1879(?) Canadian Railway News: Bird’s Eye View of Toronto

This bird’s eye view comes from a short printed album featuring various engravings of notable structures within Toronto. It was published by the Canadian Railway News Co. in around 1879.

“[This map] offers one the ability to rather quickly pick out some of the structures that remain in the city to this day, including Knox and University College, St. Michael's Cathedral and the Metropolitan Church, Osgoode Hall, and what is now known as the Distillery District. Particularly interesting in the case of the latter is the explanation the map offers as to why the "Stone Distillery Complex" sits on an angle in relation to the other buildings: it originally hugged the shoreline of Lake Ontario.

... If you've ever wondered just how prominent the Garrison Creek/Ravine was, this'll give you a good indication. It's even possible to spot a bridge over the now buried river (note: the Crawford Street Bridge was not built until 1915).

The Bird's Eye Map does, of course, also allow one to take a look at some of the structures that have been lost over the years. I think in particular here of the Provincial Lunatic Asylum, Trinity College, Old Union Station and the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women (although the list could go on).”

- Derek Flack, Toronto of the 1870s, BlogTO

Click the image to view a full-size (2.4 MB) version. 

Birds Eye View of Toronto from New Album of Toronto Views. Published 1879(?) by Canada Railway News Co.

Map courtesy openlibrary.org.

The linked catalogue entry indicates a date of 1870, but that is incorrect as the Album (but not the map!) also contains a view of the rebuilt Crystal Palace on the Industrial Exhibition grounds, which places it around 1879. [Readers are invited to examine the other photographs in the book and attempt a more precise dating, of either the book or the year the map is purporting to show.]

In 1889, a similar photo album simply named Toronto was subsequently published. It contains an updated version of this map. The differences are interesting to pick out (development in the north end is particularly noticeable -- in the core changes are more subtle.)

Click the images to view in full-size. 

Bird’s Eye View of Toronto, from Toronto (photo album)
Published c. 1889.

Image taken at Toronto Public Library, TRL: 917.1354 A11 BR

Sorry, I couldn’t stitch these together. You’ll have to visit the Baldwin Room yourself to get a better image! I’d insert a catalogue link, but it’s not in the catalogue -- you have to specifically request it, like some secret menu item.

Bonus Map: City of Toronto (from end of New Album of Toronto Views)

See Also [Bird’s Eye Views]
1876 PA Gross Bird's Eye View of Toronto
1876 Gascard City of Toronto Bird’s Eye View from the Northern Railway Elevator 
1886 Wesbroom: City of Toronto [Bird’s Eye View]
1892 Toronto Railway Company Map Shewing Toronto Street Railway Lines
1893 Barclay, Clark & Co. Bird’s Eye View Chromolithograph

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Miscellaneous Toronto Maps

Enjoy these assorted maps, which either I didn’t have any information on, or didn’t quite merit a separate posting -- but they’re still fascinating to pore over!

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A plan of Toronto Harbour in 1848. The town is still a compact grid at this point; in a few years a building boom will explode the boundaries considerably.

Click the image to view a full-size version:

Plan of Toronto Harbour, Lake Ontario surveyed under the direction of Captn W.F.W. Owen, R.N. by Lieut (now Commander) H.W. Bayfield, R.N. drawn by Geo. D. Cranfield, Lieut 90th Lt. Infy. 1848.

Image courtesy Toronto Public Library: T1848/4Msm

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This map appeared as an accompaniment to the 1889 Polk Toronto City Directory. Look at that beautiful Remington typewriter...

Click the image to view a full-size version. 

New map of the city of Toronto published for the Toronto City Directory, 1889, published by R. L. Polk & Co., Toronto.

Image courtesy of Toronto Public Library

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The next map was printed in 1891 for The Toronto Mail, a newspaper originally founded by Sir John A. Macdonald, which later became The Mail and Empire, and then The Globe and Mail. The green area denotes the Toronto limits.

Click the image to view a full size version. 

Alexander & Cable’s Map of the City of Toronto & Suburbs, 1891
Compiled and Drawn by Alexander & Cable. Published for 'The Mail'

Image courtesy of Toronto Public Library

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This map showed the city ward divisions in 1895. It was a foldable portable map intended to be carried in one’s vest pocket. Each of the red squares was half a mile.

Click the image to view a full-size version. 

Foster’s vest pocket map of Toronto, 1895
Published by J.G. Foster & Co.

