Another day, another four historic buildings in the St. Lawrence Market neighborhood to profile.

I’ve heard Realtors use the phrase, “Every house has a story.”

I think that statement is even truer in the case of those century-old buildings in downtown Toronto…

Canadian Bank of Commerce – built in 1907

Address: 144 King Street East (NW corner King/Jarvis)
Current Use:
History: I strongly suspect that this building is older than the year quoted on a nearby plaque (1907) since it looks to be of the exact same construction, style, and age of the St. Lawrence Hall across the street, but I have nothing to back up my theory.  This was an original branch of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), but more importantly, this is where the Township of York held it’s council meetings for forty-three years.

While the main floor of the building was used for the CIBC branch, the second and third floors contained offices which were the perfect meeting place for the city council, and thus it became the York Council Chambers beginning in 1907.  Council members had previously met across the street at St. Lawrence Hall before the current structure was even built in 1850, and dating back as far as the early 1800’s.  This city block at Jarvis/King and down to Front Street was home to several different City Council meeting places, in several different buildings for more than a century due to the constant rebuilding of the structures and of course the great fire of 1849.

Paul Bishop’s Building – built in 1842

Address: 363 Adelaide Street East (SE corner Adelaide/Sherbourne)
Current Use: Residential
History: Local Toronto historian Bruce Bell called this “The Most Haunted Corner in Toronto” in his article here.  In 1798, William Jarvis built the first structure on this corner; a small house of squared logs measuring 30 by 41 feet and rising two levels.  William Jarvis died in 1817, and his son cut the property into smaller lots to maximize its value (he would have been a great developer in 2009!).  Over the next few years, the house was home to a restaurant, a billiard room, and a small school.

Here is a photo of the building as it was in 1860:

Legend has it that several people died in this house during the Cholera epidemics of the 1830’s, and several others died by suicide.  Rooms were soon closed and boarded up, but the owner at the time, James Kidd, was determined to solve the mystery surrounding the house and assigned the “haunted” room to a traveler by the name of “Baxter.”  As per Bruce Bell’s account, “During the night, sounds of fury and noises never heard on this earth eminated from the haunted room.  The next morning, a haggard Mr. Baxter says, ‘I will never pass another night in that room, let alone this house.  Good day.’  Some believed the apparition might have been that of John Ridout who was shot and killed in a duel by Samuel Jarvis, son of William Jarvis in 1817.”

James Kidd sold the house to Paul Bishop in 1842 under the condition that he be allowed to live there for free, so long as he lives.  As luck would have it, Kidd died one year later, and Bishop tore down the “haunted” house and constructed a red-brick Georgian house that still stands, in part, today.

All through the 1900’s, the house served just about every commercial purpose possible, and finally became a flop house for transients before it was completely boarded up.  When King’s Court condominiums were built in 2005, the Paul Bishop house was fully restored.

Toronto Street Railways Stables – built in 1886

Address: 165 Front Street East (SE corner Front/Frederick)
Current Use: Young People’s Theatre
History: On September 11th, 1861, the very first street railway line opened in Toronto and ran a route from Yorkville Town Hall down to St. Lawrence Market.  The goal was to complement the very successful Williams Omnibus Bus Line which was the first mass transportation system in Toronto, running four buses each capable of carrying six persons.  The Williams Line became heavily loaded and thus the City of Toronto issued a transit franchise for a street railway

The three-storey brick building at 165 Front Street East was built as a stable for the horses that pulled the Toronto Street Railways horse-cars, and later served as electrical generating plant before becoming a warehouse for the Toronto Transit Commission in the company’s infancy.

In 1966, the building was converted to Young People’s Theatre by Susan Douglas Rubes.

Home District School – built in 1879

Address: 187 King Street East (SE corner King/George)
Current Use: Royal Lepage
History: On this site on June 1st, 1807, the Reverend George Okill Stuart opened the first public school at York in a small one-storey stone building attached to his modest frame house.  In 1813, the school was moved to a barn at the corner of Yonge/King Streets where classes were held until 1816 when the “old blue school” was erected on Church Street. (from the York Pioneer & Historical Society)

In 1879, the current building was constructed and served as the Little York Hotel.

The building is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act and currenty serves as an office for Royal Lepage Real Estate.