Sketch of ancient footprints found below the Toronto Harbour, 1908. |
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Destroyed footprints would have been among the earliest evidence of human activity in Ontario |
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Between 10,000 and 13,000 years ago, a group of Indigenous people left footprints on the shore of what became Lake Ontario. Their shoe marks were preserved in clay and covered by the water.
Small bands of nomadic hunters moved into the Great Lakes region about 13,000 years ago. These people hunted caribou, mammoths, mastodons, and other game. At this time, the shoreline of what is now Lake Ontario was more than a kilometre (3,281 feet) south of its present location.
In 1908, workers building a tunnel under the Toronto Bay located the footprints by accident. It appeared the footprints — about 100 in total — were made by people wearing shoes who were all moving north away from the lake. Other than a sketch, the footprints were not studied, and tragically the workers destroyed the footprints the day they were found. New plaques about the footprints will be installed at Hanlan’s Point on the Toronto Island and on the waterfront in HTO Park.
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Hollinger Bus Line bus #84, Woodbine Avenue, June 9, 1954. Image by James V. Salmon. Toronto Star/Toronto Public Library. |
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START: 387 Donlands Avenue |
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Enjoy the neighbourliness of East York, Canada’s only borough before it joined with Toronto. Learn about its working class roots, the hardships from which residents forged a fierce community spirit, and how the area’s landmarks, such as Michael Garron Hospital and Cosburn United Church, are growing their legacies of public service. |
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July 9 | 3:00 PM
HEADSET TOUR
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Newtonbrook Creek tour volunteers, June 11, 2022. |
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START: Finch Avenue East and Bayview Avenue |
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What's a weed? How about a very important native annual for our pollinators. Jewelweed (a native impatiens) attracts hummingbirds, bees and butterflies. Enjoying damp conditions, as a fungicide it may have some medicinal applications. And it's interactive—its seeds are spread through explosive dehiscence, dispersed with high pressure bursts when touched.
Learn more about this native plant, other wildlife, and our natural heritage on this hike.
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July 10 | 11:00 AM
HEADSET TOUR
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Tour members learn about Guild Park, June 8, 2019. Image: Ali Mosleh |
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START: Guild Inn (201 Guildwood Parkway) |
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Did you know that the 1875 marble sculpture "Musidora" by Marshall Wood is the oldest art piece at the Guild, and was inspired by a maiden in a Greek poem by Ovid. The facade seen in the image comes from the Imperial Bank of Canada location, formerly at 802 Yonge Street, built in 1928 and demolished in 1972.
In the 1960s, Spencer and Rosa Clark began collecting the facades and fragments of more than 50 demolished buildings like this one, and displayed these features amid the grounds and the gardens of The Guild Inn - a property they had purchased in the 1930s and developed as an artists community.
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July 13 | 6:00 PM
HEADSET TOUR
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Tour participants, Alexander the Great Square, October 3, 2021 |
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Greektown on the Danforth |
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START: Pape Subway Station (743 Pape Avenue) |
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Did you know that Alexander the Great Square, a parkette in Toronto named for the legendary warrior, caused tensions over its naming and the ethnic origins of the historical figure? Learn how it was related to the beginning of the lengthy international dispute about the name of the new country (now North Macedonia) formed after the breakup of Yugoslavia.
On this tour, you'll also learn about the celebration and commemoration of community that occurs in Greektown, and more about the history of Greek community along the Danforth.
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July 16 | 11:00 AM
LOUDSPEAKER TOUR
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Huron Street Public Square, June 1, 2019. Image: Kristen McLaughlin |
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START: 346 Spadina Avenue |
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Learn about the Chinatown West neighbourhood - created by the westward relocation of Chinese residents and businesses in the 1960s, including Huron Street Public Square. Designed by local architect Jyhling Lee, the square features a set of pagoda-inspired structures displaying animals from the Chinese zodiac, decorative red benches, and a statue of a Qilin, a mythical Asian creature that symbolizes good luck and prosperity. |
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July 17 | 11:00 AM
LOUDSPEAKER TOUR
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This tour was developed by historian and architecture professor Erica Allen-Kim and will be lead by an emerging historian. |
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Tour participants, 11 Walmer Road, June 19, 2022. Image: Sanah Rizvi |
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Capturing Mid-Century Toronto |
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START: Spadina Subway Station (Walmer Road exit) |
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Curved balconies are a recurring theme on Uno Prii buildings as seen at 11 Walmer Road, built in 1963. They act as a kind of false front for the standard flat-walled interiors. 11 Walmer was a collaboration with Polish-born carpenter Harry Hiller.
Learn more about Modern Architecture, for which Prii is known, on this tour.
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July 20 | 11:00 AM
HEADSET TOUR
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This tour will be co-led by professional photographer Vik Pahwa.