Image courtesy of Toronto Public Library

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The following map shows the extent of the main and feeder railway lines that reached out from Toronto by 1898. These lines established Toronto as the hub for the surrounding countryside. The first railway, the Ontario, Simcoe & Huron, started in 1853 and ran north from Toronto through Bradford and passed west of Cook's Bay on Lake Simcoe.

Click the image to view a full-size version. 

Cyclists' Road Map for the County of York Including Portions of Ontario, Peel and Simcoe, 1898
Printed map. 59.1 x 47.0 cm. Published by J.G. Foster & Co.

Image courtesy of Toronto Public Library (All Aboard Toronto)

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Other Maps, Not on this Site (To be done?)

1834 Chewett: City of Toronto
1873 Copp, Clark & Co.: City of Toronto compiled from surveys made to the present date, 1873
1878 Hart & Rawlinson's Map of the City of Toronto, with Suburbs of Yorkville, Parkdale, Seaton Village, Brockton, and Ben-Lamond. Another copy.
1884 Polk: City of Toronto, published expressly for the Toronto City Directory by R. L. Polk & Company. Room "S" Victoria Chambers
1885 Alexander, Clare & Cable: County of York
1887 Star Engraving Co. map of Toronto
1888 Bryce's new index map of Toronto
1891 Penson: Plan of the City of Toronto and suburbs shewing new & old ward divisions
1892 Might: Correct map of the City of Toronto published for the Toronto City Directory
1892 City Engineer's Office: Plan of the city of Toronto
1895 Galt/Might: Map of the city of Toronto published by Might Directory Co. prepared in the office of John Galt, C. E. and M. E.
1899 Foster's map of Toronto
1907 Evening Telegram: Plan of the City of Toronto showing proposed diagonal streets
1908 Toronto Guild of Civic Art: Plan of Improvements to the City of Toronto
1909 Rust: Plan of the City of Toronto — showing road surfacing

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External Resources

I’ve put together a couple of lists of online resources for researchers, for those who want to investigate further into the history of our fair city. Happy hunting!

Resources for Budding Cartographers & Closet Historians
Toronto History Links and Resources

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1834 Alpheus Todd Engraved Plan of the City of Toronto

Alpheus Todd ca.1867

Alpheus Todd (30 July 1821 – 22 January 1884) was an English-born Canadian librarian and constitutional historian, most notable for his publications on parliamentary government.

When he was still a young boy, his family emigrated to York, Upper Canada in 1833. The following year, York was incorporated as the city of Toronto. Todd -- at the precocious age of 13 -- produced the following Engraved Plan of the City of Toronto, by walking through the streets and converting his paces to a scale.

‘A member of the local legislature [prominent lawyer Robert Baldwin Sullivan. -N.] was so pleased with the lad’s intelligent pertinacity that he obtained a vote of the House to take copies of the map sufficient to pay the cost of engraving, and had him installed in a temporary capacity in the legislative library [viz., the library of the House of Assembly of Upper Canada. -N.], then a mere nucleus of a collection in a small room.’

- Editor’s Preface, Parliamentary Government in the British Colonies [Alpheus Todd] 

Todd’s stellar career as a librarian was thereby launched... But back to the map: it provides the location of over fifty assorted places of interest in the newly incorporated city. The copy seen below, held in the collections of the Toronto Public Library, is believed to be the only surviving copy. The TPL obtained the map via the Stephen A. Heward Family.

Could you draw such a map at 13?

Click the image to view a full-size version.  

Plan of the City of Toronto, Capital of Upper Canada, by Master Alpheus Todd, No. 35 Newgate Street, Toronto, Opposite the Brewery, 1834.
Image courtesy Toronto Public Library: T1834/4Msm. Winearls, MUC no. 2067

Amusingly, the Brewery opposite which Master Alpheus lived does not appear to be marked on the map...

Gratuitous bonuses — images of the Town concurrent with the Map
Third Parliament Buildings, by J.G. Howard, 1834.
Front St. W., looking n.w. from Front & Simcoe Sts, labelled ‘S’ on Todd’s map:

Image courtesy TPL: JRR 826
Immigrant sheds are depicted extreme left (source). One of the white buildings in the distance is probably York Hospital -- next picture. See also: Nathaniel Currier—Parliament Buildings, 1835.

Pencil Sketch of Old Hospital, King St. W., n.w. corner John St. built in 1819, Unknown, 18??.
North west corner of King and John St., labelled ‘I’ on Todd’s map.

Image courtesy TPL: B 1-36b
Built ca. 1820, abandoned as a hospital in 1854, this building was also used as a meeting place for Parliament, 1824-1829.

