Old Toronto is that part of
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada, that corresponds to the original City of Toronto which existed from 1834 to 1998. It was first incorporated as a city in 1834, after being known as the town of
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, and being part of
York County. Toronto periodically grew in size by annexing adjacent land and municipalities.
In 1954, the City of Toronto and the surrounding municipalities of York County were joined in a federation known as the
Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto
The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, which ...
(Metro). Within the federation, the lower-tier City continued to expand in size by annexation of surrounding municipalities, until it reached its final boundaries in 1967. In 1998, the municipalities of Metro Toronto were
amalgamated
Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form.
Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to:
Mathematics and science
* Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal
**Pan ama ...
into the present-day single-tier City of Toronto, which continues legally from the predecessor City of Toronto, although the by-laws of each municipality remained in force.
Historically, "Old Toronto" referred to Toronto's boundaries before the
Great Toronto Fire of 1904
The Great Fire of Toronto of 1904 destroyed a large section of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada on April 19, 1904. It was the second such fire for the city in its history.
Incident
The fire was first spotted at 8:04 p.m., on April 19, 19 ...
, when most urban development was to the east of
Yonge Street
Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes.
Once the southernmost leg of provincial Hi ...
. Since the 1998 amalgamation, however, the 1967–1998 area of the lower-tier city is referred to as "Old Toronto" or the "former city of Toronto." It is sometimes less accurately referred to as "downtown" (
Downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto is the main central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Stre ...
is located within Old Toronto) or as "the core." Old Toronto has a
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
of approximately 8,210 residents per square kilometre, which would rank as Canada’s densest (North America’s second-densest) city with a population over 100,000 if it were still a distinct city.
History
![Celebrating the incorporation of the City of Toronto](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Celebrating_the_incorporation_of_the_City_of_Toronto.jpg)
The former town of York was incorporated on March 6, 1834, reverting to the
name Toronto to distinguish it from New York City, as well as about a dozen other localities named "York" in the province (including the county in which Toronto was situated), and to dissociate itself from the negative connotation of "dirty Little York",
a common nickname for the town by its residents. The population was recorded in June 1834 at 9,252.
In 1834, Toronto was incorporated with the boundaries of Bathurst Street to the west, 400 yards north of Lot (today's Queen) Street to the north, and Parliament Street to the east. Outside this formal boundary were the "liberties", land pre-destined to be used for new wards. These boundaries were today's Dufferin Street to the west, Bloor Street to the north, and the Don River to the east, with a section along the lakeshore east of the Don and south of today's Queen Street to the approximate location of today's Maclean Street. The liberties formally became part of the city in 1859 and the wards were remapped.
[Careless, p. 126]
William Lyon Mackenzie
William Lyon Mackenzie (March12, 1795 August28, 1861) was a Scottish Canadian-American journalist and politician. He founded newspapers critical of the Family Compact, a term used to identify elite members of Upper Canada. He represented Yor ...
, a Reformer, was Toronto's first mayor, a position he only held for one year, losing to Tory
Robert Baldwin Sullivan
Robert Baldwin Sullivan, (May 24, 1802 – April 14, 1853), was an Ireland, Irish-Canadians, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician who became the second Mayor of Toronto, Upper Canada.
Career
In 1835, he was elected to Toronto City Council of ...
in 1835. Sullivan was replaced by Dr.
Thomas David Morrison
Thomas David Morrison ( 1796March 19, 1856) was a doctor and political figure in Upper Canada. He was born in Quebec City around 1796 and worked as a clerk in the medical department of the British Army during the War of 1812. He studied m ...
in 1836. Another Tory,
George Gurnett
George Gurnett ( 1792 – November 17, 1861) was a Canadian journalist and city of Toronto politician. He was also a member of the Orange Order in Canada.
Born in Sussex, England, he emigrated in the 1820s to Virginia. He later moved to Anca ...
