The Great Fire of Toronto, 1904

Yesterday, April 19, marked the anniversary of the Great Fire of Toronto.

On the windy and cold April evening in 1904, flames were spotted in an industrial building on Wellington Street, just west of Bay. The fire quickly spread in every direction and continued until around 5pm the following day. The fire affected about 13 acres of commercial property downtown, and destroyed over 100 buildings. Five thousand people were left without work.

The aftermath of the Great Fire, 1904

City of  Toronto Archives Fonds 1244, item 2

It affected our community and our city, and yet the Great Fire seems to go unmentioned in any of Archbishop Denis O’Connor’s records. Our bishop’s papers represent the administrative history of the Archdiocese, and thankfully no Archdiocesan property was affected by the fire.

We were excited to find the fire documented in the daily journals of Toronto Catholic Matthew O’Connor. Records of parishioners fall outside of our collection mandate, but somehow O'Connor's journals found their way into our collection. And, in moments like this, we're especially thankful to have them.

The Greatest Fire in Toronto's history began tonight at 8:30 and continued all night... began on Wellington Street opposite Holland House. Destroying both sides of Bay from Melinda down to the Bay...Front Street.. Esplanade ave. all business places in neighborhood. loss about $10 000 000. Cold stormy night for the fire.

Matthew O'Connor Daily Journal, 1904
DC Item #59
ARCAT Desk Calendar Collection

It's interesting to see the fire described by a Torontonian of the day. The scope and estimated damage were unlike anything the city had seen in its history. Some amazing footage of the fire was captured and distributed across Canada by photographer George Scott and his assistant. Scott's film is now available on Youtube. Video Courtesy of Library & Archives Canada, ISN #16107

The rebuilding in the years that followed the Fire helped shape the city as we know it today. Tucked into O'Connor's journal was a clipping showing plans for the new Union Station to be built in the "Burnt District".

undated clipping
DC Item #59
ARCAT Desk Calendar Collection

You can find more information and more photographs of Great Fire of Toronto on the Archives of Ontario website here.

Archives Awareness Week 2015: Summerhill Then & Now

We are in the midst of Archives Awareness Week in Ontario.  To engage the staff who work at the Catholic Pastoral Centre, we decided to use this opportunity to permanently install a series of photographs in the foyer outside our office:

Outside ARCAT's office: a new permanent installation of historical photos purchased from the City of Toronto Archives.  The photos show the site of our office building and neighbourhood.

The five photographs show the current site of the Catholic Pastoral Centre at 1155 Yonge Street as it was between 1910 and 1945.  The northeast corner of Yonge Street and Shaftesbury Avenue was formerly occupied by the Rosedale Hotel. The photos also capture the surrounding streetscape, including the CPR crossing (now beside the flagship LCBO) and streetcar track extension (eventually replaced by the Yonge Street subway line).

Click the titles below to see the historical images:

Northeast corner of Yonge Street and Shaftesbury Avenue, Rosedale Hotel, 1914 (City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1231, Item 1114). 

What it looks like now: 

  

Rosedale Hotel, ca.1945 (City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1257, Series 1057, Item 535). 

 What it looks like now: 

Yonge Street at Canadian Pacific Railway level crossing, looking north, 1910 (City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 502). 

What it looks like now:  

Yonge Street track extension looking north to Shaftesbury Avenue, 1916 (City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1231, Item 489).  

What it looks like now:    

Yonge Street track construction at Shaftesbury Avenue, ca. 1920 (City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1231, Item 423). 

What it looks like now:  

Copies of the photographs were purchased from the City of Toronto Archives, which is home to a wealth of photographs featuring streetscapes, many of them digitized. Check out the amazing historical images of Toronto on the City's Flickr page.

So why not use your new found awareness of archives to search for photos of your street or neighbourhood through the City of Toronto Archives?