Upper Canada College by Nathaniel Currier, 1835.
Labelled ‘H’ on Todd’s map.

Image courtesy TPL: JRR 3666 Cab II (See also: X 76-61 Cab II)

North side of King Street, Toronto to Church Streets by J.G. Howard, 1835

Image courtesy City of Toronto, Toronto Culture, Museums and Heritage Services 1978.41.40.[1970.114.19A]
K, U, L, J on Todd’s map. (Gaol, Fireman’s Hall, Courthouse, St. James’ church pre-steeple — Todd switched K, L)
See also: Thomas Young, King St. E., looking e. from Toronto St., 1835

Taylor’s Wharf, by J.G. Howard, 1835

Image courtesy City of Toronto Toronto Culture, Museums and Heritage Services, 1978.41.51.

The end of Taylor’s Wharf at the foot of Frederick, looking east. Far right is William Gooderham’s Windmill -- before the distillery was added [Both Taylor’s Wharf and the Windmill may be found on Todd’s map]. To the west of it, one of these structures may be Gooderham’s first house.

[See also...]

Toronto, 1834. Shewing the East End of Toronto, the Marsh, and Gooderham’s Windmill

Image courtesy Toronto Public Library: B 3-20a

After a lithotint, ca 1877 (979-19-1), which in turn is after a view of Toronto in 1835 drawn by Thomas Young and published by N. Currier in 1835 (x 24-1).

The Windmill is indicated bottom right in Todd’s map.


One More Extra Fun Bonus
This imaginative rendering of the City of Toronto in 1834 was probably created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the City's incorporation in 1934. Though I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the sketch, it is quite entertaining to compare the notations with those of Todd’s map.

Click the image to view a full-size version. 

City of Toronto in 1834 by E.G.A. Foster ca. 1934
Image courtesy City of Toronto Archives: MT 00063

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1874 Hart & Rawlinson City of Toronto with Fire Limits

‘Fire protection by-laws regulated the construction materials and methods that could be used in the central area of the city. By 1874 three levels of regulation, as shown here, were in use. Property owners could petition to have their street included in a stricter regulation zone in order to prevent the building of poor-quality houses. (Note the extensions to limit B, shown in yellow). Such streets were usually already the preserves of the affluent, so this practice produced a type of zoning based on status.

In contrast to the hundreds of building by-laws of today, the fire protection by-laws were the only restriction on building in Toronto during its first century.’

- Isobel Ganton & Joan Winearls, MAPPING TORONTO'S FIRST CENTURY 1787-1884

Also observe the notation regarding how street numbering worked.

See also: Goad’s Atlas of Toronto -- Online! [In particular, see Plate 2 of the 1889 Insurance Plan for a detailed listing of fire district building criteria.]

Click the image to view a full-size (2MB) version. 

City of Toronto Compiled from Surveys made to the present date 1874.
Published by Hart & Rawlinson, Toronto. Lithograped & Printed by Copp Clark & Co. Toronto. 1874.
Coloured lithograph; 1 inch to 800 feet. Image courtesy Toronto Public Library: T1874/4Msm c2
Compare zones to: 1866 - LAC NMC 25145

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1876 Gascard City of Toronto Bird’s Eye View from the Northern Railway Elevator

This lovely and charmingly detailed bird’s eye view shows the dominance of the railway system along Toronto’s waterfront.

“The railway and the harbour, both of which had such a great impact on the commercial and industrial economy of the city, were highlighted in later 19th-century views, such as that by G. Gascard in 1876.

The harbour and rail system had become a source of pride, symbolizing the city's growth and progress. Gascard's aerial view depicts at least six trains at the foot of the city and more than fourteen ships in the harbour. Buildings such as the churches and educational institutions that were so important in views before are still evident, but are secondary to the railways and harbour. The popularity of this image was reflected in its use as the mast-head for a Toronto newspaper [The Toronto Advertiser, in 1878. -N.].”

- Sharon Vattay, Visions of Toronto. Journal of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada, Vol. 23, No. 1

 
Click the image to view a LARGE version. 

City of Toronto Bird’s Eye View from the Northern Railway elevator, 1876
Drawn by G. Gascard (fl. 1873 - 1877).
Lithograph on wove paper, printed by Alexander Craig, Toronto.
Image courtesy Toronto Public Library, TRL, J. Ross Robertson Collection, JRR 745.

