HistoricKingswayWalkingTour

BloorStreetWestSTART

Bren

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RoyalYork

Bloor&Brentwood,lookingNE,1940sInthelate1930s,HomeSmith&Co.,buildersoftheKingswayParksubdivision,wasofferingprimeretail&businesssitesalongBloorSt.betweenMontgomeryRd.&PrinceEdwardDr.Then:Garbutt’sDrugs,Spick&SpanLaundry,aladies’wearshop,RoyalYorkFurniture,KingswayBowlingwithbilliardsinbasement,KingswayTheatre.Now:OrganicFoods,KingswayDentalCentre,KingswayFish&Chips.TheCrookedCueBilliards&KingswayTheatre(stillthere).

NWcornerBloor&RoyalYork,1958Then,goingwest:Woolworth’s,SallyGirl,BankofMontreal,KingswayCinema(opened1941andisaDesignatedHeritageproperty).Now:HSBC,DinaAlonzi,BankofMontreal&KingswayCinema.

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HistoricKingswayWalkingTour

Willingdon

Hu

mbe

rvale

Bloor&WillingdonBlvd,NWcorner,1958Then:Florist,CanadaPaint,KingswayRestaurant,TamblynDrugs(formerlyMainprizeDugs–1ststoretoopenin1933althoughonNEcornerwhenfirstopened–firstKingswaypostofficewhereresidentspickedupmailuntillate1930sbeforedoor-to-doordelivery-movedtoNEcornerin1939).Now:Optician,CosSalon&Spa,Merlot,KingswayVariety.

Bloor&HumbervaleBlvd,SEcorner,1958Then:HarryLePage&SonRealtor(HarrywasbrotherofA.E.Lepage),HongKongGardens,ProvincialTireCo.,Garage.NoteNashMetropolitan&truckfromSilverwood’sDairy.Now:CremedelaCreme,HongKongGardens,ViBo,KingswayCarWashinformergarage(note6-storeycondobehind).HongKongGardensisstillinbusiness.

BloorStreetWest

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HistoricKingswayWalkingTour

PrinceEdw

ard

AllSaintsAnglicanChurchIn1940,theNEcornerofBloor&PrinceEdwardwasthelocationoftherealestateofficeofR.J.Thompson&HerbertDuernwhospecializedinhousesinTheKingsway.NowhometoAllSaintsKingswayAnglicanChurch.TheyheldtheirfirstservicesinSunnyleaPublicSchoolin1944(onGlenroyAv.southofBloor.MadeofCreditValleysandstoneandIndianalimestone.RoofmadeofDouglasfir,tomatchhousesinTheKingsway.Churchcompleted&dedicatedin1957.Guttedbyterriblefirein1966,butrebuiltandreopened1967–photoofchurchbeingre-builtafterthefire.

ParklawnCemetaryParkLawnCemeterywasestablishedin1892asHumbervaleCemeterywith75acresofland.Itwasfundedbysellingsharesinstock,andmanyofthestockswereheldbylocalfarmers.Thecemeterywassoldin1912toanewownerwhopromisedtomaintainthecemetery,butactuallywantedtodevelopthelandasasubdivision.TheformershareholdersformedtheHumbervaleCemeteryDefenseAssociation,tookthenewownertocourt,andwon.Thecemeterywasthensoldin1915toanewcorporationcalledParkLawnCemetery.

BloorStreetWest

ParklawnCemetary

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OldM

illTrail

KingswayGatesGatewayoriginallyhadonelargesectiononeachsideoftheroad,eachwithawroughtironarchforpedestrianstopassthrough.In1960,whentheyneededtowidentheintersectionofTheKingsway/Bloor/OldMillRd.,theydemolishedtheoriginalgatewayandreconstructedpartsoftheoriginalstructureinasmallparkettecreatedinthetriangleformedbytheroadsonthewestsideoftheintersection.Theykeptthetallerpillarfromeachhalfoftheoriginalgateway,andputoneofthewroughtironpedestrianarchesbetweenthem.Morestoneswereusedtobuildgardensandabenchforsitting.

HistoricKingswayWalkingTour

TheKingsway

BloorStreetWest

END

OnAugust4th,1914,RobertHomeSmith,whodeveloped“TheKingsway”area,openedhisOldMillTeaGardenrestaurantat21OldMillRoad.Ithappenedtobethedaywarwasdeclared.TwoyearslaterthepicturesquestoneOldMillBridgeovertheHumberRiverwasopened.Untilthen,crossingwasmadebysmallbridgesconnectedtoanislandintheriver.ThehighlevelBloorStreetBridgecamemanyyearslater.

BloorStreetWest

TheOldMill(ENDOFTOUR)

OLDMILL

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