Embracing change by connecting to the past | |
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This week, we announced the 47 nominees for the Heritage Toronto Awards. The wide-ranging slate of nominees speaks to an evolving understanding of heritage where personal lived experiences harmonize with creative expressions and architecture. What all these nominated projects share is an aspiration and confidence that in doing the work, we can envision and achieve a better future for our city.
The 48th Heritage Toronto Awards will be held on October 30, 2023 at The Carlu. This event is Heritage Toronto's major fundraiser of the year, raising monies in support of its public programming.
Tickets are now on sale. See heritagetoronto.org for more information.
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The Public History Award recognizes multimedia and collaborative projects designed to engage, challenge, and educate the public. The 15 nominated projects range from a PRIDE parade float to the impactful sounds of electronic dance culture to a Black Ark anchored in a public park. Beyond education, these projects stimulate and provoke.
Learn about the nominees
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The Book category highlights written works that engage with all aspects of Toronto's heritage. This year's 25 nominees range from a superhero's origin story to a big tech fail, the life of a modern whore to the signs that define Toronto ... How to choose?
Learn about the nominees
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This category recognizes excellence in built heritage projects through three awards: Adaptive Reuse, Heritage Planning & Architecture, and Crafts & Trades. This year, with more representation of the city's postwar buildings, we're expecting some brutal competition among the seven nominees.
Learn about the nominees
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EQUITY HERITAGE INITIATIVE | |
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Tsukimi (Japanese), Chuseok (Korean), and the Mid-Autumn Festival (Chinese) are traditional East Asian festivals celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. Discover the traditions and cuisines associated with these East Asian holidays through food demonstrations and family-friendly activities. Hear community recipe stories and learn about North York’s East Asian food heritage.
Early registrants will receive a free mooncake from North York’s Daigyo Cafe. Use promo code "HTMoon"; one mooncake per registration. Quantity is limited so sign up as soon as possible! There will also be more chances to win prizes leading up to the event.
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Heritage Toronto's Equity Heritage Initiative is made possible by TD Bank and funding from: | |
Marking Place, Making History | |
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Sunday, October 15 | 2:00 - 4:00 PM
FREE (Registration required)
St. James Park (120 King Street East)
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From plaques and monuments, to street names and public art, Toronto is filled with commemorations that mark our city's history. Many of these visual symbols convey a limited perspective and uncomplicated interpretation of our city's past. During an afternoon of collaborative activities, we'll consider new ways to foster greater inclusion in viewing, interpreting, and interacting with these historical markers. We'll also explore new approaches to placemaking and to how we can recognize, confront, and convey our diverse heritage.
Build a city map, create and take home your own plaque, and more!
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The State of Heritage Report identifies issues and trends in the sector, and also researches and recommends the ways heritage can further contribute to city building. It's also an opportunity for our supporters to have their say. Share your thoughts! Complete the survey on Toronto's heritage and you'll be entered into a draw for a $200 Amazon gift card. Survey closes October 31. | |
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TONIGHT, September 7 | 6:30 PM
$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)
Mill Street and Old Yonge Street
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Explore the Hogg’s Hollow area on this walk and learn how the neighbourhood’s idyllic charm hides harrowing stories of heroism and heartbreak, from its dramatic role in the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion, to the infamous location of the 1960 construction disaster resulting in the deaths of Italian immigrant workers. | |
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Saturday, September 9 | 3:00 PM
$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)
Inglenook Community School (19 Sackville Street)
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During the 19th century, St. Lawrence Hall (seen above) was an important place for meetings on the abolition of slavery. On September 11, 1851, the North American Convention of Colored Freemen was held here, organized by Henry Bibb and James Theodore Holly, who encouraged Black immigration to Canada to escape the reach of the 1950 Fugitive Slave Act.
This act allowed those who had escaped enslavement in the free Northern states to be captured and returned to the Southern states. It was not revoked until 1864, and during this time, about 20,000 Black people settled in Canada, resulting in a 50% increase in the community's population. More of our city's Black history on the tour!
