TorontoJourney416

✨1972/March 23, 2025 - Looking southeast towards the corner of Bay St and Adelaide St W in the Financial District of Toronto.

✨The archive photo shows the F.W. Woolworth Co., a five-and-dime department store that opened at the corner on November 30, 1949. Dubbed the “New Wonder Store to Serve the People of Toronto,” the seven-storey building featured two sales floors with a total of half a mile of store counter space, luncheon counters with 181 stools, and a stand-up lunch counter for those in a hurry. The store was air-conditioned and included an escalator connecting the two floors. It sold a variety of items, including jewelry, cosmetics, handbags, lingerie, men’s accessories, housewares, toys, office supplies, and more. The upper floors housed several departments for Woolworth’s Canadian Head Office.

✨Even in 1985, Bay St executives lined up at Woolworth’s popular lunch counter for a quick bite; at that time, an “all-dressed” hamburger and a medium Coke cost $2. The Woolworth’s store was last listed at this location in the 1993 Toronto City Directory.

✨The property was sold for $4 million, and the building was demolished in 1997, making way for a parking lot. In 2008, construction began on what was originally the Trump International Hotel & Tower, which opened in 2012. Today, it is known as The St. Regis Toronto.

✨A notable building visible in both photos is The National Club, which features columns and can be seen in the right background.

Archive Photo Credit: City of Toronto Archives, Toronto Planning Board fonds, Fonds 2032, Series 841, File 64, Item 1

✨Circa 1923/April 3, 2026 – Looking northeast towards the Ideal Bread Company Factory, now the Argyle Lofts, at Dovercourt Rd and Argyle St in the Beaconsfield Village neighbourhood of Toronto.

✨In the 1870s, John Dempster owned a bakery at the corner. In 1908, he sold the bakery to brothers William and Charles Carruthers, along with Robert McMullen. The three bakers gradually expanded their property holdings at the location, and in 1914, they named their business the “Ideal Bread Company.” They hired Montreal-based architect Sydney Comber to design their new factory, which was built in 1919, with expansions in 1923 and 1933.

✨Each floor handled a different stage of bread making: the 5th floor was for mixing, the 4th floor was the dough room, the 3rd floor was for shaping and baking, the 2nd floor was for packaging, the 1st floor was for loading goods onto wagons and trucks, and the basement was for storage. There was also a 400-seat assembly hall on the 5th floor.

✨The factory operated as a bakery until 1957, after which the building housed a variety of businesses, suppliers and manufacturers. The heritage-designated building was converted into residential units, with the conversion completed in 2007.

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Archive Photo Credit: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1034, Item 839 - F.W. Micklethwaite Studio photographer

✨1972/May 3, 2026 – Looking northwest at the corner of Dundas St E and Sherbourne St in Toronto.

✨The building that once housed George’s Spaghetti House, shown in the archive photo, dates back to the 1910s. Originally an apartment building, it also featured commercial space, including a real estate office and a drugstore. In the 1940s, it became George’s Hotel, which operated until the mid-1950s. In 1956, Doug Cole opened George’s Spaghetti House, a live jazz club and popular Italian restaurant. Mr. Cole sold the venue in 1983, and George’s Spaghetti House closed its doors in 1994.

✨Afterward, the storefront became home to Goody’s Diner, followed by the True Love Café, which operated from 2004 until approximately 2020. Since then, the storefront has remained vacant.

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Archive Photo Credit: City of Toronto Archives, Toronto Planning Board fonds, Fonds 2032, Series 841, File 50, Item 8

✨September 1948/April 3, 2026 – Looking northwest along Yonge St from Maitland St/Breadalbane St in downtown Toronto.

✨The archive photo shows the “new” Parkside Tavern during its construction. It opened in 1949 and closed in the mid-1980s. A couple of businesses a few doors down include Wingate’s Clothing Exchange and Pullan Stores. The vintage photo also shows the streetcar line that once ran along Yonge St.

✨In the present-day photo, the building that was once the Parkside Tavern is in the left foreground. Since its closure, the building has had various uses, including as a grocery store and a restaurant, and is currently a bar. Several buildings beyond the tavern along this west-side stretch of Yonge St, from Breadalbane St to St. Joseph St and farther, date back to the late 1800s.

Archive Photo Credit: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1303, Series 978, File 1, Item 20

✨1972/March 14, 2026 – Looking northwest towards the corner of Front St E and Scott St in downtown Toronto.

✨The foreground of the archive photo shows when the block was a parking lot. Since 1982, this block has been home to an office and retail building located at 33 Yonge St, now known as Berczy Square.

✨In the background of the vintage photo, a few notable buildings, from left to right, include the black steel-and-glass TD Centre; next to it is the 57-storey Commerce Court West; and beside it is the tiered Canadian Bank of Commerce Building. The four-storey building in the centre background was constructed in the early 1870s for the Bank of British North America. This building has served various purposes over the years, including as a CIBC branch and, more recently, as the former Irish Embassy Pub & Grill.

