Posts Tagged ‘B.C. Johnson’

between Wellesley and Gloucester

Posted: May 2, 2025 in graffiti and street art, locations, old buildings, stores
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Like many good walks, this one starts from a subway station. This time it is Wellesley station

from in front of Wellesley TTC subway station, looking west on Wellesley, past Chechalk Lane to Yonge Street

below: Standing on the northeast corner of Yonge & Wellesley

on the northeast corner of Wellesley and Yonge, looking southwest

Not Just Noodles in old brick building, northwest corner of Yonge and Wellesley

Walking north on Yonge and taking advantage of the fact that there wasn’t much traffic. Some (all?) of these buildings may have appeared in prior blog posts. At some point I should pull together all the Yonge street photos that I have taken over the years. It might be interesting to see what has changed and how much. In the meantime, here are a few scenes from the two blocks from Wellesley north to Gloucester (past Dundonald St.)

below: Looking north.

looking north up Yonge towards Bloor

below: Large abstract red metal sculpture by Albert Paley.

red metal sculpture on the corner of Yonge & Gloucester

old brick buildings with mansour roofs, on Yonge, north of Wellesley, west side of the street, three storeys high, most from the 1880s, Kung Fu Tea, a chicken restaurant with bricks painted pink,

old brick buildings with flat roofs, on Yonge, north of Wellesley, west side of the street, three storeys high, most from the 1880s, Life Med quick fix, a vapes store, tattoo parlor, Molly Teas, and Ana Nails,

old brick buildings on Yonge, north of Wellesley, west side of the street, three storeys high, most from the 1880s, san coiffure,

old brick buildings on Yonge, north of Wellesley, west side of the street, three storeys high, most from the 1880s, flat roof. Bloom clinic, a spa, an empty store with brown paper covering the window,

upper storeys of old brick buildings on Yonge Street

below: Yonge Street has long been a dividing line down the middle of the city. There are some east-west streets that now run uninterrupted across Yonge but many don’t. For example, Dundonald Street ends at Yonge (runs east only) but after a slight jog to the north, you can continue on St. Joseph Street.

looking west along St. Joseph St., north side, from Yonge

below: Like St. Joseph St. is the continuation of Dundonald, Irwin Ave is the continuation of Gloucester.

from Irwin Ave looking east to Yonge and then to Gloucester, red sculpture by Paley, new glass and steel condo tower

Ethiopian restaurant on Irwin Ave

below: Shown here is one of the numerous alleys, that crisscross downtown Toronto – Cottage Lane runs north from Irwin Ave for a short distance.  Murals have been painted by B.C. Johnson on both sides.

Alley, with red brick buildings on each side, both with murals across the bottom part, painted by B. C Johnson, downtown, highrises in the background

below: Nearby, St. Nicholas Street south of Irwin becomes a narrow lane.

alley running north from Irwin Ave., just west of Yonge

Back to Gloucester (because we can never walk in a straight line!)…..

below: James Canning Gardens

James Canning Gardens, public space downtown

James Canning Gardens, public space downtown

below: An row of three old red brick houses with a heritage plaque outside – 7 to 11 Gloucester, built 1887.  Also known as the Hugh Matheson houses.  They have been incorporated into a condo development.

large 2 storey red brick house with a heritage plaque in the front

…”In September 1885, physician and tailor Hugh Matheson received a permit to build a row of homes on this site, located at the rear of his Yonge Street property at a cost of about $15,000 (about $500,000 in 2024). Matheson trained to become a doctor in Toronto and Connecticut but instead chose to be a men’s clothing retailer, running a successful store at 16 King Street East. His large home was just west of here at the corner of Yonge and Gloucester Streets. Matheson was planning to return to medicine when he died during the construction of the homes….. The first people to live at 7, 9, and 11 were James N. Peer, commercial merchant, George E. Challes, paper company manager, and Margaret J. Pringle, a widow… In 1950, five of the houses were demolished for construction of the subway…”

