St. Lawrence, Toronto
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St. Lawrence is a neighbourhood located in downtown
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada. The area, a former industrial area, is bounded by Yonge,
Front Front may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film * ''The Front'', 1976 film Music * The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and e ...
, and Parliament Streets, and the Canadian National railway embankment. The Esplanade off Yonge St., lined with restaurants, cafés and hotels runs through the middle of the area. In previous times, the area was sometimes referred to as 'St. Lawrence Ward' or more often today as '
St. Lawrence Market St. Lawrence Market is a major public market in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located along Front Street East and Jarvis Street in the St. Lawrence neighbourhood of downtown Toronto. The public market is made up of two sites adjacent to one an ...
', synonymous with the large retail vendor market which is the neighbourhood's focal point. The area is the site of a large city-sponsored housing project of the 1970s, which revitalized an old 'brownfields' area. The boundaries of the St Lawrence Neighbourhood Association and the St Lawrence Market BIA are somewhat larger than those noted above. Both groups have boundaries that extend from Yonge to Parliament Streets and Queen Street East to the rail corridor.


History

The town of
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
was founded in 1793, on a site of ten blocks north of Front Street between
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and
Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...
streets, in present day
Old Town, Toronto Old Town is a neighbourhood and retail district in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was the first of Toronto's named neighbourhoods, having acquired the moniker no later than 1815, at which time the original town of York was expanding. The ...
. Much of the area of today's St. Lawrence neighbourhood was then located in Toronto Harbour, the shoreline being just south of Front Street. The area was infilled to provide more land for port and industrial uses adjacent. St. Lawrence was the first industrial area of York. The first parliament buildings in
Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...
in 1793 were constructed on the southwest corner of Parliament and Front Street. The buildings have long since gone from the site, but a discovery was made in 2000 when a quick dig of the property revealed the old parliament building footings, in addition to some pottery from that time. The
City of Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...
and the
Government of Ontario The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor†...
now own most of the property. There is a marker for the First Parliament Buildings at Parliament Square Park, West of Parliament Street, East of Berkeley, and South of Front. The marker is actually south of the original site. The Ontario Heritage Trust set up the
Parliament Interpretive Centre The Parliament Interpretive Centre was an Ontario Heritage Trust museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was located at the site of the Upper Canada parliament buildings at Front Street and Berkeley Street. The museum opened in February 2012. Much ...
at Front and Berkeley to provide historical information about this parliament that was destroyed by American troops during the War of 1812. The Centre was open from 2012 to 2015, in remembrance of the 200th anniversary of the war. A Saturday farmers' market began operation at Front and Jarvis in 1803. The current South Market building, south of Front, is open Tuesday through Saturday, selling foods and other goods. The
North Market North Market is a food hall and public market in Columbus, Ohio. The Downtown Columbus market was established in 1876, and was the second of four founded in Columbus. The market is managed by the non-profit North Market Development Authority (N ...
building hosted a farmers' market on Saturdays and a flea market on Sundays until its demolition in 2016, at which time they both moved to a temporary building south of The Esplanade. A new, larger North Market Building is being built on the original site, with planned completion in 2021. In 1834, Toronto's first city hall was built on the southwest corner of King St. East & Jarvis St. at the old 'Market' building from 1834 (the year of Toronto's incorporation from the former town of York) to 1844. This building was damaged during the great fire of 1849 and replaced with the grandiose St. Lawrence Hall and a market building (today's North Market). A larger city hall, also housing a police station and jail cells, opened in 1845 with a long facade running along the south side of Front Street. City Hall was moved out of the area in 1899 to what is now
Old City Hall Old City Hall may refer to: Asia In Hong Kong * Old City Hall (Hong Kong) Europe In Croatia *Old City Hall (Zagreb) In Denmark * Old City Hall (1479–1728), in Copenhagen * Old City Hall (1728–1795), in Copenhagen * Old City Hall (Aalborg) ...
before moving once again to its current location. The 1845 city hall was integrated into the
St. Lawrence Market South The St. Lawrence Market South building is a major public market building in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the southwest corner of Front and Lower Jarvis Streets. Along with the St. Lawrence Market North and St. Lawrence Hall, it compri ...
building in 1899. In 1972, the remains of the city hall were converted into the "Market Gallery". The old council chamber is all that remains of the original city hall and is located on the gallery's second floor. By 1840, the waterfront was completely taken over by government and merchant wharves. The Esplanade, a -wide road, was proposed, just south of Front Street, with new water lots made from cribbing and filling of the shore to the south. The waterfront was extended to a survey line from the point of the Gooderham windmill west to a point due east of the old Fort Rouillé. Ostensibly for carriages and carts, the roadway eventually became primarily the route for rail lines in the central core. In exchange for of the Esplanade, the railways underwrote the infilling of the harbour. The Esplanade and infill project was completed by 1865. Commercial activity along Toronto's bustling harbour provided employment and was the primary place of entry to the quickly growing, burgeoning city. The convergence of the railway lines and the wharves must have worked because in 1873 historian Henry Scadding so eloquently wrote in his book Old Toronto of The Esplanade "...It has done for Toronto what the Thames Embankment has done for London..." In the 1920s, the railway lines were relocated to a new, raised viaduct to the south of the Esplanade. This left the current section between Yonge and Berkeley Street. By the 1960s, the industrial uses of the area had declined, leaving numerous empty sites and decrepit buildings. In the 1970s it was decided by Toronto Mayor
David Crombie David Edward Crombie (born April 24, 1936) is a Canadian former academic and politician who served as the 56th mayor of Toronto from 1972 to 1978. Crombie was elected to Parliament following his tenure as mayor. A member of the Progressive Conse ...
to turn the area into a new residential neighbourhood, but one that would not make the same mistakes of the "
urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
"
housing project Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authorities, government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the d ...
s of earlier decades. The neighbourhood was to be integrated into the city with no clear boundaries. It would contain a mix of commercial and residential as with both subsidized and market-oriented housing, mostly rowhouse or low-rise apartments. The neighbourhood was planned by Alan Littlewood and Frank Lewinberg, with the influence of American-Canadian urban planner
Jane Jacobs Jane Jacobs (''née'' Butzner; 4 May 1916 – 25 April 2006) was an American-Canadian journalist, author, theorist, and activist who influenced urban studies, sociology, and economics. Her book '' The Death and Life of Great American Cities ...
playing a crucial role. Design guidelines prepared by
Eberhard Zeidler Eberhard Zeidler may refer to: * Eberhard Zeidler (architect), Eberhard Heinrich Zeidler (1926–2022), German-Canadian architect * Eberhard Zeidler (mathematician), Eberhard Hermann Erich Zeidler (1940–2016), German mathematician {{hndis, Zeidl ...
were deemed too modern by planners and politicians and were not implemented, replaced instead by the urban design work of George Baird. Many of the developments were not completed until well into the 1990s. Since that time, the St. Lawrence neighbourhood has been critically acclaimed as a major success in urban planning. In many ways, it has become the model for the design and planning of new urban communities across North America.


