Dufferin St. | as I walk Toronto

Posts Tagged ‘Dufferin St.’

intersections – Dufferin & Queen

Posted: May 11, 2026 in construction, graffiti and street art, history, intersections, old buildings, transportation
Tags: catchoo, CN rail, construction, D7606, development, donuts, Dufferin St., feelings boi, geekypet, GO Transit, graffiti, Grow Up Art, history, Milky Way, murals, Queen Street West, raccoon, railway tracks, sentient cookie, sketchrat, stickers, The Turd Reich, trp613, TTC, urban ninja squadron, visual noise, vivvy, zonr

The intersection of Dufferin and Queen Street West is dominated by the CN railway & GO transit tracks. Large underpasses to the north and to the east define the character of the streets here.

Between 1881 and 1891, the population of Toronto more than doubled, from 86,415 in 1881 to over 181,125 ten years later (numbers are from census data). As the city expanded, infrastructure struggled to keep up as it usually does. It was decided that Queen Street needed an underpass instead of a level crossing. In 1896 the first bridge was built. At this time, Dufferin street ended at Queen to make room for the tracks. Dufferin was now divided into a north and south section.

below: This is a 1898 photo from the City of Toronto archives showing the new railway bridges over Queen Street West. The view is westward. Dufferin is difficult to see in this image but it ends under the railway bridge that is farthest away. Parkdale train station would have been just outside the picture on the left side. It was closed by 1970.

below: Still on Queen Street and still looking west but from farther back from the railway bridge which is now in the distance. The big square-ish building on the right is a Veterinary Surgeon’s office. The ad on the side of the building is for ‘The Sun’ where you could find the highest grade of bicycles, manufactured by G. T. Pendrith. The photo was taken in November 1896.

black and white photo from late 1890s, Queen street looking west towards railway tracks and Dufferin Street

source: There are many places to find this photo on the internet. This copy came from Wikimedia Commons.

below: Looking east along Queen from Noble Street, past Dufferin to the railway tracks, 1954. The Gladstone Hotel in the distance. There is a Shell gas station on the southwest corner, and although it’s difficult to see, a policeman is standing in the intersection directing traffic.

black and white photo from Toronto Public library digital archives

source: Toronto Public Library digital archives. Photographer – James V. Salmon

below: Southwest corner today …. that Shell station is long gone. A newer condo development fills that corner (built since 2010).

below: The stone wall along the east side of Dufferin looks very similar to that of 1954. The buses have been modernized though – we now have new shiny red hybrids.

The “Dufferin Jog” was fixed in 2010 when another railway bridge was built.

below: Looking north up Dufferin during the construction of the bridge, 2010. This is another image from the City of Toronto archives.

construction of the bridge for CN rail and GO transit, to eliminate the dufferin jog, 2010, from city of toronto archives

source: Fonds 601, Series 2860, File 4, Item 1 (City of Toronto archives)

below: North on Dufferin today (not exactly the same view as above). Bus lanes, or rather transit priority lanes, have recently been painted red. The red brick building on the east side of Dufferin still remains.

below: There are changes coming to the northwest corner of the intersection. This photo was taken from the corner of Noble and Queen and is generally north looking.

below: Hoardings on the north side of Queen

below: The view behind the hoardings

To the west of the tracks is the Parkdale neighbourhood with its colours and idiosyncrasies.

The Milky Way runs parallel to Queen on the south side. There has been lots of street here and I have blogged about it before, 5 times before as it turns out. The first time was back on 2015 (Walking the Milky Way) and the most recent was in 2023 (Aging on the Milky Way)

below: On the north side of the railway tracks, there is a pedestrian crossing and bike path. There is also a quiet corner with a couple of benches. The rest of the images in this post were taken on that pedestrian crossing.

below: The Turd Reich – a wonderful series of paste-ups of our “favourite” men in uniform. Donald Trump, Elon Musk, British MP Nigel Farage, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, JD Vance, and Vladimir Putin have been dressed up as World War II Nazi soldiers. This collection first appeared in London, England about a year ago. They are they creation of Grow Up Art.

below: A hole in the fence, with a well worn and muddy path!

below: Thing 1 and Thing 2, right out of the Cat in the Hat.

below: A little red X marks the spot

below: We are all connected

below: Every man needs a muse. Who is your Venus?

below: “Always remember you’re Heart & Soul, you are Loved 4 ever. Trust me.”

Graffiti by: Catchoo, D7606, Feellings Boi, Geekypet, Sentient Cookie, Sketchrat, TRP613, Urban Ninja Squadron, Visual Noise, Vivvy, Zonr (and others)

on Matthew Parsons’ fields

Posted: April 25, 2020 in history, locations
Tags: chevrolet, Dufferin St., Ethiopian church, Fairbank, Fairbank United Church, Glencairn Ave., Heritage Toronto, historic car, history, Kidest Mariam, Marlee, Rita Letendre, subway, Tewahedo Church, Theosophical Society

The other day I was walking a section of Dufferin Street, I came across this Heritage Toronto plaque in a little park at Dufferin and Briar Hill.