Here is the numbered key to the map:

1. Northern Railway shops.
2. Northern Railway offices, n.w. corner Brock and Front.
3. Knox College.
4. University of Toronto.
5. St. George's Church.
6. St. Patrick's Church.
7. Foot of Windsor St. (now Railway freight yards).
8. Grand Trunk Railway round house on esplanade.
9. Toronto Water Works.
10. John St.
11. Government House.
12. Parliament Buildings.
13. Osgoode Hall.
14. St. Michael's Cathedral.
15. Metropolitan Church.
16. Union Station.
17. St. James' Cathedral.
18. St. Lawrence Hall.
19. Old City Hall.
20. Old Great Western Station.
21. Yonge Street wharf.
22. York Street Wharf.
23. Grand Trunk Railway Elevator.
 
Alexander Craig was a printer located at 13 Adelaide East.

This map was printed with vignettes of commercial businesses around the edges, similar to the 1876 Gross Bird’s Eye View and the 1851 Fleming Topographical Map of Toronto. [The copy at the Archives of Ontario apparently includes these vignettes]

A miniature, slightly altered version of the map was used in this 1884 'Semi-Centennial Celebration' souvenir brochure:

and again for this 1896 brochure (20 years on!):

Images courtesy Toronto Public Library. Sources: 1st, 2nd

For comparison, check out this (unfortunately somewhat obscured) 1870 photograph from the same vantage point (atop the Northern Railway elevator):

Toronto harbour ca. 1870. View from Northern Railway Elevator, foot of Spadina Ave., looking east past Grand Trunk Railway wharf and elevator
Image courtesy Toronto Public Library: B 12-20b

See Also [Bird’s Eye Views]
1870 Canadian Railway News Bird’s Eye View of Toronto
1876 PA Gross Bird’s Eye View of Toronto
1886 Wesbroom: City of Toronto [Bird’s Eye View]
1892 Toronto Railway Company Map Shewing Toronto Street Railway Lines
1893 Barclay, Clark & Co. Bird’s Eye View Chromolithograph
  
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1893 Fisk and Co. Map of Toronto

These Atlas maps represent in a certain sense an ‘outsider’s’ view of Toronto. They are straightforward and unadorned with the loving details of maps intended for local usage.

The utilitarian street map of Toronto shown below notably indicates steam-driven railway lines and horse-drawn transit (streetcar) routes. Also of interest are the very clearly labelled wharves along the waterfront.

Major structures are shown. Observe the size and scale of the ‘Lunatic Asylum’ on Queen Street. Meanwhile, within the area marked as Queen’s Park, the Ontario Legislative Building was still under construction and oddly doesn’t appear -- though the old King’s College/Provincial Lunatic Asylum building on the east side is shown. It’s remarkable how prominent Taddle Creek is (beside University College)! McCaul’s Pond is also visible.

The map was published in The Columbian Atlas of the World We Live In, a ‘pictorial survey of the universe for office, home and school containing 200 colored maps and diagrams and 300 illustrations.’

Click the image to view a full-size version.

Image courtesy University of Alabama Map Library.
Published by: Hunt and Eaton, c.1893; from The Columbian Atlas of the World We Live In
Scale: 1:22,000

Bonus Map 1
The following map was produced by George F. Cram Co., a leading American map firm, in the 1895 Cram’s Universal Atlas - Geographical, Astronomical and Historical. George Franklin Cram was born in 1841 and served with the Union forces in the Civil War before going into the map publishing business with his uncle in 1867. Two years later, he founded his own company, publishing maps and atlases.

Click the image to view a full-size version.

Image courtesy University of Alabama Map Library.

Bonus Map 2
And for kicks, here’s the 1898 Rand, McNally and Co. Map of Toronto, from The Enlarged Business Atlas and Shippers Guide, published in 1901.

Click the image to view a full-size (2MB) version.

Image courtesy University of Alabama Map Library.

Rand McNally was an American publisher and printer of maps, atlases, globes, and tourist guidebooks. Founded in 1856 by William H. Rand and Andrew McNally, it was one of the world’s leading mapmakers. The company’s first publication was an annual report of a railroad company in 1868, and the first map was issued in 1872. The Business Atlas, now known as the annual Commercial Atlas and Marketing Guide, began publication in 1877.

In a world far, far removed from Google maps and the World Wide Web, these popular atlases were a valuable resource for learning about geography and the greater world.


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1892 Map of Toronto & Suburbs Shewing the Location of the Toronto Belt Line Railway

“The Toronto Belt Line was supposed to be Toronto's first commuter railway. A real estate boom in the 1880s encouraged businessmen to form the Belt Land Corporation to speculate on opening up undeveloped land in northern Toronto. The Belt Line would link the suburbs to downtown Toronto with a railway that would encircle the city.

