Yonge, Eglinton, Avenue, Chaplin.
Some habits die hard and some rules aren’t meant to be broken including the unwritten rule that a photowalk begins at a coffee shop. Was it the best. coffee. ever.? I’m not sure. It was good; it would have been even better if I’d been able to drink it inside! Also good is the fact that there are independent coffee shops that are still open and I hope that they survive (and thrive?) until the summer.
below: Long north up Yonge Street from Lola (L O L A Lola), towards Eglinton. Back to Midtown.
below: Yonge and Manor Road, looking northeast. One of the remaining Midtown buildings that date from the original development about 100 years ago. In 2016/2017 a massive list of buildings in this area was put forward as considerations for “Main Street Block” heritage designation including this one at 2075 Yonge at the corner of Manor Road East. In the resulting report, mention is made of “the three-storey scale, the glazed commercial storefronts with apartments in the upper floors, and the elaborate Tudor Revival styling typical of those dating to the interwar era in North Toronto.” I haven’t done any more research to determine if any of these buildings were actually added to the heritage register.
below: Northwest corner of Yonge and Eglinton. Still mired in Crosstown construction.
below: Walking west on Eglinton through a maze of cones and detours.
below: Looking back towards Yonge and Eglinton.
below: Consulting.
below: Part of the pedestrian detour on the north side of Eglinton takes you through Eglinton Park. This photo is from May 2020 so you can’t see the ice and snow that was there a few days ago!
below: View of the city, looking east towards Yonge Street from Eglinton Park (May 2020)
below: Decorated hoardings at Eglinton Park.
below: Rendered drawing of the future Avenue Road Crosstown station.
below: Avenue Road Crosstown station as it is now.
below: What it looked like in early May last year. Not much change is there? I was disappointed to see how Eglinton Avenue looks just the same as it has for years. At the surface it appears that there has been no progress. I’d love to be able to see what was/is happening down below as I know that the work didn’t stop for Covid.
below: No running, no diving. Sigh. Although it makes sense that there’s no diving in the shallow end, it’s just another reminder that this has been a year of “no”.
below: One of the many architectural styles on Avenue Road
below: Chaplin Crescent views
below: And back to Yonge Street – For lease, a former Starbucks at Yonge and Davisville. This is one of 25 locations in Toronto that closed at the beginning of February and one of the approximately 300 closed across Canada. This was always a busy place but maybe it was dependent on commuter traffic as it is by the Davisville subway station. The list of 25 closed Starbucks’ is heavy on mall locations and those on the heavy commuter routes.
The building started its life in 1894 as J.J. Davis’ general store and post office built on land owned by John Davis — the same Davis that gave the name to the tiny community of Davisville. When I was researching the building, I found the following three photos. First, J.J. Davis Store, ca 1900. Home of the Davisville Post Office 1894-1913.
below: The same corner, 1951. Note the old bus on Davisville (and all the people waiting to get on it!). The Chaplin Groceteria is now the Fresh Buy Market but the building is almost exactly the same 50+ years later. The hydro lines have been buried since 1951.
below: I have been trying to reconcile the information that I found online:
- The J.J. Davis Store was built in 1894,
- The first post office was in Davis’s store,
- John Davis died in 1891.
Then I found the photo below. It was taken in 1981 and is of a building, Host Rent a Car, at the corner of Yonge & Imperial (one block north of Yonge & Davisville). The library notes: “In the 1870s, this was the site of T. G. Crown’s Grocery, Flour and Feed Store and the first Post Office in Davisville.” Davisville Village Walk, North Toronto Historical Society, 1984, p. 5. Therefore, two stores (that still exist) and two “first” post offices … and a mix-up somewhere.
I like the fact the T.G. Crown’s store was on Imperial street!
The above three black and white photos are online, from the Toronto Public Library
With many thanks to Karen for accompanying me. Sorry, no photo – totally forgot…. We’ll have to make good on our vow to walk again!
as I walk Toronto 