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Sunday, September 10 | 11:00 AM
$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)
Eitz Chaim school (1 Viewmount Avenue)
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The Chanukkiah at 3044 Bathurst Street marks the building and surrounding area as a Jewish neighbourhood. The 9-stemmed candelabra is used during the winter holiday of Chanukkah and this one stands outside the Lubavitch Yeshiva, a place of learning, focusing on Torah and Talmud studies.
Learn more about yeshivas, the Chanukkiah and its relationship to the menorah, and the post-war development of the Jewish community on Lawrence Avenue West on this tour.
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Tour developed with the support of a generous donation by Andrew and Sharon Himel and the Himel Family. | |
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Sunday, September 10 | 3:00 PM
$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)
Oakwood Collegiate Institute (991 St. Clair Avenue West)
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Discover the “Toronto Special”, a walk-up apartment built from the 1960s to 1970s, common in areas like Earlscourt and Oakwood. Learn how this type of mid-sized apartment building provided modern and affordable housing for large families and immigrants and how it was integrated into the post-war city in neighbourhoods otherwise reserved for single-family dwellings.
Purpose-built apartments like the Marlington (seen above) would house working-class singles who needed smaller spaces to rent and live. Although primarily commercial, some low-rise apartment buildings can be found along Eglinton West built between 1950 and 1975 as the city’s population grew.
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Rebels On Stage and Off Script | |
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Thursday, September 14 | 6:30 PM
$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)
339 Huron Street
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Discover the characters and locations that helped transform Toronto’s theatre scene from the 1950s to 1980s. These rebels, who had so little to lose, created the alternative theatre movement. Meet mavericks like Dora Mavor Moore and George Luscombe who directed distinctly Canadian theatre; impresarios like Don Cullen and Buddies in Bad Times who pushed the boundaries of what could be talked about in the theatre; and companies like Theatre Passe Muraille who took on the city’s morality squad.
Jim Gerrard established the Theatre Passe Muraille (seen above), calling for theatre without walls, with no distinction between actors/spectators, between drama, music, and dance as separate art forms. More on this tour!
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Writing Change in the Annex | |
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Saturday, September 16 | 11:00 AM
$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)
Seaton Park (14 Albany Avenue)
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Canadian writer and poet Elizabeth Smart lived an exceptional life. Her mother successfully lobbied to ban the Canadian publication of her daughter’s novel, By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept. The work was inspired by Smart's tumultuous affair with poet George Barker. Both had been held in the United States in 1940 under the Mann Act—a law to prohibit the sex trafficking of women across state borders, often used unlawfully against consensual but unwed or interracial couples.
Having spent most of her life abroad, at the age of 70, Smart moved to Lowther Avenue in the Annex neighbourhood (seen above) for a short Writer-in-Residence program at the University of Toronto. More on her story and those of other celebrated authors on this tour.
NOTE: Following the tour, there will be a public event featuring celebrated author Katherine Govier at 1 pm at the Spadina Road branch of the Toronto Public Library. Contact the Spadina branch to register: 416-393-7666 or spstaff@tpl.ca.
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Greektown on the Danforth | |
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Saturday, September 16 | 3:00 PM
$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)
Pape Subway Station (743 Pape Avenue)
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Learn about Toronto’s Greek community and its settlement on the Danforth during the postwar years. This walk will explore Greektown, from its foundations in faith and family, to milestone community events, and the evolution of businesses and restaurants, including the creation of Flaming Opa Cheese as a tourist spectacle. | |
Tour developed and led by the Hellenic Heritage Foundation. | |
Modern Scenes on St. Clair | |
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Sunday, September 17 | 11:00 AM
$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)
St. Clair Subway Station (Deer Park entrance)
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For shutterbugs, heritage buffs, and architecture lovers, this tour has got you covered. Join professional photographer Vik Pahwa as he explores the impressive Modern architecture in the Deer Park neighbourhood, from residential towers to parking garages to bus terminals.
A featured stop is the Rosehill Reservoir. It's also the subject of one of our plaques which includes the stunning image above of a sculpture of a water molecule suspended from a 9.1 meter (30-foot) steel parabolic arch, added to the Rosehill Reservoir in the 1960s. It was designed by Cunningham & Lea and later relocated within the park.