Heritage Toronto plaque for the community of Fairbank

“European farmers began a community here in the early 19th century on land that was included in the 1805 Toronto Purchase treaty between the Mississauga of the Credit River and the British Crown. When a post office was established in 1874, the area was named Fairbank after a farm belonging to settler Matthew Parsons.
By 1881, about 17 families lived in the community, near the present-day intersection of Dufferin Street, Vaughan Road, and Eglinton Avenue. The Fairbank Wesleyan Methodist Church was constructed in 1889 with bricks made in a local kiln, the building still stands across the street. When he died in his nineties in 1924, Isaac Dollery, a carpenter and early settler, had witnessed his community evolve from a farming outpost to a suburb of Toronto.
Land in Fairbank was subdivided in 1890, coinciding with the construction of the Belt Line Railway commuter line. The railway made travel to Toronto easy, yet the line failed financially and ceased operation in 1894, after only two years.
Between the world ward, residential development grew and the streetcar arrived in Fairbank in 1924. Industries such as the Paton-Baldwin Knitting Works and Fairbank Lumber and Coal Co. also opened in the area. Fairbank was part of the City of York until amalgamation with the City of Toronto in 1998.

below: This is the church mentioned in the plaque – now part of the United Church.

below: By the time I had finished walking, I wanted to know more about Matthew Parsons and the community of Fairbank. I found this map showing property owners with some of the modern streets added. It looks like its original source was the book, “Historic County Map of York County”, published in 1860 as part of a series of map books covering the early counties of what is now Ontario.

Matthew Parsons bought the farmland in 1835 when he was only 19 years old. Originally he owned 200 acres of land in a rectangle bounded by Glencairn, Dufferin, Eglinton, and Keele.

below: The intersection of Dufferin and Eglinton in 1919

old black and white photo of dufferin and eglinton in 1919 showing narrow dirt roads and farms

photo credit: From the City of Toronto Archives, but found online on the Fairbank Village BIA website. Follow this link if you are interested in more of the history of the area.

My walk that day did not cover all of Matthew Parson’s farmland and at one point I wandered farther east. Some of the pictures that I took that day include the following. In general, to the east of Dufferin is residential and to the west is light industrial (as well as warehouses and wholesalers).

below: Glencairn and Caledonia, the western end of Glencairn.

below: Like everywhere around the city, you never know what kinds of posters or stickers you’re going to find on the poles. I’m not too sure how fast they come, but they’re discreet apparently.

below: A building with symmetrical curved walls, a hint of art deco in the architecture. It is empty and available for sale or lease like a lot of buildings in the area (southwest of Glencairn and Dufferin)

below: Tucked in amongst the industrial buildings is the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Menbere Berhan Kidest Mariam ( Saint Mary) Cathedral, consecrated in November 2012.

below: East side of Dufferin at Glencairn.

below: Chalkboard notices in the window on Dufferin Street

below: Trilingual car sales people.

below: The Easter Bunny may be faded but its still happy!

below: She has been dancing for them, in the same spot, for so long that time has stopped.

below: Two roses for Darosa.

below: Southeast corner of Dufferin and Glencairn

below: Glencairn and Marlee

below: Looking north on Marlee

below: I don’t purposely go looking for redevelopment projects but I keep stumbling on them wherever I go. This is near Glencairn and Marlee where a group of houses are all boarded up.

below: The backyards of these houses are adjacent to the backyard of the house above. They are all going to be replaced with a midrise condo.

below: As well, the strip mall, or plaza, on the other side of Marlee will be demolished.

below: Home of the Toronto Theosophical Society.

below: A lovely old Chevrolet (early 1940s?)

below: The Allen, looking north from Glencairn. Technically it is the William R. Allen Road but no one calls it that. At Glencairn it is an expressway. The road was part of the Spadina Expressway proposed in the 1950s – Metropolitan Toronto was formed in 1954 and highway building was one of its priorities. The Spadina Expressway would join downtown with the 401 highway at the new Yorkdale Mall. The more northerly part of the road was built prior to 1971 when the project was cancelled. Here, at Glencairn, the road site had only been leveled and it became known as the ‘Davis Ditch’, after Bill Davis the Ontario Premier at the time. It wasn’t until 1976 that the stretch between Lawrence and Eglinton was finished.

below: The south entrance to Glencairn station (the north entrance looks exactly the same and is located directly across the street). It opened in 1978. Note the coloured glass roof.

below: There is a yellow glow in the interior from the stained glass roof. The skylight roof has been refurbished; Rita Letendre’s artwork “Joy” had become very faded since its installation in 1978 .

After Glencairn crosses over the Allen Expressway, it continues east all the way to Yonge Street.

near Dundas and Dufferin streets

Posted: August 14, 2015 in graffiti and street art
Tags: alleys, bald, casa nostra, chihuahua, drummer, Dufferin St., Dundas West, faces, fox, foxes, garage doors, garages, graffiti, Jarus, lane, man, mural, murals, musicians, people, street art, urban art, women

A few things seen while walking Dundas West (and the alleys behind it) near Dufferin Street.

below: Dundas Street West, looking east from Dufferin Street, March 2015

below: At the corner of Sheridan Ave and Dundas West.

below: A mural by Jarus

below: Solicitors will be fed to the chihuahua

below: Kick out the jams

Dufferin skeins

Posted: April 16, 2015 in graffiti and street art
Tags: Alexa Hatanaka, beltline, colorful, colours, construction, culvert, Dufferin St., multicoloured, mural, Patrick Thompson, railway bridge, sidewalk, skeins, steps, streetARToronto, Toronto, underpass, wool

On Dufferin St., just north of Eglinton there is a bridge under the Beltline Pathway.
The old railway bridge crosses the road and metal culverts provide passageways for the sidewalks on both sides of the street. It was painted in November 2014.

One of the sidewalks is closed because of construction on the north side.
In fact, the area looks a bit messy at the moment.

This was a project by STEPS (Sustainable Thinking and Expression on Public Spaces) in collaboration with artists Alexa Hatanaka and Patrick Thompson, local residents, Friends of the York Beltline and local Eglinton-Lawrence Councillor Josh Colle.