The Stories of Toronto’s Streets

An encounter with some new, open, or public space also implies an encounter with new stories.

A public space, plaza, corridor, street, square, park, or the busiest highway can actually become the subject of our most intimate experiences and perceptions, which in fact defines our relationship with that very space. Architectural and urban frameworks name these streets based on the most diverse hierarchical and valorizational frameworks and points of view. However, sometimes we prefer to hear the simple, human stories behind the names of some city spaces.

How do we remember street names and what do those names mean to us?

Here are some stories about certain streets in our city that will maybe enrich some of our future and personal experiences, or maybe even change them entirely.

Bay Street

A section of Bay Street is tiled with granite tiles, and the storefronts are for the most part decorated with attractive displays from world-famous companies. Working Torontonians and curious tourists did not always walk quickly and assuredly on these cleverly tiled sidewalks. The street received its current name at the beginning of the 19^th century, but until then it was called Bear Street. The street was once connected with the harbour, and legend has it that bears used to be hunted there, who were often seen running towards the quay in the harbour from the surrounding forests. Already in the 1920s, the street was well connected to the harbour. The intersection where it meets with Bloor Street makes up a part of the downtown core.

Christie Street

William Christie was a Scottish biscuit maker. After coming to Canada in 1848, he continued his production of baked goods in a bakery that over time grew into the biggest cookie factory in all of Canada. This family company was sold in 1928, but the Christie name is still used on certain cookies and similar products. Christie’s cookies might even be tastier if we munch on them while walking along this interesting street.

Spadina Avenue

Long ago in 1818, Irishman Doctor Baldwin built his home on a beautiful elevation from where he could see a view of Lake Ontario and the city of Toronto that was just being developed. The house was called “Spadina,” based on the Ojibwe word meaning “hill.” Twenty or so years later, Dr. Baldwin built a road leading to the house. Today, this is the Spadina Museum house, open to visitors year-long, but it is maybe best to visit it in the summertime, when the comfortable spaces and lovely interior can best be appreciated, and the large yard and gardens offer unforgettable delight.

Dr. Baldwin was a respected doctor and also a lawyer, judge and politician, and the city of Toronto thanked him with two more streets: the one that bears his name, Baldwin Street, and the other bearing his wife’s name, Phoebe Street.

St. Clair Avenue

This street received its name because of a simple clerical error. The Granger family were the owners of a large flower market and flower shop in the second half of the 19^th century. They lived on a farm on today’s St. Clair Avenue. One of the Granger sons, Albert, did not have a middle name, and decided to take a second name based on his favourite novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Albert took the name St. Clare after the hero who frees Uncle Tom. A theatre troupe that toured with this play often visited Toronto. On their promotional poster, the character name was misspelled as St. Clair, even though it is pronounced the same. Albert adopted this “wrong” name spelling, which he painted on a tree at the entrance to the family farm. Albert died young, at the age of 20. At the end of the 19^th century, not long after Albert’s death, surveyors who were mapping the area came across the name, which was still written on the tree, and thusly named the street.

De Grassi Street

Captain Filippo De Grassi was an Italian soldier who fought in the French and British armies. At the beginning of the 19^th century, he came to Canada from England with his family, and settled near the Don River. He had a son, who became a prominent merchant. Today, “Degrassi” is synonymous with teenage drama. The street bears the name of this Italian family.

Yonge Street

The longest street in Canada was contrived to connect Lake Ontario with Lake Simcoe, thereby facilitating access to today’s Toronto (then called York) by British troops. At the end of the 18^th century, the street was officially opened and inaugurated by the then-British Lieutenant-Governor, John Graves Simcoe. He named it Yonge Street after his friend, British member of parliament George Yonge who, unfortunately, never visited Canada. First, the northern part from today’s Eglinton Avenue to Lake Simcoe was laid out, and then later it was extended southward to Lake Ontario. It is the principle and most visible artery on the city map. It is a misconception that this is the longest street in the world at 1,896km, due to its conflation with Highway 11. It is in fact only 56km long, including the Bradford-to-Barrie extension.

Beograd Gardens

There is a street in Toronto that came to be not so long ago, nor whose name talks about the first Torontonian or Canadian family, nor about long-time Canadian culture or history. The name of this street reminds us of home, of our student days, of family get-togethers, of calm walks down beloved streets, of socializing, of April and May, and of all the songs written about our Belgrade. Thanks to the entire Serbian community and the special efforts of Mr. Srđan Bešir, in 2004, Toronto City Council decided to name one of the streets in this multicultural city Beograd Gardens. It is located a few blocks north of Eglinton Avenue to the west, close to the intersection of Marlee and Roselawn Avenues. This young street dedicated to Belgrade already has its own story that talks about a people that had an idea, and love for a city big enough that a street in Toronto bears its name.

The streets of Toronto received their names mostly from people, places, or events related to the city. Names often strengthen identity in the local community, highlight local fauna and flora, or contribute to the ethnic and cultural diversity of the city. We celebrate streets—both the meaningful and filler ones—which allow us to witness and take part in the production process of city street scenography.

Let us get to know their origin stories, because those stories and friendly ghosts of the past will bring to life the most diverse and endlessly delightful street game. Let us cheer for streets that are yet to be, those that the famous Jane Jacobs loudly fought for in her city of Toronto—meaningful, human, and the product of the human mind; streets it is possible to tell new stories about, but more importantly, in which it is possible to dance an everyday life street dance, or as Jane would say, a sidewalk ballet.