thecharioteer
Senior Member
Yonge North from Gerrard
1936:
1951:
1990's:
March 2025 (by Johnny Au):
1936:
1951:
1990's:
March 2025 (by Johnny Au):
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- Thread starter Mustapha
- Start date
jaborandi
Active Member
I hadn't realized that Kresge's had a location here before moving up to Yonge/Carlton. I knew it as a Woolworth's in the late 60's. There were several smaller buildings of a similar vintage on Yonge. They were all faced with limestone giving it a very coherent and satisfying look.
adma
Superstar
Yeah, they were all a consequence of Yonge being widened S to Gerrard in tandem w/the big urban plans that created Eaton's College St.
thecharioteer
Senior Member
jaborandi
Active Member
Did the building on the left eventually morph into African Modern, which offered a wide selection of Mexican wooly vests for the local biker gangs?
flonicky
Senior Member
Peter facing south from Queen, 2025:
Streetview, 2009:
1949:
Streetview, 2009:
1949:
flonicky
Senior Member
The 1949 photo made me wonder what happened to the old tower in the distance because it's not visible in the 2009 image. But it's the Commodore Building and still there.
Blovertis
Active Member
I'm not sure, but in the 70s and 80s it was definitely the original location of the Glass Head Shoppe, which offered a wide selection of bongs for the local biker gangs
Full Metal Junkie
Active Member
I was wondering the same thing. It's a question of perspective. The 111 Peter St. building is just tall enough to obstruct it in the 2009 image:
junctionist
Senior Member
I've always enjoyed the vista to Skydome's northwestern concrete pier. We're looking at one of those times when the "now" is definitely better.
Mustapha
Senior Member
Grosvenor street Then [2018] and Now [6/6/2025].
DSCToronto
Superstar
Though there have been many changes since 2020, here is SMALL ST and Queen's Quay looking south in 1972 and 2020
and
I always assumed that Small Street was named because it IS a very small street but no... It is named for John Small. Small was born the son of a haberdasher (a vender of sewing supplies) in Gloucester, England. Small was appointed clerk of the Executive Council of Upper Canada on 12 September, 1792, through the influence of Home Secretary Henry Dundas. He was awarded Park Lot # 3 (which was just west of Parliament Street. The wonderful Parks Lot website SEE: https://parklotproject.com/ ) notes:
His life was more 'exciting' than one might have expected......Mr Small fought a duel with his next door neighbour (from Park Lot #4), the Attorney General John White. "The hostilities leading to the deadly Small-White duel began when Small's wife Eliza publicly snubbed Mrs. White, who had recently joined her husband from Britain. White reacted by smearing Eliza in a letter to D.W. Smith (Park Lot 6). White, who had had a brief affair with Eliza, claimed that she had once been the kept woman of an English aristocrat who, when tired of her, paid Small to marry her. And that White had had to escape Eliza's tireless amours.
White's affair with Eliza likely occurred while both families were still in Newark, during their first couple of years in Upper Canada. White's diary records in 1793-94 his growing friendship with the Smalls, and then on Sat., March 8, 1794, this entry: "Took Mrs. S. home. Drove Mr. S. afterwards to Chief Justice's and home. Drove Mr. Maine to Captain Russell's. Miss Russell ill with an ague. Went after to bring Mrs. S. to dinner!!!" Those triple exclamation marks are only seen once in White's normally laconic journal.
Over the following month there were a few more mentions of the Smalls (including driving Mrs. Small "a mile on the landing road and home"); and then this final entry in the journal on April 5, 1794: "Borrowed yesterday and this day, Russell's horse. Dined at S's. A little coquetry! so came away immediately after tea." (Coquetry means flirtation.)
Smith shared the story with Chief Justice John Elmsley (Park Lot 9) — wanting, he would say, to spare Elmsley's wife too close an association to a fallen woman — and the gossip travelled through York society. When the story made its way back to Small he insisted upon immediate satisfaction. The outcome: Mrs Small was permanently ostracized, and Smith's appointment to the Legislative Council was postponed indefinitely. As was usual in those days, Small was acquitted on a charge of murder after a brief trial."
and
I always assumed that Small Street was named because it IS a very small street but no... It is named for John Small. Small was born the son of a haberdasher (a vender of sewing supplies) in Gloucester, England. Small was appointed clerk of the Executive Council of Upper Canada on 12 September, 1792, through the influence of Home Secretary Henry Dundas. He was awarded Park Lot # 3 (which was just west of Parliament Street. The wonderful Parks Lot website SEE: https://parklotproject.com/ ) notes:
His life was more 'exciting' than one might have expected......Mr Small fought a duel with his next door neighbour (from Park Lot #4), the Attorney General John White. "The hostilities leading to the deadly Small-White duel began when Small's wife Eliza publicly snubbed Mrs. White, who had recently joined her husband from Britain. White reacted by smearing Eliza in a letter to D.W. Smith (Park Lot 6). White, who had had a brief affair with Eliza, claimed that she had once been the kept woman of an English aristocrat who, when tired of her, paid Small to marry her. And that White had had to escape Eliza's tireless amours.
White's affair with Eliza likely occurred while both families were still in Newark, during their first couple of years in Upper Canada. White's diary records in 1793-94 his growing friendship with the Smalls, and then on Sat., March 8, 1794, this entry: "Took Mrs. S. home. Drove Mr. S. afterwards to Chief Justice's and home. Drove Mr. Maine to Captain Russell's. Miss Russell ill with an ague. Went after to bring Mrs. S. to dinner!!!" Those triple exclamation marks are only seen once in White's normally laconic journal.
Over the following month there were a few more mentions of the Smalls (including driving Mrs. Small "a mile on the landing road and home"); and then this final entry in the journal on April 5, 1794: "Borrowed yesterday and this day, Russell's horse. Dined at S's. A little coquetry! so came away immediately after tea." (Coquetry means flirtation.)
Smith shared the story with Chief Justice John Elmsley (Park Lot 9) — wanting, he would say, to spare Elmsley's wife too close an association to a fallen woman — and the gossip travelled through York society. When the story made its way back to Small he insisted upon immediate satisfaction. The outcome: Mrs Small was permanently ostracized, and Smith's appointment to the Legislative Council was postponed indefinitely. As was usual in those days, Small was acquitted on a charge of murder after a brief trial."
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flonicky
Senior Member
2004:
2025:
2025:
adma
Superstar
Gee, thanks for reminding me of that enigmatic glass cube at Lakeshore and Park Lawn. I forgot all about it.