Toronto in the 1900s didn’t much resemble the city we know today. Not only was the skyline virtually undeveloped—the tallest structures were the Temple Building at 10 storeys and the Trader’s Bank Building at 15 storeys—but the Bloor Viaduct was yet to link the east and west sides of the city.
In the 1900s, Toronto had a population of approximately 210,000 people, horses and carriages were still common on city streets, and the city suffered one of the worst fires in its history, losing almost all of the main commercial district (bounded by Bay, Wellington, Yonge, and Front Streets).
Here’s what Toronto looked like through the 1900s:
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| King Street, 1900 |
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| Board of Trade Building, 1900 |
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| Cycling club, 1900 |
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| Weston Train Station, 1900 |
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| Eaton’s factory interior, 1901 |
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| Laying asphalt on Elm Avenue, 1902 |
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| Jarvis Street, 1903 |
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| Entrance to U of T campus, 1903 |
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| Yonge looking north from Temperance, 1903 |
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| Fire aftermath, 1904 |
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| Fire aftermath, 1904 |
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| CNE midway, 1904 |
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| Candy department Eaton’s, 1904 |
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| High Park, 1904 |
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| St. Lawrence Market, 1904 |
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| Newsboy, 1905 |
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| Tally Ho showing visitors around the city, 1905 |
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| Crystal Palace (later destroyed by fire), 1906 |
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| Sleighing at Queen’s Park, 1906 |
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| Yonge and Front, 1906 |
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| Bookies at Woodbine Race Track (original), 1907 |
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| Carriage ride, 1907 |
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| Cycling in Mimico, 1907 |
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| Hanlan’s Point Hotel and Regatta, 1907 |
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| Bathurst north of St. Clair, 1907 |
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| Old (but then new) City Hall, 1907 Advertisement
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| Diving Horse at Hanlan’s Point, 1907 |
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| The Grange, 1907 |
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| Confederation Life Building, 1907 |
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| Yonge north of Bloor, 1907 |
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| Queen and James, 1908 |
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| Government House, 1908 |
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| Yonge and Queen, 1908 |
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| Dufferin Racetrack, 1908 |
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| University Avenue (with Queen’s Park in the distance), 1908 |
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| William Davies Store, 1908 |
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| Toronto Street, 1908 |
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| Collecting coal, 1909 |
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| Queen and Spadina, 1909 |
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| Ruins of Hanlan’s Point Hotel, 1909 |
(via blogTO)