Character

Some of the most interesting architecture in the city can be found in St. Lawrence, one notable landmark is the
Flatiron building The Flatiron Building, originally the Fuller Building, is a triangular 22-story, steel-framed landmarked building at 175 Fifth Avenue in the eponymous Flatiron District neighborhood of the Boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New ...
, known for its distinct narrow, wedge shape where Wellington St. merges with Front. Built in 1892, it was the first of this type of building constructed in North America. If viewed from the east, the wedge can be seen in the foreground with the financial skyscrapers and the CN tower rising in the background. While many of the old industrial buildings along Front Street east of Jarvis have been demolished since the 1950s, several old industrial buildings remain, including old meat-packing plants from the 1800s. Several have been converted into lofts or commercial space. Front Street is lined on both sides with restaurants. At the intersection of Front and Yonge are two performing arts houses, the
St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts The St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts is a performing arts theatre complex located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Situated on Front Street one block east of Yonge Street, it was the City of Toronto's official centennial project, commemorat ...
, Toronto's "centennial" project and Meridian Hall.


See also

* List of oldest buildings and structures in Toronto *
St. Lawrence Market St. Lawrence Market is a major public market in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located along Front Street East and Jarvis Street in the St. Lawrence neighbourhood of downtown Toronto. The public market is made up of two sites adjacent to one an ...


References

* *


Notes


External links


St. Lawrence BIAClara Thomas Archives and Special Collections, York University
- Archival photographs of St. Lawrence from the Toronto Telegram fonds. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Lawrence, Toronto Neighbourhoods in Toronto Historic districts in Canada