The blog tayloronhistory.com first appeared on the internet in 2011. Since its inception, over 800 posts have been published that explore the Toronto’s history and its heritage structures, including those that have been demolished and lost forever. The blog’s purpose is to generate an interest in our city’s past and its historic buildings, to prevent remaining heritage sites from being destroyed by developers or indifference on the part of the civic government. During the past few years, Torontonians have become more aware of the importance of preserving the past, but the laws remain weak and ineffective, so our architectural heritage continues to disappear.
As a result of the blog, three books have been published about the topics that have appeared on it: Toronto Theatres and the Golden Age of the Silver Screen (published by History Press), Toronto’s Local Movie Theatres of Yesteryear (Dundurn Press), and Toronto Then and Now (Pavilion Press). The latter two books will be available in the spring of 2016.
Toronto’s Old Movie Theatres
Over 130 posts posts relate stories about the city’s old movie theatres. They include archival and modern photos that depict the theatres’ grand facades, marquees, auditoriums, and lobbies. There are also present-day images of the locations where the theatres once existed. The great movie palaces of the early decades of the 20th century (e.g. Shea’s Hippodrome, Pantages, Victoria, Tivoli etc.) are explored, as well as the more modern film palaces such as the University and the Odeon Carlton. The following is a link to the posts about the old movie theatres of Toronto.
https://tayloronhistory.com/2016/02/26/torontos-old-movie-theatres-on-tayloronhistory-com/
Heritage Buildings and Sites
Famous heritage building such as Toronto’s First City Hall, the Old City Hall, St. Lawrence Hall, Osgoode Hall, Campbell House, Mackenzie House, St. James Cathedral, Union Station, St. Michael’s Cathedral, and the St. Lawrence Market have been researched and documented. Other sites, some of them less known, are also explored: Farr House, Oddfellow’s Temple, Grossman’s Tavern, Waverly Hotel, Gooderham Building, and the Bellevue Fire Station. Structures that no longer exist are included — a part of lost Toronto. The following is a link to a list of the sites included on this blog:
https://tayloronhistory.com/2016/02/26/torontos-heritage-buildings-and-sites-on-tayloronhistory-com/
Toronto’s 19th-Century Streetscapes
Several streets that possess timeless qualities have been researched. They harken back to the more tranquil days of the 19th century. Below are the links to access the posts about these unique avenues of downtown Toronto.
Draper Street: https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/05/23/torontos-draper-street-is-akin-to-a-time-tunnel-into-the-past/
Wilcocks Street: https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/09/20/visiting-torontos-best-preserved-nineteenth-century-street-willcocks-street/
Bulwer Street: https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/08/20/a-toronto-street-that-disappeared-but-yet-remains-in-view-bulwer-street/
Glasgow Street: https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/05/10/torontos-architectural-gemsrow-houses-on-glasgow-st/
Huron Street: https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/08/20/a-toronto-street-that-disappeared-but-yet-remains-in-view-bulwer-street/
Toronto Disasters
Three of the greatest disasters that Toronto suffered are chronicled on the blog. In 1914, the “RMS Empress of Ireland” sank in fourteen minutes in the icy waters of the St. Lawrence River. More passengers lost their lives than on the Titanic, yet few Canadian know about this maritime tragedy. Many of those who perished were from Toronto.
In 1949, a lake steamer named the “S S Noronic” caught fire in Toronto Harbour and 122 people lost their lives.
In 1954, Hurricane Hazel flooded the Humber and Don Valley, and over 100 drowned in the flood waters.
Below are the links to read about these events.