, was elected in 1837. That year, Toronto was the site of the key events of the
Upper Canada Rebellion
The Upper Canada Rebellion was an insurrection against the oligarchic government of the British colony of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) in December 1837. While public grievances had existed for years, it was the rebellion in Lower Canada (p ...
. Mackenzie would eventually lead an
assault on Montgomery's Tavern, beginning the
Upper Canada Rebellion
The Upper Canada Rebellion was an insurrection against the oligarchic government of the British colony of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) in December 1837. While public grievances had existed for years, it was the rebellion in Lower Canada (p ...
. The attacks were ineffectual, as British regulars and the
Canadian militia in Toronto went out to the camp at Montgomery's Tavern and dispersed the rebels. Mackenzie and some other Reformers escaped to the United States, while other rebel leaders, such as Samuel Lount and Peter Matthews, were hanged. Toronto would thenceforth elect a succession of Tory or Conservative mayors—it was not until the 1850s that a Reform member would be mayor again. Shortly after the rebellion, Toronto was ravaged by its first
great fire in 1849. The fire was one of two great fires to occur in the city, with the other occurring in
1904.
In their efforts to control the city and its citizens, the Tories were willing to turn to extra-governmental tools of social control, such as the
Orange Order in Canada
The Grand Orange Lodge of British America, more commonly known as the Grand Orange Lodge of Canada or simply Orange Order in Canada, is the Canadian branch of the Orange Order, a Protestant fraternal organization that began in County Armagh in Ire ...
. As historian Gregory Kealey concluded, "Following the delegitimation of Reform after the Rebellions were suppressed, the Corporation (of Toronto) developed into an impenetrable bastion of Orange-Tory strength." By 1844, six of Toronto's ten aldermen were Orangemen, and, over the rest of the 19th century, twenty of twenty-three mayors would be as well. A parliamentary committee reporting on the 1841 Orange Riot in Toronto concluded that the powers granted the Corporation made it ripe for Orange abuse. Orange influence dominated the emerging police force, giving it a "monopoly of legal violence, and the power to choose when to enforce the law." Orange Order violence at elections and other political meetings was a staple of the period. Between 1839 and 1866, the Orange Order was involved in 29 riots in Toronto, of which 16 had direct political inspiration.
At its height in 1942, 16 of the 23 members of city council were members of the Orange Order. Every mayor of Toronto in the first half of the 20th century was an Orangeman. This continued until the
1954 election when the Jewish
Nathan Phillips defeated radical Orange leader
Leslie Howard Saunders
Leslie Howard Saunders (September 12, 1899 – March 30, 1994) was Mayor of Toronto, Canada, from 1954 to 1955 and the last member of the Orange Order to hold the position until William Dennison. He also served as Mayor of East York in 1976.
Ea ...
.
Annexations and amalgamations
The boundaries of Toronto remained unchanged into the 1880s. Then followed a series of expansions lasting to the 1910s: Toronto expanded to the west by annexing the
Town of Brockton in 1884, the
Town of Parkdale in 1889, and properties west to
Swansea
Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe).
The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
(such as High Park) by 1893; to the north by annexing
Yorkville in 1883,
The Annex
The Annex is a neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The traditional boundaries of the neighbourhood are north to Dupont Street, south to Bloor Street, west to Bathurst Street and east to Avenue Road. The City of Toronto recognizes ...
in 1887,
Seaton Village
Seaton Village is a neighbourhood and former village located west of Downtown Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named after John Colborne, 1st Baron Seaton, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada from 1828 to 1836. Seaton Village is bordere ...
in 1888,
Rosedale in 1905,
Deer Park in 1908, the
City of West Toronto,
Bracondale
Bracondale was a provincial electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1926 to 1967. The constituency got its name from an old Toronto suburb called Bracondale, that was annexed b ...
