It'd be fair to say that there's been something of a west-side bias to the collection of historical posts we've published over the years, so by way of increasing the breadth of our history series I'll be taking a look at some important east-side street and neighbourhoods over the next little bit. Up first, perhaps naturally, is Danforth Avenue. First built in the 1850s, the street is named after the man originally commissioned to build a route that headed east from Scarborough towards Trenton. Danforth's Road, as it was called after Asa Danforth Jr., would eventually fall into disuse when Kingston Road became the more popular passage between Toronto and destinations to the east of the city.
Danforth Avenue was built in the 1850s as a connection between the city and these east-heading routes, though to look at photos from the early 1900s there's nothing particularly urban about the the street. Aside from an area of density around Broadview and the presence of Toronto Civic Railway cars from 1913 onward, the Danforth was a mostly lazy stretch of road that wouldn't see major development until the 1920s, following the completion of the Bloor Viaduct in 1918.
It's difficult to overstate the importance of the Viaduct as a connection between the east and west ends of the city. Although there were bridges across the Don River to the south, as the city to the west was expanding northward, there was no easy way to cross the Don Valley north of Gerrard Street. With the bridge came regular streetcar service and a wave of construction ensued.
The street's Greek presence dates back to the late 1950s as the city experienced a surge of immigrants from Italy and Greece during this period through the 1960s. Although Greektown has lost some of its identity in recent years as this stretch of the Danforth is steadily commercialized and diversified, core businesses — many of them restaurants — ensure that this bit of the street's history remains vibrant.
PHOTOS
Not the Danforth, but what Bloor Street looked like before the ravine was filled in for the Viaduct, 1908
Danforth approaching Broadview, 1910s
Danforth, 1912
Danforth & Broadview, 1912
Western terminus of the Danforth (pre-Bloor Viaduct), 1912
250 Danforth Ave, 1912
Danforth looking east from Pape, 1913
Danforth & Don Mills, 1913
Danforth Car Barns, 1912
Interior of Danforth Car Barns, 1915
Danforth looking west from Woodbine, 1915
Laying track on Danforth, 1918 (any guesses as to the location?)
425 Danforth Avenue, 1919
Pape & Danforth, 1919
Broadview & Danforth looking south, 1920
Danforth public lavatory, 1920s (55 Danforth, just east of Broadview -- the building is now the École Napoléon)
Danforth Fruit Store, 1930
Danforth east from Bowden, 1932
Carlaw & Danforth, 1934
Dramatic accident in 1935 (location unspecified)
Danforth east from Coxwell, 1935
Danforth & Coxwell, TTC waiting room 1936
Danforth looking east from Ladysmith, 1936
Danforth looking west from Monarch Park, 1936
Linsmore Hotel, 1945 (now the Linsmore Tavern -- near Greenwood)
Hotel Quigley, 1945 (near Oak Park Avenue)
Danforth & Greenwood, 1947
Danforth & Jones, 1952
Power Supermarket (near Danforth & Woodbine), 1953
Danforth & Woodbine, 1954
Danforth looking east from Luttrell, 1959
Danforth looking west from Woodington, 1960
Danforth at Birchmount, 1960s
Danforth looking west from Westlake, 1960
Danforth looking west from East Lynn, 1960
Danforth Autobody, 1965
Photos from the Toronto Archives