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Image: Downtown Yonge BIA |
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"Flow Blue", 2008, was created by artist Marlene Hilton Moore whose work often focuses on female identity. The stainless steel artwork here has been laser cut in a flowing tree branch design, painted in electric blue, and lit at night. The imagery is inspired by the historic trees that lined Granby Street.
Learn more about this artwork and others on our new public art tour of Yonge Street.
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July 23 | 3:00 PM
HEADSET TOUR
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Children at Stanley Barracks housing under quarantine for polio, August 6, 1947. Image by John H. Boyd, City of Toronto Archives. |
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Polio hit the City of Toronto in 1937 with an outbreak of 786 people contracting the disease. 40 people succumbed, most of them children. Although anyone, of any age, can contract the disease, children under 5 were most at risk. During the outbreak, public pools and parks were closed, and families were told to stay home.
Toronto scientists played a pivotal part in the battle against polio, contributing key advancements that allowed for the massive production of an effective and safe Salk vaccine in the 1950s. Learn more on this tour, including how Dr. Leone Farrell, instrumental to the development of these innovative practices, was not allowed to attend a celebratory reception hosting Dr. Jonas Salk because it was held in a room reserved for men only.
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July 24 | 11:00 AM
HEADSET TOUR
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St. Josaphat’s Catholic Cathedral, Junction Triangle tour, August 12, 2021. Image: Herman Custodio |
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START: Perth Square Park (350 Perth Avenue) |
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Explore this west-end neighbourhood, defined by the railway lines that border it, that was once home to thriving industry, transportation routes, and immigrant communities. Today, it is one of the city’s emerging hotspots and is undergoing major urban redevelopment. |
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July 27 | 6:00 PM
HEADSET TOUR
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July 31 | 11:00 AM
HEADSET TOUR
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This tour was developed with the support of a generous donation by Andrew and Sharon Himel and the Himel Family. |
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"Welcome to Reggae Lane" mural, September 3, 2020. |
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START: Eglinton West Subway Station (1300 Eglinton Avenue West) |
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Part of Toronto’s Laneway Project, this mural was the second completed in this area in 2016 by Adrian Hayles. Located in the east-west laneway south of Eglinton Avenue, west of Oakwood, it commemorates the music history of Little Jamaica. The larger Reggae Lane mural appears just to the east.
Learn more about the history of this Toronto neighbourhood, and the impacts resulting from one of the largest transit construction projects in the country and a global pandemic.
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July 28 | 6:00 PM
LOUDSPEAKER TOUR
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This tour was developed with the support of a generous donation by Andrew and Sharon Himel and the Himel Family. |
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Mercer Reformatory, Toronto. November 1, 1948. Image: Toronto Public Library |
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START: 1155 King Street West |
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Meet the women who overcame persecution and prejudice in their fight for opportunity and justice in 19th- and 20th-century Toronto. From the former site of the Mercer Reformatory, the first women’s prison in Canada, we’ll explore the area’s long-lost factories, immigration centres and rooming houses to uncover the stories of the women who lived and worked here. |
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July 30 | 3:00 PM
LOUDSPEAKER TOUR
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This tour was developed with the support of a generous donation by Alex Pike. |
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Tour participants at Union Station, June 25, 2022. Image: Ashley Duffus |
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START: Chinese Railway Workers Memorial (9 Blue Jays Way) |
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Construction on the current Union Station began in 1913, and almost completely ground to a halt shortly after due to the First World War. The station was not completed until August 6, 1927, but boasted some very unique features for the time like a glass floor in the upper offices, a post office, shooting range for the Canadian Pacific Police, and an underground tunnel that would later become the first section of Toronto’s PATH system. Today, this tunnel leads to the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.
Learn more about Union Station, and other important stories about the history of our railways, on this tour.
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August 3 | 6:00 PM
HEADSET TOUR
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This tour was developed with the support of a generous donation by Andrew and Sharon Himel and the Himel Family. |
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Our 2022 Tours season was made possible by our Presenting Sponsor:
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Celebrate your old home and help it shine! |
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From the street, does your old home seem to shimmer or shrink under the intense summer heat to passersby? Let it shine by adding instant curb appeal with our Century House Plaque, which brings grand stature to any 100+ year old home.
This elegant address marker also makes a great gift and supports our charity and its work to celebrate the diverse heritage of our city.
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An interview with internationally-celebrated artist Kent Monkman, who through the summer of 2022, has exhibitions at the National Gallery of Canada and at the Royal Ontario Museum in the fall. (Toronto Star)
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Author Hugh Brewster describes his efforts to help organize Toronto's first Pride parade in 1972 and shares his concerns about the current backlash toward 2SLGBTQ+ people. (CBC) |
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After Pride festivities, an in-depth look at the future of the Church-Wellesley Village, and how high rents, more developments, and store and restaurant closures, will impact the character of the place and affect people within it. (Toronto Star) |
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