, and
Wychwood Park
Wychwood Park is a neighbourhood enclave and private community in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located west of Bathurst Street on the north side of Davenport Road, within the larger area of Bracondale Hill. It is considered part of the overall ...
in 1909,
Dovercourt Park and
Earlscourt
Earlscourt is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is centred on St. Clair Avenue West, with Dufferin Street, Davenport Road, and Old Weston Road forming its boundaries. It is contained within the larger city-recognized neighbourhood ...
in 1910, and
Moore Park and
North Toronto
North Toronto is a former town and informal district located in the northern part of the Old Toronto district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Currently occupying a geographically central location within the city of Toronto, the Town of North Toronto ...
in 1912; and to the east by annexing
Riverdale in 1884, a strip east of Greenwood in 1890,
Town of East Toronto (including
East Danforth
East Danforth, also known as Danforth Village, is a neighbourhood in the east end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the eastern part of Danforth Avenue in the old city of Toronto. It stretches from the eastern edge of Greektown, Toronto ...
and
Upper Beaches
The Upper Beaches is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is directly north of the Beaches area. It stretches from Coxwell Avenue in the west to Victoria Park in the east. The southern border is Kingston Road, while the northern bo ...
) in 1908, an extension east to Victoria Park Avenue in 1909, and the Midway (bounded by Danforth Avenue in north, Greenwood Avenue to west, Queen Street to south and East Toronto western boundaries to the east) in 1909. By 1908, the named wards were abolished, replaced by a simple numbering scheme of Ward 1 to Ward 6.
By the 1920s, Toronto stopped annexing suburbs. In 1954, the municipalities in
York County south of
Steeles Avenue
Steeles Avenue is an east–west street that forms the northern city limit of Toronto and the southern limit of Regional Municipality of York, York Region in Ontario, Canada. It stretches across the western and central Greater Toronto Area from ...
were severed from the county to form the new regional Municipality of
Metropolitan Toronto
The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...
, which included Toronto and numerous suburbs. Metropolitan Toronto operated as an upper-tier municipal government whereas Toronto continued to operate as a lower-tier government within Metropolitan Toronto. In 1967, provincial reform of lower-tier municipalities in Metropolitan Toronto saw Toronto annex the municipalities of
Forest Hill and Swansea. The City of Toronto remained this size until 1998, when it was formally dissolved and its area amalgamated into the new single-tier
City of Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...
. The new City of Toronto was formed from Old Toronto, the five other dissolved municipalities that made up Metropolitan Toronto, and that upper tier itself in 1997.
Culture
![HorticultureBuilding](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/HorticultureBuilding.jpg)
The first Crystal Palace in Toronto, officially named the Palace of Industry, was modelled after the
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
in Hyde Park, London, England, and was Toronto's first permanent exhibition hall. Completed in 1858, it was located south of the Provincial Lunatic Asylum, northwest of King and Shaw Streets. It was dismantled in 1878, and the ironwork was used to construct a new Crystal Palace on what would later become
Exhibition Place
Exhibition Place is a publicly owned mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The site includes exhibit, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments ...
. The second Crystal Palace hosted Toronto's first Industrial Exhibition (the predecessor to the
Canadian National Exhibition
The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Canadian Labour Day, ...
or CNE) in 1879. By the time it was destroyed in 1906 by fire, it was officially known as the CNE Transportation Building. It was replaced by the
Horticulture Building in 1907.
Institutions
Health care
Old Toronto was home to a number of hospitals, including
Bridgepoint Active Healthcare
Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital, formerly Bridgepoint Active Healthcare, is a Tertiary referral hospital, complex care and rehabilitation hospital in Toronto. It is a member of the Sinai Health System, Sinai Health and affiliated with the University ...
(originally named House of Refuge, see below),
Casey House,
Mount Sinai Hospital,
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (previously, ''Princess Margaret Hospital'') is a scientific research centre and a teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, affiliated with the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine as part of the Univ ...
(originally named Princess Margaret Hospital),
St. Joseph's Health Centre
St. Joseph's Health Centre is a large Catholic teaching hospital in western Toronto, Ontario. It is located west of downtown Toronto, along the Lake Ontario shore at the intersection of The Queensway and Sunnyside Avenue, just west of Roncesvalle ...