✨Another building to note in the archive photo is the former National Trust Building, visible on the far right.

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Archive Photo Credit: City of Toronto Archives, Toronto Planning Board fonds, Fonds 2032, Series 841, File 13, Item 15

✨1928/January 3, 2026 – Looking southwest along Bloor St from east of Yonge St in Toronto.

✨The archive photo shows Stollery’s menswear store in a building that was once at the corner. Founded in 1901, Frank Stollery moved his store from 750 Yonge St to this location around 1911. In 1928, Mr. Stollery purchased the property for $400,000. A year after the vintage photo was taken, he constructed a new building on the site. Fast forward to 2014, the property was sold to developers, and Stollery’s announced its closure.

✨The building that was constructed in 1929 was demolished, and since 2017, a condo tower has been under construction at the site. One other item to note in the archive photo is the streetcars that once ran along both Yonge and Bloor streets.

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Archive Photo Credit: City of Toronto Archives, William James Family fonds, Fonds 1244, Item 7393

✨Circa 1953/March 14, 2026 – Looking east towards Yonge St from Walton St, just south of Gerrard St, in the Downtown Yonge area of Toronto.

✨The archive photo shows, from left to right, the Gerrard Building, the Yonge Street Mission, the Bermuda Tavern and Downtown Men’s Wear.

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✨Today, the heritage-designated facades of the Gerrard Building, constructed in 1924, and the Yonge Street Mission, built in 1904, will be part of the mixed-use skyscraper known as Concord Sky.

Archive Photo Credit: City of Toronto Archives, Strathy Smith fonds, Fonds 1128, Series 380, Item 287

✨1971/March 14, 2026 - Looking north up Yonge St from College St/Carlton St, in the Downtown Yonge area of Toronto.

✨The archive photo shows the streetscape over 50 years ago. In the foreground on the left, a CIBC branch is located on the main floor of a building constructed in the early 1890s for the International Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF). Designed by the architects Dick & Wickson, this four-storey landmark incorporates several architectural styles, including Gothic Revival and Chateau elements. The lower floors were used for shops and offices, while Odd Fellows Hall occupied the upper levels. In 1931, the building was modified for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and in 1974, it was added to the city’s list of heritage properties.

✨Further down the street is the St. Charles Tavern Clock Tower, which was built in 1871 and originally part of Yonge Street Fire Hall No. 3. The recently restored, heritage-designated clock tower is part of a condo tower called Halo Residences.

✨In the foreground on the right is a retail and office building known as 2 Carlton Street, completed in 1959. In the vintage photo, it features a CAA sign. Just behind this building is the Westbury Hotel, now the Courtyard by Marriott Toronto Downtown.

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Archive Photo Credit: City of Toronto Archives, Ellis Wiley fonds, Fonds 124, File 2, Item 107

✨Circa 1945/February 15, 2026 – Looking northwest towards the corner of Queen St E and Sumach St in the Corktown neighbourhood of Toronto.

✨The archive photo features the Dominion Hotel at 500 Queen St E. Built in the late 1880s, the hotel was originally part of the neighbouring Dominion Brewery, today known as Dominion Square, which was founded by Robert Davies in the 1870s.

✨The Dominion Hotel was designed by architect David Roberts Jr. and was originally four stories tall. A fire damaged the upper part of the building, leading to several changes, including the removal of the top floor.

✨In 2024, ERA Architects completed a redesign of the storefront inspired by the building’s original design. They also rehabilitated the stone and masonry above. Today, the storefront of the heritage-designated building is home to a restaurant.

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Archive Photo Credit: City of Toronto Archives, Alexandra Studio fonds, Fonds 1257, Series 1057, Item 521

✨August 28, 1915/February 15, 2026 – Looking north up Toronto St from King St E, in the St Lawrence neighbourhood of Toronto.

✨The archive photo shows a busy Toronto St with various modes of transportation, including pedestrians, bicycles, horse-drawn wagons, and automobiles—one with right-hand drive and others with the more common left-hand drive.

✨Among the buildings visible, several still stand today. Three notable structures are located on the left side of the images. The first is in the foreground, with a sign for the U.S. Life Insurance Company. Just behind it is a building with columns that originally served as the city’s Seventh Post Office, completed in 1853. In the distance on the left is the tall Excelsior Life Building, which features a sign for Melville Steamship Tickets. There are also a few buildings in the right distance that stand today, including the Consumers Gas buildings.

✨One significant building that no longer exists is the General Post Office, visible in the centre distance of the archive photo, at the top of Toronto St, on Adelaide St E. Completed in 1874, this Second Empire-style gem was designed by architect Henry Langley. Later known as the Adelaide Street Postal Station, it was demolished in the late 1950s and replaced by the present-day Mackenzie Building.

Archive Photo Credit: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1231, Item 1667 – James Victor Salmon photographer