Municipal building of architectural merit.
Details of Site Location: Located at 856–860 Yonge Street on the west side between Yorkville Avenue and Scollard Street.
Historical Description: Founded in 1808, and incorporated as a village in 1853, Yorkville owed its growth to the driving force and vision of James Dobson, a builder who became a businessman and Yorkville’s first postmaster and first Reeve. Dobson purchased land along the west side of Yonge and laid out a subdivision. The lots along Yonge were reserved in the plan for development of a Town Hall. Architect William Hay was directed by Dobson and the Council to provide for council chamber and offices, a police station with a lockup, and an impressive face on the street. A market behind the building was reached through arched entrances on Yonge. On the south side of the Town Hall lots, Dobson had his post office and general store. Construction began in 1859, of “white” or soft yellow bricks from the Yorkville Brickyards with red brick detailing. Truly beautiful, the Town Hall, while being High Victorian, was Flemish in character. It had a huge rose window in stained glass on the front and no less than two rose windows on the back. H.B. Williams had begun the first public transportation service in the city with his omnibus line, and pastured his horses on the lots behind the Town Hall. Williams was driven out of business by the first street railway, which took over his line from the Town Hall to St. Lawrence Market. The street railway took over the market space as a yard for cars. At the same time, the lots in the subdivision to the west were being built up. The first of Toronto’s annexations absorbed Yorkville at the start in 1883, and the Town Hall became known as St. Paul’s Hall. A branch of the public library moved in, the street railway took offices there, the Naval Club had space, the Rogers Coal and Wood took offices there for a while, and the building served a number of local community uses. In 1941, a terrible fire destroyed the building and what was left had to be demolished. A supermarket under various ownerships stood on the site for many years, but it too is about to be demolished to make way for a condominium tower. [???ok? I remember the supermarket from the late 1940s. C.C.]
Relative Importance: The Town Hall symbolized the second-oldest community in the Toronto region, the first suburb, the first to be annexed, and the present home of some fragmented but vital and active residents and of a newer and powerful business community. As a symbol of all of that, Yorkville has nothing equal to the Town Hall, despite the importance of its surviving historic buildings.
Planning Implications: The site should bear a plaque at a publicly accessible location on the new condominium being developed. The plaque should outline the municipality’s history and give the original boundaries of the village and a picture of the Town Hall.
Reference Sources: Toronto Reference Library, Baldwin Room; City of Toronto Archives; Community History Project collections.
Acknowledgements: Community History Project.