Empress of Ireland: https://tayloronhistory.com/2014/03/30/the-empress-of-ireland-tragedymay-29-1914/
Hurricane Hazel: https://tayloronhistory.com/2015/03/28/torontos-1950s-newspapers-hurricane-hazelpart-3/
History of Toronto Streetcars and Toronto Island Ferries
Posts on Streetcars:
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/05/29/travel-on-torontos-great-streetcars/
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/03/26/memories-of-torontos-streetcars-of-yesteryear/
https://tayloronhistory.com/2015/07/17/toronto-streetcarsfrom-omnibus-to-red-rocket/
A post about the Toronto Island Ferries
Posts on the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE)
https://tayloronhistory.com/2016/02/16/the-old-dufferin-gates-at-torontos-cne/
https://tayloronhistory.com/2015/11/26/muzik-nightclubsite-of-cnes-crystal-palace/
https://tayloronhistory.com/2014/08/29/thoughts-about-torontos-2014-cne/
https://tayloronhistory.com/2011/09/05/ten-suggestion-to-make-the-cne-great/
https://tayloronhistory.com/2011/09/03/the-magnificent-grandstand-shows-of-the-1950s/
https://tayloronhistory.com/2011/08/31/the-magificent-1921-grandstand-show-at-the-cne/
https://tayloronhistory.com/2011/08/29/postcard-views-of-the-1947-cne-part-one/
https://tayloronhistory.com/2011/08/30/postcard-views-of-the-1947-cne-part-two/
https://tayloronhistory.com/2011/08/28/golden-memories-of-the-cne-from-yesteryear/
https://tayloronhistory.com/2011/08/25/whats-it-like-to-attend-the-cne-in-2011-in-comparison-with-yesteryear/https://tayloronhistory.com/2011/08/22/memories-of-the-cnetoday-and-yesterday/
Memories of War-Time Toronto During the 1940s
Sunnyside Beach and Amusement Park
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/02/03/a-pictorial-journey-to-torontos-old-sunnyside-beach-part-two/
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/04/01/walking-along-lakeshore-boulevard-near-sunnyside-in-1922/
Snow storm of December 1944, the largest amount of snow to ever descend on Toronto.
https://tayloronhistory.com/2011/11/16/the-worst-snowstorm-to-ever-hit-toronto-post-1/
https://tayloronhistory.com/2015/12/07/downtown-torontos-five-best-xmas-displays2015/
Toyland at Eaton’s (Queen and and Yonge Street Store) and Eaton’s Santa Claus Parade
https://tayloronhistory.com/2011/11/29/memories-of-eatons-toyland-in-the-1940s/
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/11/10/are-you-ever-too-old-to-enjoy-torontos-santa-claus-parade/
https://tayloronhistory.com/2015/12/03/torontos-santa-claus-parade-through-the-decades/
The village on Manitou Road on Centre Island
https://tayloronhistory.com/2016/03/01/centre-islands-lost-villagetoronto/
The Author of this Blog
Doug Taylor was a member of the faculty of the Lakeshore Teachers’ College (York University) and the Ontario Teacher Education College, where he shared his love of history with promising young teachers-to-be. During the 1970s, he conducted walking tours of Toronto’s historic districts for university students, during the days when such tours were rare. He also led tours of Chinatown, the Kensington Market, and the Necropolis Cemetery.
Now retired, he lives in downtown Toronto, within walking distance of Toronto’s historic neighbourhoods. Since retiring, he has written ten books, all of them employing the history of his native city as either the subject or the background for the story. He continues to promote the history of the city he loves through his books and his blog. He can be contacted at t[email protected].
To view the Home Page for this blog: https://tayloronhistory.com/
The publication entitled, “Toronto’s Theatres and the Golden Age of the Silver Screen,” is one of the books that was written incorporating the research material from this blog. It explores 50 of Toronto’s old theatres and contains over 80 archival photographs of the facades, marquees and interiors of the theatres. It relates anecdotes and stories by the author and others who experienced these grand old movie houses.
![cid_E474E4F9-11FC-42C9-AAAD-1B66D852[1]](https://tayloronhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/cid_e474e4f9-11fc-42c9-aaad-1b66d85211.jpg "cid_E474E4F9-11FC-42C9-AAAD-1B66D852[1]")
To place an order for this book:
Book also available in Chapter/Indigo, the Bell Lightbox Book Shop, and by phoning University of Toronto Press, Distribution: 416-667-7791 (ISBN 978.1.62619.450.2)
Another book, published by Dundurn Press, containing 80 of Toronto’s former movie theatres will be released in June, 2016. It is entitled, “Toronto’s Movie Theatres of Yesteryear—Brought Back to Thrill You Again.” It contains over 125 archival photographs and relates interesting anecdotes about these grand old theatres and their fascinating history.
Another publication, “Toronto Then and Now,” published by Pavilion Press (London, England) explores 75 of the city’s heritage sites. This book will be released on June 1, 2016. For further information follow the link to Amazon.com here or to contact the publisher directly:
http://www.ipgbook.com/toronto–then-and-now—products-9781910904077.php?page_id=21.
Doug, thank you for all the info you post. I love hearing about the ‘old’ Toronto. It bring back many memories. I will definitely be reading the books!