The next series of photographs are all taken in Gloucester Place, an alley that runs behind Yonge Street on the east side.  Artist B.C. Johnson has also painted most of the walls and doors in the one block stretch north of Gloucester Street.

below: Looking north up Gloucester Place towards Isabella, with tall glass and steel boxes at Yonge and Bloor towering above.

looking north

palm trees on the beach, part of a mural by B C Johnson in Gloucester Place

water, stream, nature scene, beside a door painted like bright blue boards, part of a mural by B C Johnson in Gloucester Place

lake scene, part of a mural by B C Johnson in Gloucester Place

glittery green striped iguana on a tree trunk looking at a yellow butterfly, part of a mural of nature scenes by B C Johnson in Gloucester Place

alley walls and doors painted by B C Johnson, scenes of nature

orange butterfly among branches of a tree, blue sky background, part of a mural of nature scenes by B C Johnson in Gloucester Place

price list sign above painting of a white heron or egret standing beside a small creek, part of a mural of nature scenes by B C Johnson in Gloucester Place

white chicken on the roof of an old red truck, part of a mural of nature scenes by B C Johnson in Gloucester Place

5 large sunflowers in a field of sunflowers, part of a mural of nature scenes by B C Johnson in Gloucester Place

alley walls and doors painted by B C Johnson, scenes of nature

2 different scenes painted beside each other, one is palm trees, the other a yellowish building, part of a mural of nature scenes by B C Johnson

a white rabbit nibbles on the grass beside a wood crate full of red apples, part of a mural of nature scenes by B C Johnson

a no parking sign on a chain across an archway leading to a farm scene, along with a Canada goose and a chicken

three tigers in the bushes, in the corner of an alcove,

below: The south end of Gloucester Lane, at Gloucester Street.  The old house was preserved and there is a coffee shop on the lower level at the moment.

exterior, neo coffee, tree in front, on Gloucester near park

Gloucester street, looking west towards Yonge street

interior, neo coffee,two people sitting and working

below: She looks rather perplexed and I am inclined to agree with her!

graffiti stickers on a canada post box

below: A little black catchoo heart

black catchoo heart graffiti sticker on a yellow bollard

One last quick circle back, this time to the beginning to include one last bit –

below: Chechalk Lane, from Wellesley towards Dundonald.  This lane was named for Chechalk, an Anishnawbe Chief who was one of the signatories to the 1805 Toronto Purchase. He also signed the Mississauga Treaty of 1805 (aka Treaty 13). The name/word means crane or big bird.

looking down a laneway, tall buildings on both sides, with reflections of buildings in the glass of the building at the end of the lane.

The story of the Toronto Purchase of 1805 is described on the website of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nations. (MCFN).  I am not going to copy and paste the whole thing; instead three points:

1. Original purchase price was 10 shillings (plus other items).
2. Renegotiations began in 1998 leading to a settlement for more money in 2010.
3.  The cities of Etobicoke, Toronto, North York, York and Vaughan are located within the boundaries of the Toronto Purchase Treaty lands.

If you want to read the whole story, link: MCFN Treaty 13.

Sandown Lane, Cliffside

Posted: February 13, 2021 in alleys, graffiti and street art, locations
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scarborough toronto street sign, Sandown Lane, Cliffside

Sandown Lane runs behind the buildings on the north side of Kingston Road, west of Midland Avenue in Scarborough.

back of a store & apartment, in an alley, building is brick painted pink, stairs to upper level doors, snow on the ground

I was walking here because I was on the lookout for a series of murals by B.C. Johnson that have been painted over the past few years.

murals on a wood fence between two properties, in an alley, woodland animal theme, a deer, a moose,

B.C. Johnson is the person responsible for first painting the rainbow arch beside the Don Valley Parkway – way back in the 1970’s.  I blogged about the Moccasin Trail, which leads to the arch, last year.  Just in case you’ve never seen it, here it is from last fall:

the rainbow bridge on the east don trail, a semi circle arch tunnel painted like a rainbow

Back to Sandown Lane….

