Yonge & Dundas

I would like to lament on two facts before I drop some knowledge.

#1 That every time I try to take before and after photos downtown it is raining! What gives? Here I am balancing my umbrella, my reference images and my camera. Plus let it be summer soon so I can shoot with some sun!

#2 Apparently people (in cars) have issues when I stand for long periods of time in the middle of the road during rush hour. LOL Must be members of the Rob Ford Nation. I’m creating art here people!

I dedicate this entry to the hard working employees at H&M Eaton Centre. Just when you thought you could escape work for the moment, I thought that it might be interesting to see what this familiar location in Toronto looked like in the roaring twenties. For those of you who are not familiar with Toronto this is the intersection of Dundas and Yonge. It has become the city’s Time square if you will but it wasn’t always like that. Dundas Street is named as such because it used to be the route that travelers would take to get to the town of Dundas in south western Ontario, much like Kingston road would take travelers to Kingston, Ontario. Yonge Street is Toronto’s “Main Street” if you will as it divides the city (East/ West) and is famous for being one of the longest roads in the world. Yonge has been a aboriginal trail and since John Simcoe Graves

I love reading the business signs on the old buildings, for instance the location which is now a “Forever 21” used to be the “United Cigar Store”. Also we can see a Laura Secord location, a Dentist office and a hair salon. The best two have got to be the “Beaver Billiards” and an “Aladdin’s Novelty Hosiery”. When looking at the before and after images I find it interesting to see what structures are located on the sites where the Eaton Centre and Dundas Square are currently located. To be honest my memory of what was located on the North and South East corner are a little vague. Funny how it has only been a couple years and things are starting to erase itself from my memory.