This is basically just a bunch of notes on my pictures, and on other interesting things I've spotted in Toronto while walking around. I probably won't update it that often.
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This variety store in Long Branch hasn't changed signs recently, as the Toronto Telegram (a newspaper) folded in 1971:
Over time, overlapping signs on telephone poles mutate into a collage of sorts:
To me, these resemble Dadaist collages - in particular, Kurt Schwitters' Merz collages. (Photo taken in the Annex, March 2006.)
Saw this when walking north from Lansdowne and Bloor last month:
I can only hope that Cecil gently placed this board on the ground.
Recently, somebody has been spray-painting "Duck Duck Goose" on sidewalks downtown.
I've spotted this in at least two places. One is just outside the southwest entrance
to St. Patrick subway station:
For years, billboards at the corner of Bay and Gerrard have advertised competing
political philosophies:
The billboard on the left has been hired by the National Citizens Coalition (which
Stephen Harper used to run). The billboard on the right has been sponsored by
various left-of-center and progressive groups.
Cancer! Cancer! Cancer! Photographed on the Danforth, 2003.
This commemorative tree in Craigleigh Gardens (in Rosedale) is no more:
Here are three photos from Wilson Avenue that appealed to me. First: are these magic diet plans competitors, or is the same plan constantly changing phone numbers?
This Bagel World used to be a coffee and dairy bar:
And, for some reason, the Beautiful Apartments and Divorce signs seem to go well together:
If you walk along Rosedale Valley Road, you will see this graffito on a support holding up one of the bridges you pass under:
I have no idea who Caroline is, or even whether that is one person's name or three, though it all looks like it was done by the same person. And I have no idea what risks she was taking when she signed her name on the bridge (I'm not much of a risk-taker myself). But I think it's cool that this graffito has now survived exactly 25 years. You go, Caroline, whoever you are.
I have always been fascinated by abandoned roads. You always wonder: what used to be here? Why was this road abandoned?
Here is a list of the abandoned roads I know of in Toronto.
Pottery Road: Before the Bayview Extension was built in the late 1950's, Pottery Road ran between Hillside Avenue and Moore Avenue. The Bayview extension replaced almost all of Pottery between Moore and the Don River, but was built slightly east of Pottery. The old Pottery Road is still visible in two places:
To view the northern section of abandoned Pottery Road, cross to the west side of Bayview at Nesbitt Drive, walk north, and go up the stairway that you see there. At the top of the first set of stairs, you can view a section of the old Pottery Road, plus some of the sidewalk. This section of road extends for some distance.
Google map for Pottery Road north:
You can also find the southern part of the abandoned section of Pottery Road by walking north on the Bayview Extension from the Pottery Road interchange. Walk north until you are lined up with the Pottery Road bridge over the Don River, and you will see a path heading north into the woods. If you walk down that path a bit, you'll spot chunks of pavement; this was Pottery Road.
Google map for Pottery Road south:
This path extends as far as the railroad tracks, and then dies out.
The southern end of Pottery Road used to connect to Hillside Avenue, but was rerouted in 1965 to connect to Broadview Avenue at Mortimer. No trace of the original road exists, but you can see where it went by following the path of the telephone poles up the Pottery Road hill. They extend into what is now Charles Sauriol Park, which was created when the road was rerouted.
Eastern Avenue: When the Don Valley Parkway was built in 1960, it cut Eastern Avenue in two. The Eastern Avenue bridge that spanned the Don River is still standing, though no longer accessible.
The easiest way to view the bridge is to walk south on the Don River path from Queen Street. The bridge will be on your left. (This path is closed until July 2007.)
Winchester Street: Before the Bayview Extension was built, Rosedale Valley Road used to connect to the West Don Roadway, which ran north-south on the west side of the Don River. Winchester Street, which is two blocks north of Carlton, used to run down the west side of the valley and connect to the West Don Roadway. When the extension was built, the intersection with Winchester was cut off, and the stretch of Winchester that is east of the entrance to the Necropolis was orphaned.
Google map for Winchester Street:
The City of Toronto now uses some of this abandoned stretch of Winchester as a service road for Riverdale Farm. The "No Entry" sign on this road appears to be intended just for cars; the road can be accessed on foot, as it is connected to many of the paths winding through the farm.
Westgate Boulevard: Earl Bales Park, in northwest North York, was originally York Downs Golf and Country Club before the club relocated north of Toronto in 1968. Westgate Boulevard used to run all the way down into the Don valley near what used to be the club, but was closed off to traffic some years ago (not sure when). The paved road is still accessible as a pedestrian path, which leads north to Don River Boulevard and then to Sheppard Avenue.
Google map for Westgate Boulevard:
A 1958 map of Toronto that I have (thanks to The Black Pen for providing it!) lists two streets running off of Westgate Boulevard that no longer exist: Westgate Place and Northbourne Street. Apparently, these streets were built around that time but remained
undeveloped for over a decade before disappearing. My guess is that somebody wanted to
build there, but was told that there was too much of a flood risk.
And I just discovered that there used to be a sewage plant at the foot of Westgate
Blvd. that closed in about 1960 or so. That's probably where the road went to.
Post Road used to run all the way from Bayview Avenue to Banbury Road (my 1958 map marks it as connected), but is now divided in two. It's not really an abandoned road, as no sign of the old road still exists; in fact, there is no way for pedestrians to travel from one section of Post Road to the other without fording the Don River.
Google map for Post Road:
Apparently, North York held a road allowance on the missing part of Post Road for many years, in case they wanted to build a road there.
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