B C Johnson mural of an old car surrounded by sunflowers in an alley

below: A deer with large antlers, a man fishing.

two garage doors side by side in an alley with murals painted on them, a deer with antlers on the left and a man fishing in a river on the right

below: Sunflowers and butterflies by the gate on a (real) door.

sunflowers and butterflies on a summer day, and a gate made of birch branches, a mural in an alley by Bc johnson

brown metal door on concrete block wall, pink planters with fake sunflowers in them, a bench with snow on it beside the door too

a blue pickup truck with one tire missing, parked in a vacant lot, in front of a farmyard scene mural with fields and a pond

mural, front of an old rusty car with a white chicken standing on one fender

chairs and round table outside, in back of building, in an alley, also patio umbrella, folded up

from the outside, a window in a concrete block wall, window is full of books, sign spray painted on wall that says no parking, will tow

below: Waterfalls

two murals in a lane, waterfall theme for both of them, the work of B C johnson

a woodlands theme mural on a wood fence between two properties in a lane, a tree trunk in the mural matches the large tree behind the fence

an old rust coloured Lincoln Town Car parked in an alley, garage doors behind it are covered in murals by bc johnson

small mural with butterflies and flowers in an entrance to a passageway, some orange and white cones in front of the mural

below: That’s an inventive way to advertise your handyman business!

an advertisement for a handyman, a large hand up in a tree with a paintbrush

three panels on a wood fence in a laneway with murals on them, animal them, tiger in the center, also an elephant, snow in front of the fence, the back of houses behind

double car garage in an alley with murals painted on them, owl theme,

table and chairs behind a building in an alley

While I was in the area, I walked back along Kingston Road.

in the median, Kingston Road, a sign that says Cliffside Village, red brick apartment building behind

I have walked this portion of Kingston Road before.  There are many large Mural Routes paintings of historic Scarborough scenes.  They can be seen in the 2017 blog post, Cliffside murals, so I won’t repeat them here except for this one photo:  ‘H.M. Schooner, Onondaga c. 1793’ by Jeff Jackson 1992.

mural routes mural on Kingston Rd, historic scene, schooner Onondaga

below: Back in 2017 this was a sushi restaurant and it was covered on all four sides by ‘Let’s Take a Walk on the Wildside’ painted by B.C. Johnson the year previously.  Some of the scenes from that mural can be same in the same Cliffside blog post linked to above.

empty restaurant, benazi, on a corner lot, murals on the buildings behind it

entrance to a store 2258, with a painting of an old airplane over the door

wooden fence around a patio, with two old paintings that are faded and peeled so you can't tell what they were pictures of, in the background, an empty blue metal frame that once held a sign for a store

a red wall in front of a building, mailboxes on it, 8 mailboxes, also two buzzers under a sign that says Supt Bob

below: Tara Inn, the Irish Pub, beside the Banglabazar Supermarket.

looking across Kingston Road to a stip mall with an Irish pub and the Banglabazar store,

storefront on kingston Road in Cliffside, barber shop, closed because of covid, faded pictures of mens heads show casing hair styles in the window,

looking in the window of a shoe repair business with a for sale sign in the window

looking in a store window, a large picture of a woman looking back out, with a sign on the window re opeings and closings for covid 19

looking in the window of a store, a mirror with an ornate silver colour frame, Christmas bells attached to it with ribbons and greenery

below: St Pauls United Church, near the west end of Sandown Lane.

front of St. Pauls United Church in Cliffside Scarborough, narrow green steeple, round glass entranceway, stairs leading from the sidewalk to the church

below: A Roman Catholic church, Saint Theresa, Shine of the Little Flower at Midland and Kingston Road.   The church was built in 1966 to replace a smaller one, also built in a Spanish style, from 1933. The Church was dedicated as a Shrine in honour of St Therese of Lisieux, a saint who had been canonized in 1925.

white church at Midland and Kingston Road, Saint Theresa Parish, Shrine of the Little flowers, red cermaic tile roof, arched doorways and windows

UPDATE:

Two developments on Kingston Road will impact this stretch of the lane.  First, an 8 storey mixed use building at 2448-2450 (the Cat Hospital) as well as a slightly shorter 6 storey mixed use development at 2380-2382 (a vacant lot, Wongs Martial Arts).   Both developments have had their site plans approved at city council.