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Sunday, September 17 | 3:00 PM
$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)
Indigenous Garden and Mural (169 Gerrard Street East)
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Learn how nature has inspired Indigenous culture. Led by an Indigenous historian, on this walk we’ll identify native plants and hear about their importance to Indigenous traditions. We’ll discover the Indigenous wisdom and spirituality inherent in activities like the braiding of sweet grass, and explore the intersection of nature, traditional practices, and contemporary art.
NOTE: This interactive tour includes spiritual ceremonies and traditions, and features hands-on activities.
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Tuesday, September 19 | 3:00 PM - 7:00 PM
30-minute tours offered at 3:15, 4:15, 5:15 and 6:15 pm
FREE
Cabbagetown Farmers Market (Riverdale Park)
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Join us for this free tour experience. Meet us at our tent and join one of our scheduled walks featuring gravesite tales of notable Black community members buried at the Toronto Necropolis (one of the city’s oldest cemeteries), from freedom seekers to business leaders, from restaurateurs to Canada’s first Black postman. | |
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Thursday, September 21 | 6:30 PM
$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)
Barbara Hall Park (519 Church Street)
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The local saying “Meet me under the clock” refers to the St. Charles Tavern, originally built in 1870 as a fire hall. Opened in 1951, St. Charles served cocktails and Chinese-Canadian fare. Soon, liquor laws and the opening of a nearby hotel bar led the gay community to frequent St. Charles. While it became a hub of gay culture, its owner allowed police surveillance of his patrons, and it became a focus for homophobic attacks.
Learn about its role in Toronto's queer history and more on this tour of the Church-Wellesley Village.
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Saturday, September 23 | 11:00 AM
$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)
Huron Square (Huron Street and Dundas Street West)
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Discover the past and present along Spadina Avenue; the shifting demographics that saw a thriving Jewish community transition to Toronto’s Chinatown.
Did you know? 58 Cecil Street (seen above) was first used as a church, then a synagogue, and a Chinese Catholic Centre. In the 1970s, it became an early hub of Toronto’s queer community, owned by the Community Homophile Association of Toronto (CHAT), and the starting point for the first PRIDE march. Today, the Cecil Community Centre provides programs and services to Chinatown and the local area. More on the tour!
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Tour developed with the support of a generous donation by Andrew and Sharon Himel and the Himel Family. | |
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Saturday, September 23 | 3:00 PM
$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)
Rekai Family Parkette (625 Bloor Street East)
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The 1960s development proposal for the St. James Town area drew heavily on Modernist architecture and the “Towers in the Park” urban planning model. Large apartment towers, set amidst green space, were intended to solve pollution and overcrowding problems in cities.
Discover more of the history of how St. James Town became Canada's largest high-rise community on this tour!
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Sunday, September 24 | 11:00 AM
$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)
1155 King Street West
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The Central Prison Chapel, 20 Strachan Avenue, is the only remaining building of the Central Prison complex. Constructed in 1877 in the Renaissance Revival style, it opened 4 years after the prison.
How did religion and the religious institutions that operated this chapel factor into the 19th-century experiences of women in Toronto? Especially those incorrigible ladies imprisoned here and later at Mercer Reformatory? More on the tour.
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Tour developed with the support of a generous donation by Alex Pike. | |
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Sunday, September 24 | 3:00 PM
$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)
Chinese Railway Workers Memorial (9 Blue Jays Way)
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Learn how the railways transformed Toronto from a small British settlement to a cosmopolitan city, tracing their role from today’s quick modern commute to their historic contributions to telecommunications and the tourism industry.
The Royal York Hotel has dominated Toronto's skyline for about 100 years, but what was there before? The Queen's Hotel (seen above in 1915) previously stood at the location, originally built as a group of row houses by Toronto architect John Howard in 1844. The hotel opened in 1862 and included over 200 rooms, a restaurant, and a garden. The hotel closed in 1927 to allow the Canadian Pacific Railway to start construction of the Royal York Hotel.
