"A community is shaped by its understanding of the past and the physical surroundings of everyday life. Built evidence of the past, in the form of buildings, structures and areas of architectural, historical and archaeological interest, provides significant insight into community history and identity. The evidence of evolving patterns of architectural design and the quality of workmanship of older buildings provides a rich visual texture that contributes to the quality of life."
- from "Inventory of Heritage Properties" Toronto Historical Board, The City of Toronto's Inventory of Heritage Properties published by the Toronto Historical Board January 24, 1996.
Pictured below are two of ten four-plexes on Wineva Avenue: numbers 18 to 36, built in 1929 by Price Brothers that were among the first listed buildings in the Beach, designated in June, 1973.
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| Four-plexes on Wineva Avenue - from the author's collection, August, 2014. |
Below is an image of two four-plexes on Queen Street, likely built in 1913 by Toronto builders William and Albert Booth on land owned by William Booth. The Queen Street East four-plexes are an easy 16 years older than the houses on Wineva Avenue. Price Brothers, whose headquarters were on Main Street would certainly have seen these buildings on Queen Street on their journey to and from the city centre and likely used them as a template for their housing development in the Beach.
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| Four-plexes at 1333 - 1339 Queen St E - from the author's collection, August, 2014 |
"Booth and Pears, trading under the head of the Yorkville and Carlton Brick Manufacturing Company, brick makers, Avenue Road, came into the possession of their business in 1880, it having been established thirty years before. They employ sixty men, and make four and a half million bricks a year. They also have a brick-yard at Carlton, where they make two million bricks a year and employ twenty-five men."
- from "The History of the County of York" published 1885.
William Booth (1835 - 1928) was a Yorkville builder, brick manufacturer, shareholder, director and vice-president of the Davenport Street Railway and an ice dealer, originally from Yorkshire, who also served on the Yorkville Council in the 1870s. Booth and Pears Brickyard was on the west side of Avenue Road north of Davenport Road where Ramsden Park is today. They had another brick yard at Carlton West (Toronto Junction). In 1891 William Booth was also vice-president of Ontario Ind. Loan and Investment Co. at 138 Avenue Road. He built the landmark Yorkville Firehall in 1876. The architects were S. H. Townsend (1876) and Mancel Willmot (1889).
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| Yorkville Firehall black and white images - from "Yorkville In Pictures 1853 - 1883" colour photo - from "Occasional Toronto" website |
William Booth junior started out his working life at his father's brickyard, and eventually became a prolific Toronto builder. In the 1911 census William and family and Albert and family listed their professions as masons and contractors and lived on a shared lot in Scarborough County.
Samuel Booth was a very successful builder. George Booth and Son inherited Samuel's business and also lived in Yorkville.
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| View from Northeast corner of Adelaide and Victoria, Toronto 1856 - Archives of Ontario |
Reverend William B. Booth was minister of the Queen Street East Methodist Church in 1911, about half a block east of the four-plexes on the other side of Queen Street. The church is now buried inside the 1920s era factory building at the corner of Queen Street and Vancouver Avenue. It looks like the Booths had a multi-faceted family business in place.
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| The Queen Street East Methodist Church, built 1859 - from the "History of Methodist Churches In Toronto" |
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| Annie Manson - Globe and Mail archives |
In the 1911 Assessment Rolls William Booth owned the east part of lot 23 at the western end of the two lots in question next to the Graham house at 1327 and 1329 Queen Street East. Annie Manson owned the eastern part of lot 23 and all of lot 22 as well as 1341 and 1343 Queen Street. All the lots were vacant. By 1912 William Booth owned all three vacant lots. In 1913 William Booth owned one vacant part lot of lot 23 and two unfinished houses on lot 22. In the 1914 Assessment Rolls William Booth still owned all the lots and the finished four-plexes on them. The flats at numbers 1335 and 1335 1/2 were finished but vacant. The flats in the four-plex at 1337 to 1339 were all tenanted. Finally, in the 1915 records there were tenants in all the four-plexes. William Booth owned the lot, which is a driveway at 1331 as well as the building at 1333 - 1335 1/2 while his brother, Albert owned the building at 1337 - 1339 Queen East.
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| Goad's Map 1913 - Toronto Public Library |
The assessment notices apply to the year before the record was made. The dates here are as they are in the Assessment Rolls but probably apply to the immediately preceding years.
In 1912, when the four-plexes were being built there was a great deal of construction going on that overwhelmed the understaffed and underpaid Office of the City Architect. The impossibility of getting timely building permits became a scandal which was reported in the Toronto newspapers over several months because builders were building without permits and the few "adult" inspectors couldn't keep up. There may be no building permit for the four-plexes as a result and we may never know for certain who the architect or the builders actually were.
It seems likely that Booth Brothers, as prolific Toronto builders not only owned the land but built the four-plexes. Their brother, Charles was an architect who worked at one time for the firm of Pearson and Darling and who also worked in the City Architect's Office as assistant city engineer.
In 2014 there still apparently aren't any guidelines at all for Heritage Preservation or for development of the section of Queen Street between Leslie and Coxwell. My personal opinion is that before developers demolish historic buildings willy-nilly, some guidelines should be in place and that the buildings at 1327 - 1339 Queen Street East in particular should be protected and restored. They're representative of a significant era in our neighbourhood and in our city and once demolished they can never be replaced.
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Sources:
The Evening Star, Saturday January 27, 1894
The Toronto Daily Star, Tuesday May 21 1912, Thursday June 13, 1912, Thursday August 15, 1912, Friday August 16, 1912.
City of Toronto Assessment Rolls Ward 1 Division 1: 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914 and 1915
Canada Census 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911
Toronto City Directories 1875 - 1913
Globe and Mail archives Nov. 14, 1895, Jan. 10, 1895, June 27, 1933, July 26, 1890, May 30, 1903, June 2, 1903
Canadian Electrical News, April 1892
History of Toronto and County of York, Ontario by Charles Pelham Mulvany, Graeme Mercer Adam
Points of Interest Along Lost Streams, Yorkville Brick Yards from Lost Rivers of Toronto
Yorkville Brickyards, Toronto Historical Association
Yorkville In Pictures 1853 to 1883 Toronto Public Library Board History Handbooks Number 2 by Stephanie Hutcheson
Historical Walking Tour Of Kew Beach by Mary Campbell and Barbara Myrvold toronto Public Library Board
East Annex Heritage Conservation District Study, City of Toronto Planning and Development Department Cityplan 9'91 Proposals Report June 1991
The Danforth In Pictures, Toronto Public Library History Hand Books No. Three
The History of The Methodist Churches of Toronto: A History of the Methodist Denomination, compiled edited and arranged by Thomas Edward Champion, 1899
Inventory of Heritage Properties" Toronto Historical Board, The City of Toronto's Inventory of Heritage Properties published by the Toronto Historical Board January 24, 1996.
Special thanks to: Toronto Reference Library and City of Toronto Archives
Laura Marks
Member ETCC Steering Committee
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