Downtown Toronto

25 King Street West. The tallest building in the British Empire when opened in 1931. Now the north tower of the 4 building Commerce Court.

20 Victoria Street. 9 story building. 1910. Imperial Life Insurance was founded in 1896 and operated until 2001. It was purchased by Desjardins Group in 1994 and merged with Laurentian Life to form Desjardins Financial. At somepoint they moved to offices on St. Clair Avenue.

The pictures of the players immortalized at the Hockey Hall Of Fame change regularly.

A sign on the east side of Yonge Street steps north of Front Street.

The wall plaque describing the history of the building at 10 Toronto Street.

Former headquarters of Argus Corp. A photo of the front door of this building was used on the dust jacket of Peter C. Newman's book The Canadian Establishment. Built in 1853 as Toronto's Post Office it was a government office and then from 1937 to 1959 it was the offices of the Bank Of Canada, E.P. Taylor bought it for Argus and it was sold again in 2006.

Currently occupied by the Hockey Hall Of Fame. Formerly branch of the Bank of Montreal. Built 1885 .

The former Steeles- Briggs Building.

This building was completed in 1873 and housed the offices of The British Bank Of North America.

Now called Commerce Court North this plaque marks what was the tallest building in Toronto, Canada and the British Empire when it was built.

Truss bridge that was moved to this location from Dundas Street at Old Mill over the Humber River. Seen from inside a GO train.

Looking north on Bay Street at "Old" City Hall, this is the heart of the Financial District.

Building completed 1913. Tallest building in British Empire when completed. 15 stories.

Circa 1892.

49 Wellington Street East at the intersection of Front Street and Wellington Street with Church Street. Built in 1892 it was the office building for the Gooderham and Worts distillery.

A view of the Flat Iron (Gooderham) Building from the south east corner of Front and Church Streets.

330 Bay Street Toronto Built 1925, renovated 1982. 15 Stories. Built to house mining promoters offices.

The Toronto "Dominion Public Building" located at the south east corner of Front and Bay Streets. This has been the main office for Canada Customs (now CBSA) Port of Toronto. It was sold to a private developer in 2017.

The gaudy yellow building was the home of Thrifty Sportswear and Hercules Surplus before that. Soon to be dwarfed by yet another high ride condo building.

Building plaque for Royal Insurance Co.

This was the main downtown store of the Robert Simpson Company. Simpsons was sold to the Hudsons Bay Company . HBC also bought Saks 5TH Avenue, a New York department store. This store was re-branded as Saks.

At one time this was the tallest building and a land mark indicating the City of Toronto for mariners on Lake Ontario.

A view of St. Lawrence Hall at the corner of King Street and Jarvis Street. This building served as City Hall until the move to Queen and Bay. The "Farmers Market" backs on to this building.

Front Street and Jarvis. The present St. Lawrence Market South building was built in 1845 as Toronto City Hall and was rebuilt in 1850. The north building was razed for redevelopment and the second Toronto City Hall built at the corner of King Street and Jarvis on the north end of the Market Square.

The "Strath" is on the west side of York Street across from the Royal York Hotel. It was built in 1933 and for many years was considered a budget choice in downtown. In Y2020 during the Pandemic the City of Toronto leased it as a homeless shelter.

Outside 167 Church Street.

This building that the downtown YWCA was built onto is the facade of The House Of Industry where the poor and indigent were sent in Victorian Toronto.

Private business and political club at the corner of York and Wellington Streets.

This building when originally built sat on a pier in the harbour. The city has literally grown around it as the harbour was filled and larger buildings erected..

This building was built as a mixed use Condo and hotel building with the Trump International giving naming rights and a management contract. In 2017 the Trump name was removed and the hotel operated The Adelaide. It was renovated and reopened at St. Regis Toronto. The main address is now 325 Bay Street.

The building on the corner appears to originally be the Toronto office for the City Bank of Montreal. This was a Pre-Confederation financial institution that merged with the Royal Canadian Bank in 1876 to form the Consolidated Bank of Canada. That bank went out of business in 1880. The building next might have housed the offices of the Grand Trunk Railway in the 1850's.