. Now "Adam's House" (accommodation and support for people with mental challenges).

5. The Rev. Hoyes Lloyd House (1871) - now a Salvation Army building

6. The Rosar Morrison Funeral Home - since 1878.

This used to be a Loblaws when I lived nearby in the early '80's. Now a community centre.

Our Lady of Lourdes Parish.

The Isabella Hotel (1891). I remember it as a dive bar in the '80's but it has been transformed into a boutique hotel.
The cool older building at front was built in 1890/91 but not occupied until 1896 for some reason. It became a hotel and the seven story tower in the background was added in 1914. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/its-clean-but-the-izzys-lost-its-soul/article746209/

Back to houses/mansions again:
7. James Cooper house (from the south). Now part of a condo complex it was originally built in 1881 for James Cooper - a wealthy importer/manufacturer/retailer of shoes. Interesting deer/elk sculptures on the wall.

8. Yet another link to the Gooderham name! The Gooderham Mansion (1883) - or perhaps more accurately 'A Gooderham mansion'. Was the Selby Hotel for years. See also this for some history. 

9. And some - originally very nice I'm sure - homes just north of Howard Street and south of Bloor will be replaced by a 50 storey condo building.

Just north of Bloor on Sherbourne and looking down on Rosedale Valley Road.

And a final set of houses on Sherbourne north of Bloor:

10. According to the Architectural Conservancy Ontario, this building was built in 1907.
First Occupant: Rennie, Thomas
First Occupant's Occupation: secretary
Valued at over $4M in 2022

11. Part of a group of buildings that were recently renovated/rebuilt, this 'semi-detached' home shares a "...below-grade garage with 24 parking spaces".

And finally the (boring side) entrance to Sherbourne Subway Station that I took home.