Topic
Toronto-history
17 stories, newest first.
Archive Desk
Yonge Street Then and Now: Five Toronto Corners Compared
From Queen to North York Centre, five Yonge corners and the building story behind each, with archive-and-today sliders at Queen, Dundas and College.
City Desk
Heritage Toronto Plaques: Where to Find the City's Stories
Heritage Toronto's plaques tell Toronto's past one street corner at a time. Here is how the program works and five plaques to find on foot.
Archive Desk
History of High Park: The Howards' 1873 Gift to Toronto
A 1873 deed turned one couple's country estate into High Park. The story of Colborne Lodge, Grenadier Pond and the park's growth, sourced.
Archive Desk
Toronto's Lost Rivers: Following Garrison Creek Today
Garrison Creek once ran from St. Clair to Fort York. Walk its buried valley through Christie Pits and Trinity Bellwoods and meet Toronto's lost rivers.
Archive Desk
History of the Toronto Islands: From Peninsula to Park
A lighthouse older than the islands, a storm that cut the sandy peninsula loose and the ferries that linked it to the city. The islands' story, sourced.
Archive Desk
Union Station Toronto History: Three Stations, One Street
Toronto has had three Union Stations along Front Street. See how the 1850s station, the domed 1870s landmark and today's Great Hall compare.
Archive Desk
History of the TTC Subway: How Toronto's Yonge Line Opened
From a 1949 groundbreaking at Yonge and Wellington to a twelve-minute ride on March 30, 1954, the story of the line the City Archives says shaped Toronto.
Archive Desk
Toronto Waterfront History: How Lake-Filling Moved the Shore
Waterfront Toronto says the shoreline sat at Front Street two centuries ago. See how lake-filling, a 1912 plan and a spit of land shaped the waterfront.
Archive Desk
History of Kensington Market, Toronto, Decade by Decade
From the Denison estate to a National Historic Site, trace Kensington Market's story through the waves of newcomers who built its shops, streets and spirit.
Archive Desk
How Toronto's Streets Got Their Names: A Hub of Stories
From Yonge and Bloor to Bathurst and Davenport, nine Toronto street names with sourced origins, one honest disagreement, and where to dig deeper.
City Desk
Old Town Toronto Walking Tour: Market, St. James and Beyond
A loop through Old Town Toronto: the Flatiron, St. Lawrence Market, St. Lawrence Hall, St. James Cathedral and an early post office, with a story at each stop.
Archive Desk
Casa Loma History: The Toronto Castle Then and Now
Who built Casa Loma, when the castle went up, and how a hilltop dream became a City-owned heritage landmark, told in then-and-now chapters.
Archive Desk
Distillery District History: Windmill to Arts Hub in Toronto
Follow the Distillery District from an 1830s windmill and a surplus-grain still to a National Historic Site and a village of studios, with every date sourced.
Archive Desk
How Toronto Got Its Name: The Leading Accounts
Toronto's name is widely traced to Mohawk tkaronto, trees standing in the water, and to fish weirs near Orillia. Here are the accounts side by side.
Archive Desk
St. Lawrence Market History: Two Centuries on One Toronto Block
From a market block proclaimed in 1803 to the North Market that opened in 2025, here is how one Toronto corner kept rebuilding itself, with the dates sourced.
Archive Desk
How Spadina Got Its Name in Toronto: Ojibwe Roots and DEE or DYE
Spadina comes from an Anishinaabemowin word for a high place. Follow the name from a ridge to Baldwin's estate and settle the DEE or DYE question.
Archive Desk
How Yonge Street Got Its Name, and Why It Shaped Toronto
Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe named Yonge Street for Sir George Yonge. Follow the military road from 1793 to the dividing line of Toronto's street addresses.