The St. Lawrence Market Area

By Kay Samuels, SLA Toronto Chapter

The historical St. Lawrence Market is found on Front St. a few blocks east of Yonge St. In fact, the entire St. Lawrence Market area offers architecturally interesting and historically significant buildings all within easy walking distance. For the history buff, more information about the history of Toronto and the County of York is available at:

http://www.historyoftoronto.ca

Image courtesy of David Crighton. Used with permission.

So enjoy a little exercise and fresh air as you visit the following sites. Make sure you bring along your camera!

1. Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts
   1 Front Street East
   Earle C Morgan with Page & Steele, 1956-60
   

   Formerly this site held the Great Western Railway Station, a wooden building in the Romanesque style. The trains ran into the station and then had to be backed out of the shed. The present building holds performances of the National Ballet of Canada and the Canadian Opera Company with each performance housing 3,200 people.

2. Gooderham Building
   49 Wellington Street East
   David Roberts, 1891-92

   The site has a triangular shape because Wellington Street follows the grid system of streets but Front Street followed the original line of the waterfront. The mural on the rear of the building entitled 'Flatiron Mural' was created by Derek Besant in 1980. The windows depict the Perkins warehouse across the street. The bare wall was exposed when the adjacent buildings were demolished in the 1960's.

3. St. Lawrence Market
   91 Front Street East
   Incorporating the second Toronto City Hall
   Henry Bowyer Lane, 1844-45; remodelled John Wilson Siddal, 1904

   A view of Lake Ontario could be seen from the windows of the council chambers facing the lake and harbour. The height of the clock tower meant that the City Hall was a prominent feature for ships entering the harbour. The lakeshore came up to the rear of houses along Front Street and hoists were used to move goods from the ships into the warehouses.

4. St. Lawrence Hall
   151 King Street East
   William Thomas, 1850-51

   The cupola includes four clock faces and the city's fire bells. Carvings over the entrance depict the three river gods; Niagara, Toronto and St. Lawrence. The grandeur makes the building stand out from its neighbours and its 100-foot-long Great Hall was the site of political rallies, balls, meetings and lectures until the mid 1920's. Some of the artists performing here included Jenny Lind and P. T. Barnum.

5. St. James Cathedral
   106 King Street East
   Cumberland and Ridout, 1849-53
   Addition Langley and Burke, 1872-3

   This is the site of the first church in Toronto and the present building is the fourth church on the site. The first wooden church was built from 1803-7. The orientation was changed from the traditional east-west entrance, facing Jerusalem, to face south onto King Street. The present cathedral shows its British Gothic roots and is modelled after Salisbury Cathedral. Furnishings recall the early events in Toronto's history, such as the flags that were buried in the 1812 war to prevent the Americans from destroying them. St. James Park was originally the church's cemetery where many of the town's first settlers were buried. When the cemetery was closed in the mid-nineteenth century, some of the original tombstones were incorporated into the main porch of the cathedral.

6. Mechanics Institute
   75 Church Street
   Cumberland & Storm, 1854-61
   

   The original Mechanics Institute building used neo-classical lines to show solidity and give a stately appearance. An important part of the building was its reference and lending library with a separate reading room. There was also a semi-circular theatre where lectures were given on science, astronomy and literature. In 1883 the Mechanics Institute became part of the Toronto Public Library system. The music hall was equipped as a reading room with newspaper racks down the centre. When the library moved to the new Carnegie Reference Library in 1906 the building was used as a branch.

7. York County Magistrates Court
   57 Adelaide Street East
   Cumberland & Ridout, 1851-53

   This building, similar to the Seventh Post Office Building at 10 Toronto Street, shows part of the Greek revival architecture. The building accommodated the Courts and the County Council in the same building. The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto met for several years in the old courtroom. At the rear of the Courthouse was the 'hanging square' where public executions took place. It is now the Court House Restaurant.

8. King Edward Hotel
   37 King Street East
   Henry Ives Cobb with E J Lennox, 1901-02; 16 storey addition, Esenwien & Johnson, 1920

   Originally on this site was Robert Walker and Son's Dry Goods and Clothing store. The store was called the Golden Lion for the lions on top of the building and above the entrance. This hotel is named after King Edward VII, and was the main hotel in Toronto for nearly 60 years.

9. Bank of Montreal
   30 Yonge Street;
   Darling & Curry, 1885-86

   The interior has a 45-foot high banking hall with a stained-glass dome depicting a dragon guarding gold from an eagle. This was the head Toronto office until 1949 although it remained open as a branch until 1982 when it became the Hockey Hall of Fame.

10. BCE Place
    Yonge, Front and Wellington Streets, 1993
    Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with Bregman & Hamann

    The twin office towers are connected by a five story high galleria designed by Santiago Calatrava with Bregman & Hamann. Dominating the atrium is the façade of the Midland Bank designed by William Thomas in 1845. This was the second oldest bank in the city and was originally sited at 13-15 Wellington Street West. The façade was taken apart stone by stone, cleaned and re-erected here. The building is ornamented with Greek revival details and was modelled on a palatial town house.