,
St. Michael's Hospital,
The Hospital for Sick Children,
Toronto Grace Health Centre,
Toronto Western Hospital
The Toronto Western Hospital (TWH) is a major research and teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the University Health Network (UHN). It has 256 beds, with 46,000 visits to its emergency department annually. It is known for ...
and
Women's College Hospital
Women's College Hospital is a teaching hospital in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the north end of Hospital Row, a section of University Avenue where several major hospitals are located. It currently functions as an indepen ...
. Two health care institutions were also established in 1998 by amalgamating previously separate hospitals: the
Toronto Rehabilitation Institute
Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (TRI or commonly Toronto Rehab) is the largest rehabilitation hospital in Canada. Owned and operated by the University Health Network (UHN), Toronto Rehab provides patients with rehabilitation care, helping people ...
and the
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH, pronounced , french: Centre de toxicomanie et de santé mentale) is a psychiatric teaching hospital located in Toronto and ten community locations throughout the province of Ontario, Canada. It re ...
.
The Toronto General Hospital is the oldest operating hospital established in Toronto. It started as a small shed in the old town and was used as a military hospital during the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
, after which it was founded as a permanent institution, York General Hospital, in 1829, at John and King Streets. In 1853–56, a new home for the hospital was built on the north side of Gerrard Street, east of Parliament, using a design by architect
William Hay, and relocated to University Avenue at College Street in 1913.
The House of Providence on Power Street (between King and Queen Streets) was opened by the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1857 to aid the plight of the desperately poor. It was demolished in 1962 to make way for the Richmond Street exit from the Don Valley Parkway. By that time it was a nursing home, and its residents moved to a new facility at St. Clair and Warden Avenues, known today as Providence Healthcare.
The House of Refuge was built in 1860 as a home for "vagrants, the dissolute, and for idiots." The building became a smallpox hospital during an epidemic during the 1870s. It was demolished in 1894, and a new structure called the Riverdale Isolation Hospital was built on the site in 1904, which evolved into the Rivderdale Hospital and later Bridgepoint Health.
Public library
![Central Library 1884](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Central_Library_1884.jpg)
Toronto has operated the
Toronto Public Library
Toronto Public Library (TPL) (french: Bibliothèque publique de Toronto) is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2008 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other pu ...
system since 1884. Its collection originated from The Mechanics Institute, which was founded in 1830 by reform Alderman
James Lesslie to provide technical and adult education. In 1853 the Institute erected a new permanent home at the corner of Church and Adelaide Streets, but it struggled to attract new paying members. In 1883 the Institute was thus transformed into a municipally supported public reference library. The idea was promoted by alderman John Hallam, but it met considerable resistance in city council. No other city in Canada at this time had a completely free public library. Hallam brought the initiative to a public referendum, and the citizens of Toronto voted in its favour on January 1, 1883. The 5,000-book collection of the Mechanics' Institute became the first books of the newly formed Toronto Public Library.
As a result of the 1998 amalgamation of Toronto, the other municipal libraries of Metropolitan Toronto were merged with Toronto Public Library. It also merged with the Metro Toronto Public Library, which operated one branch, the
Toronto Reference Library
The Toronto Reference Library is a public reference library in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The library is located on the corner of Yonge Street and Asquith Avenue, within the Yorkville neighbourhood of downtown Toronto. The Toronto Reference Library ...
in Old Toronto.
Education
![Jarvis CI](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Jarvis_CI.JPG)
Four
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
school board
A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution.
The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...
s provide
primary and
secondary education
Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...
for residents of Old Toronto,
Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir
Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir ( en, My Future Catholic School Board) is a Roman Catholic French first language public- separate school board that manages elementary and secondary schools in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The school board op ...
(CSCM),
Conseil scolaire Viamonde
The Conseil scolaire Viamonde (CSV) is a public-secular French first language school board, and manages elementary and secondary schools in the Ontario Peninsula and the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The school board operates 41 elementary schools an ...