NOTE: This experience includes a visit to outdoor displays at the Toronto Railway Museum.
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Tour developed with the support of a generous donation by Andrew and Sharon Himel and the Himel Family. | |
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Thursday, September 28 | 6:30 PM
$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)
Etienne Brule Park (10 Catherine Avenue)
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Travel an ancient transportation route through a Garden Suburb. Led by archaeologists, this walk will expose the Indigenous presence buried along the Humber River in Baby Point, including settlements like the 17th-century Seneca village of Teiaiagon, and address the area’s colonization and early 20th-century transformation into a garden-inspired residential community by developer Robert Home Smith. | |
Are a storyteller who loves to dazzle people with engaging content? If you're an excellent writer we're currently accepting pitches from Emerging Historians for digital stories. We are seeking creative and inclusive approaches to topics related to Toronto's heritage. We particularly welcome heritage stories highlighting the lived experiences of equity-deserving communities in Toronto. Interested applicants should review existing digital stories on our website to get a sense of our formats and topics already covered. The deadline for applications is October 2. | |
Emerging historian opportunities are made possible with the support of our donors and program partners: | |
We're searching for eager volunteers to help support our growing list of programs! Of note: help is needed with activities and food demonstrations at our first Full Moon Festival celebration! Half and full day volunteer shifts are available for the October 1 event. Training will be provided on the day. The deadline for applications is September 22. | |
Considered among the great Canadian modern architects and an outspoken advocate for social justice in the built environment, the fate of two of his projects at Ontario Science Centre and on Wynford Drive remain in question. (Toronto Star) | |
How the music legend's legacy continues to highlight and help the work of this museum and educational centre located on the site of a former residential school. (CBC) | |
Amid the growing Greenbelt scandal, and release of two public reports outlining significant ethical breaches and circumspection of transparent processes, someone with responsibility for depriving the pubic of its natural heritage resigned. (TV Ontario) | |
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Image Credits
Emerging Historians, Heritage Toronto Awards, October 17, 2022. Image by Ashley Duffus.
Little Jamaica Infrastructure Walk, September 2022. Image: Jay Pitter
Detail, cover for We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story. Design: Ploy Siripant
Robarts Common. Image: Doublespace photography. Courtesy of Diamond Schmitt.
Participants at Toronto Metropolitan University, Indigenous Roots tour, August 8, 2021. Image by Herman Custodio.
Jolly Miller and Hogg Brothers shop, Yonge Street, 1954. Image by James Salmon/Toronto Public Library.
Tour participants, St. Lawrence Hall, July 22, 2023. Image by Johnny Wu.
Tour participants, Jewish Life on Lawrence, July 9, 2023. Image by Oscar Akamine.
Marlington Apartment Building on Eglinton West, 1550 Eglinton Avenue West, November 23, 2022.
Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Ave., December 27, 2019.
Tour participants on Lowther Avenue, June 11, 2023.
Greektown on the Danforth tour, July 16, 2022. Image by Ashley Duffus.
Sculpture by Cunningham & Lea, David Balfour Park. Image courtesy of Wojciech Dittwald.
Tour participants, Indigenous Art & Nature, July 23, 2023. Image by Agnes Manivit.
Heritage Toronto staff, Black History Unburied text event, July 11, 2023. Image by Oscar Akamine.
St. Charles Tavern, 1970s. Image from City of Toronto Archives.
Tour participants, Changing Chinatown, June 8, 2023. Image by Johnny Wu.
Aerial view of St. James Town apartments, 1969. Image by Panda Associates/Canadian Architectural Archives, University of Calgary
Central Prison Chapel on Bad Girls tour, July 30, 2022. Image by Ashley Duffus.
The Queen’s Hotel, Front Street, 1915. Image by James Salmon/Toronto Public Library.
Tour participants, Baby Point Uncovered, July 29, 2023. Image by Oscar Akamine.
Emerging historians, The Carlu, October 28, 2019. Image by Herman Custodio.
Heritage Toronto staff, Berczy Park, August 9, 2022. Image by Ashley Duffus.
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