 

Cliffside murals

Posted: June 30, 2017 in graffiti and street art, public art
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Cliffside is an area around Kingston Road in the west  side of the city and the ‘cliff’ in the name refers to the Scarborough Bluffs.    The murals in this post are all on Kingston Road just west of Midland Ave.    They are the result of work of Mural Routes, an organization “dedicated to the creation, development and promotion of public wall art” since 1990.

below: ‘Spooners Garage’ by Phillip Woolf, 1992.   Art Spooner’s garage in Cliffside was built in 1926 (and rebuilt in 1947).   The mural has two parts, each showing a different time period.  They face each other.

mural of gas station, Spooners Garage, from the 1920s or 1930s

mural of gas station, Spooners Garage, from the 1920s or 1930s

below:  … and the later version

part of a mural showing a gas station from the 1940s or 1950s

part of a mural showing a gas station from the 1940s or 1950s

below: ‘H.M. Schooner, Onondaga c. 1793’ by Jeff Jackson 1992.  The Onondaga was built near Kingston in 1790 and it served with the Provincial Marine until 1797.  It was the ship in which John Graves Simcoe and his wife Elizabeth sailed across Lake Ontario to York (now Toronto) to establish the capital of Upper Canada.

painted mural of a schooner from the 1790s sailing on Lake Ontario

below: ‘Let’s Take a Walk on the Wildside’ by B.C. Johnson, 2016.   Canadian plants and animals cover all four sides of Ikki Sushi – herons, bears, moose, beaver, and fox among the pine trees. Creeks, swamp, and waterfalls can also be seen.  More of Johnson’s work can be seen at Sandown Lane Cliffside blog post

Ikki Sushi restaurant covered with a mural with scenes of Canadian flora and fauna,

back of restaurant with open door. Ikki Sushi restaurant covered with a mural with scenes of Canadian flora and fauna, inside of door is painted too

below: ‘Cliffside Golf Course’ by Dan Sawatzky, 1991.   Founded by George McCordick in 1931, the Cliffside Golfcourse was south of Kingston Road and overlooked Lake Ontario.    It closed in 1950.  The mural is faded and partially obscured by two trees.

two trees obscure a faded mural

below: The words on the mural tell the story of the golf course.

mural of two men golfing. One is swinging a golf club and the other has a golf bag slung over his shoulderh

red vintage car in a mural

mural, woman from the 1930's standing behind a vintage car and holding a set of golf clubs

The last two murals have appeared in a previous blog post that I wrote once upon a time when I didn’t know how many Scarborough murals there were.  Even now I’ve hardly scratched the surface.

below:  ‘The Half Way House’ by John Hood, 1990.  The mural is at the corner of Midland Avenue & Kingston Road which is where the inn and stage coach stop was located.   The  building was moved to Black Creek Pioneer Village in 1965.

mural depicting the Half Way House, an old inn that used to be at the corner of Kingston Road and Midland. Two men are sitting on the stairs in front of the mural

below: ‘The Bluffs as Viewed by Elizabeth Simcoe c. 1793’ by Risto Turunen, 1992.   The story is that Elizabeth Simcoe was so impressed by the view of the cliffs she persuaded her husband, John Graves Simcoe, to name the area after Scarborough England where there are similar cliffs.

Three cars are parked in front of a large mural of the Scarborough Bluffs, there is a small row boat on Lake Ontario in front of the cliffs.

There are more murals on old Kingston Road both to the east and west of these, but that will be a story for another day.

also see: Heritage Trail Mural 8 – Old Kingston Road