(CSV), the
Toronto Catholic District School Board
The Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB, known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 40 prior to 1999) is an English-language public-separate school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada, headquartered in North York. I ...
(TCDSB), and the
Toronto District School Board
The Toronto District School Board (TDSB), formerly known as English-language Public District School Board No. 12 prior to 1999, is the English-language public-secular school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The minority public-secular franco ...
(TDSB). CSV and TDSB are
secular
Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
public school boards, operating respectively a
French first language
A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...
institution and
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
first language institutions. The other two school boards, CSCM and TCDSB, are public
separate school
In Canada, a separate school is a type of school that has constitutional status in three provinces (Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan) and statutory status in the three territories ( Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut). In these Canadi ...
boards, operating French first language separate schools and English first language separate schools. Before 1998, the
Toronto Board of Education
The Toronto Board of Education (TBE; commonly known as School District 15), officially known as the Board of Education for the City of Toronto, is the former secular school district serving the pre-merged city of Toronto. The board offices were l ...
and
had operated public secular schools while the Metropolitan Separate School Board (Les Conseil des écoles catholiques du Grand Toronto) had operated public separate schools. These were reorganized upon the amalgamation into the City of Toronto.
Old Toronto hosts
Toronto Metropolitan University
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...
,
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
's St. George Campus,
OCAD University
Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within d ...
,
George Brown College
George Brown College is a public, fully accredited college of applied arts and technology with three campuses in downtown Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Like many other colleges in Ontario, GBC was chartered in 1966 by the government of Ontario and ...
and several other post-secondary institutions.
Politics
Capital
![Ontario Legislative Building, Toronto, South view 20170417 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Ontario_Legislative_Building%2C_Toronto%2C_South_view_20170417_1.jpg)
The first Upper Canada parliament buildings were built in 1796 at Front and Parliament Streets when the capital of the Province was moved from
Niagara-on-the-Lake. These were destroyed in 1813 during an attack on the then-City of York during the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
. A second building was constructed on the same site in 1820, only to be lost to fire in 1824. They were replaced by a new structure built between 1829 and 1832 near Front, John, Simcoe, and Wellington Streets, which saw alterations take place in 1849.
With the unification of Upper and Lower Canada in 1840, the building continued to see sporadic periods of usage as the legislature of the
Province of Canada
The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British North America, British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham ...
until the capital was permanently moved to what is now
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
shortly before
Confederation
A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
in 1867, which saw the formation of the modern-day province of Ontario (the same area as Upper Canada). Upon Confederation, Toronto was selected to be the provincial capital and thus the Front Street building returned to usage as the location of the
provincial legislature until the current
Legislative Buildings
A legislative building is a building in which a legislature sits and makes laws for its respective Polity, political entity. The term used for the building varies between the political entities, such as "building", "capitol", "hall", "house", or ...
at
Queen's Park were completed in 1893. The Front Street building remained vacant until it was demolished in 1903; the
Canadian Broadcasting Centre
The Canadian Broadcasting Centre, also known as the CBC Toronto Broadcast Centre, is an office and studio complex located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It serves as the main broadcast and master control point for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp ...
now sits on the site.
Chorley Park, located in the
Rosedale neighbourhood, served as the official residence of the
Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario
The lieutenant governor of Ontario (, in French: ''Lieutenant-gouverneur'' (if male) or ''Lieutenante-gouverneure'' (if female) ''de l'Ontario'') is the viceregal representative in Ontario of the , who operates distinctly within the province but ...
from 1915 to 1937. The building was demolished in 1961 after it and the lands around it were purchased by the municipal government.
Municipal politics
City council
![Inaugural meeting city council, Toronto, 9th January 1911](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Inaugural_meeting_city_council%2C_Toronto%2C_9th_January_1911.jpg)
In 1833, several prominent reformers had petitioned the
House of Assembly
House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level.
Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...
to have the town incorporated, which would also have made the position of magistrate elective. The Tory-controlled House struggled to find a means of creating a legitimate electoral system that might nonetheless minimize the chances of reformers being elected. The bill passed on March 6, 1834, proposed two different property qualifications for voting. There was a higher qualification for the election of aldermen (who would also serve as magistrates) and a lower one for common councillors. Two aldermen and two councilmen would be elected from each city ward. This relatively broad electorate was offset by a much higher qualification for election to office, which essentially limited election to the wealthy, much like the old
Courts of Quarter Sessions it replaced. The mayor was elected by the aldermen from among their number, and a clear barrier was erected between those of property who served as full magistrates and the rest. Only 230 of the city's 2,929 adult men met this stringent property qualification.
City halls
![New and old city halls in Toronto](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/New_and_old_city_halls_in_Toronto.jpg)
The second market building replaced the original wooden market building in 1831 and ran from King Street to Front Street (the site of the current St. Lawrence Hall, and the
St. Lawrence Market North
St. Lawrence Market North is a public market in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It hosts a variety of markets, including a farmers' market, an antique market and Christmas trees daily from mid-Nov. to Dec. 24. The site has been a farmer's market since ...
building). It was selected by the first mayor, William Lyon Mackenzie, as city hall. His newspaper, the ''
Colonial Advocate
The ''Colonial Advocate'' was a weekly political journal published in Upper Canada during the 1820s and 1830s. First published by William Lyon Mackenzie on May 18, 1824, the journal frequently attacked the Upper Canada aristocracy known as the ...
'', rented space in the rear. This building, along with much of the surrounding Market Block, was destroyed by fire in the
1849 Cathedral Fire. The site was rebuilt as
St. Lawrence Hall
St. Lawrence Hall is a meeting hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located at the corner of King Street East and Jarvis Street. It was created to be Toronto's public meeting hall home to public gatherings, concerts, and exhibitions. Its main featur ...
in 1850.
The second city hall, built in 1845 and renovated in 1850, was known as the New Market House. It served as city hall until 1899. In 1904, the current
St. Lawrence Market South building was built, incorporating part of the city hall structure. Toronto
third city hall began construction in 1889, and was completed a decade later, in 1899. Old City Hall was also used as a court house (assuming the role of the closed
Adelaide Street Court House
The Adelaide Street Court House, or York County Court House, is a historic former courthouse located at 57 Adelaide Street East in the St. Lawrence neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It served as a court house from 1852 until 1900. It cu ...
, closed in 1900), and continues to be used as a dedicated court house. The third city hall was used by the Toronto City Council from 1899 to 1965, when they moved to the completed fourth
Toronto City Hall
The Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, is the seat of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Viljo Revell and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened in ...
.
Ward system
The earliest Toronto neighbourhoods were the five municipal wards that the city was split into in 1834. The wards were named for the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
s of the four nations of the British Isles (
St. George
Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...
,
St. Andrew
Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...
,
St. Patrick, and
St. David) and
St. Lawrence
Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roma ...
, a patron saint of Canada (
St. Joseph
Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...
is the principal patron saint of Canada). Today, only
St. Lawrence
Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roma ...
remains a well-known neighbourhood name. The others have attached their names to a variety of still-existing landmarks, including three subway stations. As Toronto grew, more wards were created, still named after prominent saints. St. James Ward is preserved in the modern
St. James Town neighbourhood, while the northern ward of
St. Paul's has continued to the present as a federal and provincial electoral district.
Demographics
The population of Old Toronto was 797,642 at the
2016 census, living on a land area of 97.15 km² (37.51 sq mi). According to the 2001 census, the population was 70% Caucasian, 10% Chinese, 5% African-Canadian, 5% South Asian, 3% Filipino, 2% Latin American, 2% Southeast Asian, 1% Korean, and 2% Other.
See also
*
Downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto is the main central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Stre ...
References
;Bibliography
*
;Notes
External links
City of Toronto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toronto (Former)
Populated places established in 1834
Populated places disestablished in 1998
Metropolitan Toronto
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
Former municipalities in Toronto
Neighbourhoods in Toronto
History of Toronto
1834 establishments in Canada
1998 disestablishments in Ontario