Towns and Nature: Toronto, ON: 1916 CP 1916 North Toronto and 1873+1927 Union Stations

Friday, July 5, 2024

Toronto, ON: 1916 CP 1916 North Toronto and 1873+1927 Union Stations

North: (Satellite, 1,089 photos)

Street View, Sep 2023

Old Toronto Series posted
North Toronto C.P.R. Station at Yonge Street, east side, between Price St. & Shaftesbury Avenue in 1916. Now a LCBO.
Glenn Brown shared

Jim Gibson: What is an LCBO?

Andrew Stiffler: Jim Gibson Liquor Control Board of Ontario. The Government of Ontario's state-owned liquor stores.

LostRivers
"Canadian Pacific opened its new North Toronto Station on June 14, 1916. It was located in midtown Toronto, where its main rail line crosses Yonge Street and was its main Toronto passenger station until the present Union Station was opened in 1927....Three years after the new Union Station opened the North Toronto Station was closed for passenger service, except that it did open its doors for the train carrying the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1939. CP Rail stopped using this station altogether in the 1980s."

trha
The original station opened in 1884.

AtlasObscura, BECKYHTO
In 1930, three years after the Union Station opened, CP terminated passenger service at this station. "In May 1939, the station briefly re-opened for one day to accommodate a visit from King George VI and his consort Queen Elizabeth on their first visit to Toronto. The last rail passengers to transit through the station were returning soldiers from World War II."

Union Station

History's Mirror posted

The original Union Station in Toronto around 1908 was the city’s second iteration of the transportation hub, constructed in 1873 and expanded in 1892. This station, located on Front Street between Bay and York Streets, was a product of rapid industrialization and railway growth in the late 19th century. Designed in the Romanesque Revival style, it featured a seven-story office tower—one of Toronto’s tallest structures at the time—and a covered arcade connecting its 1873 and 1892 sections . The station’s three-track trainshed and grand façade reflected its role as a critical transit nexus for railways like the Grand Trunk, Canadian Pacific, and Great Western .

By 1908, however, the station was widely criticized as overcrowded and inefficient. A 1899 *Railway and Shipping World* article called it "one of the most inconvenient stations in North America," citing poor layout and operational challenges . Daily traffic had surged to 40,000 passengers and 150 trains, straining its capacity . Debates about replacing it had already begun, spurred by the Great Fire of 1904, which cleared adjacent land for future development . Plans for a new Union Station were formalized in 1906 with the creation of the Toronto Terminals Railway Company, though construction delays due to World War I postponed its opening until 1927 .

The 1908 station’s architectural grandeur, including its domed towers and clock tower inspired by Chicago’s Illinois Central Station, contrasted with its functional shortcomings. A surviving 1908 postcard depicts its imposing Romanesque façade, though the image also hints at the soot and smoke from coal-fired locomotives that plagued the area . By 1931, most of the 1873–1892 structure was demolished to make way for the current Beaux-Arts Union Station, marking the end of an era defined by steam-powered rail dominance and urban transformation .