Toronto’s architectural gems—the structure from 1833 at Duncan and Adelaide

Recently, I noticed an historic plaque that I had never seen before, on a building at 22 Duncan Street, on the southwest corner of Duncan and Adelaide streets. I was surprised to discover that the building was erected in 1833. It is one of the few structures that has survived from the early days of the town of York. It was part of a small complex of structures built on the site. It dates from the year prior to York being incorporated as a city and changing its name to Toronto.

Though the building is in good shape, it has been altered greatly over the years. Today, it is difficult to imagine how it would have appeared when it was constructed in 1833 as a student residence for the boys who attended Upper Canada College. The school, founded in 1829 by Sir John Colbourne, was located on a large tract of land known as Russell Square. The square was bounded on the north by Adelaide Street, on the south by King Street West, on the east by Simcoe, and the west by John Street. The school remained on this site between the years 1831 and 1891. They eventually relocated to a site at 200 Lonsdale Road, at the top of Avenue Road, which at that time was in the Toronto suburb of Deer Park.

The old student residence from 1833 was designed in the Georgian style, with a symmetrical east facade and plain lines. The only ornamentation was the brick patterns on the corners of the building. The cornice of today is completely unadorned, though it has likely been changed several times since the building was originally constructed. The student residence was altered in 1856 by the prestigious architectural firm of Cumberland and Stone, and was altered several more times while it was owned by U.C.C. After the college ceased to function as a private school and moved to Lonsdale Road, the other buildings on Russell Square were demolished. The student residence is the sole survivor. It became a factory until being was renovated in 1953 to be used for commercial purposes. For the past few years, the building has been vacant. An historical plaque was placed on the structure in 1986, and was the main source of information for this post.

The symmetrical east facade of the student residence at 22 Duncan Street. The ornamental brickwork on the corners of the building and the simple cornice are visible.

View of the cornice and the brickwork patterns on the northeast corner of the building.

Entrance on the east facade at 22 Duncan Street (left), and one of the large rectangular windows on the east facade (right) , with the large stone sill beneath it. When the building was a student residence, there was a large porch structure over the entranceway. It is visible in the 1890 map.

First floor of the old student residence on the southwest corner of Duncan and Adelaide streets.

Map from the Goad’s Atlas of 1890 in the City of Toronto Archives. It depicts Russell Square, where the buildings of Upper Canada College were located. The student residences are in the upper left-hand side of the map. This map shows the land between Simcoe and John streets, on the north side of King West. Duncan Street had not yet been extended south from Adelaide Street. The dotted-line extending north-south from the top of the map, to the left of the centre of the square, is where Duncan Street would eventually be cut through.

The place of the map where the word “house” appears is the building that is today 22 Duncan Street. Notice that there is an extended porch on the east side of the building, in the top right-hand corner of the map. The porch has been removed, perhaps when Duncan Street was extended south from Adelaide Street.

Toronto’s architectural gems—the structure from 1833 at Duncan and Adelaide

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