The railway consisted of two separate loops, both commencing from Union Station. The eastern loop circled around the north end of the city via the Don Valley, Mount Pleasant Cemetery and the Grand Trunk Railway tracks in the west, while the western loop passed through Swansea, Lambton and West Toronto Junction, returning to Union Station, via Parkdale.

A lot of money was raised, but most was spent on lavish promotion. The Grand Trunk Railway took over the project, finished the construction and opened the line in 1892. However, by that time a depression had caused the real estate market to fall and sales were low. The land boom did not materialize.

On November 17, 1894, after just 27 months, service ended on the Toronto Belt Line railway. With little development, the line was soon starved of paying passengers. By July 1894, there were only three trains a day on each of the loops, and by November, service was ended.

The land remained unsold until street railways were built into the area in 1910. Today, no tracks and buildings remain, but the Belt Line has become a very popular park [Kay Gardner -N.] winding through the city.”

- Combining text from: TPL, All Aboard Toronto! - Railways and the Growth of a City and City of Toronto Archives, This Month in History: 1892, closure of the Belt Line Railway

Click the image to view a full-size (5MB) version.

Map of Toronto & Suburbs Shewing the Location of the Toronto Belt Line Railway. Published by Alexander & Cable, Toronto.
Image courtesy TPL. I believe this map may in fact be dated 1910; I’ve potentially misleadingly labelled it 1892, to place it in context with the operation of the line.

The central point indicated is Queen’s Park.

Of note is the reversed text faintly visible as ink showing through from the other side. At the top: Highlands of Toronto. At the bottom: ‘For descriptive pamphlets, plans and prices apply to John T. Moore, Manager’

The Highlands of Toronto was a prospectus -- essentially, a real estate sales brochure -- published in 1891 by the aforementioned Toronto Belt Land Corporation, extolling the benefits of the Belt Line and the picturesque nature of the bucolic suburbs it made accessible. John T. Moore, president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, was the managing director of the Corporation (Moore Park is named after him).

The following bird’s eye view map of the Toronto Belt Line Railway appears at the end of the prospectus.

Click the image to view a full-size version.

Other elements leading to the failure of the business were the fare (25 cents, quite high at the time) and the competing Toronto Street Railway, which carried considerable traffic as it was faster, providing more direct routes to downtown.

Bottom left: the Yonge St. Belt Line crossing

“... the Toronto Belt Line Railway makes its advent. Its mission is to economize time by rapid transit, and to carry men, women and children with comfort, safety and speed beyond the cramped and crowded city to the airy uplands; whence, having enjoyed the rest and refreshment of commodious homes and spacious grounds, they can return on the morrow to renew, with quickened energies, the task of life. It will also disclose some of the beauties which nature has lavished around Toronto which too long have remained unknown...”

- The Highlands of Toronto

A modern view for comparison
(via Google maps)

Going back to the first map, note the sections highlighted in red: Spring Valley (Moore Park), Forest Hill, Fairbank, Fairbank Junction. The developer would have been attempting to sell plots of land in those sections.

This map illustrates the lots available in Fairbank:

Click the image to view a full-size version.

Highlands of Toronto plan of building lots for sale the property of the Toronto Belt Land Corporation in that portion designated "Fairbank" on the Belt Line Railway. Published by Alexander & Cable, 1910.
Map courtesy Toronto Public Library: T[1910]/4Msm

Bonus Map showing the ‘Northern Suburbs of Toronto’ in 1890. The Belt Line is marked in red:

Click the image to view a full-size version.

Belt line map shewing northern suburbs of Toronto. Compiled by Unwin, Foster & Proudfoot, published by Alexander & Cable, 1890.
Map courtesy Toronto Public Library: T1890-2/4Mlrg c1

Portions of the belt line were re-used for freight operations: the Yonge Loop delivered Canada’s first subway cars to Davisville Station in 1954 and also supplied Dominion Coal on Merton Avenue up until 1969.  

See Also

1892 Toronto Railway Company Map Shewing Toronto Street Railway Lines
1876 PA Gross Bird’s Eye View of Toronto
1886 Wesbroom: City of Toronto [Bird’s Eye View]
1893 Barclay, Clark & Co. Bird’s Eye View Chromolithograph

Further reading:
Toronto Beltline - article by Derek Boles, Toronto Railway Historical Association

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