After a busy day of lines and rollercoasters at Canada’s Wonderland on Saturday, we went for a leisurely walking tour on Sunday afternoon with the ROM to learn a bit more about the city we live in. Along the way we discovered just how much history can be crammed into a small neighbourhood over the span of a couple hundred years.
Our tour group.
The ROM puts of walking tours each summer, and this past Sunday we made it along to a free tour of Cabbagetown, a historic neighbourhood in Toronto. We met up with our large tour group at 2 in the afternoon, and proceeded to make our way along the tree lined streets, making the occasional stop to learn about a few notable buildings and their histories.
We were amazed just how much history there can be in such a relatively small patch of land. Cabbagetown, named for the cabbages grown by the Irish community that had made their home there in the 1840s, comprises an area on the East side of downtown Toronto, just North of Regent’s Park. Its famous for its amazingly well preserved streets of Victorian houses.
Our tour guide lead us along these streets, explaining how the neighbourhood grew up around the old Toronto General hospital that was built in the area, along with a jail and jail farm. There is no trace of the old hospital today, but the Victorian houses that surrounded it are still standing thanks to efforts by city planners to limit the height of new development in the area. As a result, we got see for ourselves the wide variety of architectural styles that were fashionable during the Victorian era, from Gothic to Second Empire and Queen Anne. Of course, we only know these things now thanks to our terrific ROM guide.
We were amazed just how much history there can be in such a relatively small patch of land. Cabbagetown, named for the cabbages grown by the Irish community that had made their home there in the 1840s, comprises an area on the East side of downtown Toronto, just North of Regent’s Park. Its famous for its amazingly well preserved streets of Victorian houses.
Our tour guide lead us along these streets, explaining how the neighbourhood grew up around the old Toronto General hospital that was built in the area, along with a jail and jail farm. There is no trace of the old hospital today, but the Victorian houses that surrounded it are still standing thanks to efforts by city planners to limit the height of new development in the area. As a result, we got see for ourselves the wide variety of architectural styles that were fashionable during the Victorian era, from Gothic to Second Empire and Queen Anne. Of course, we only know these things now thanks to our terrific ROM guide.
Some of the more magnificent homes in the area.
The tour wasn’t just about the 19th century however. We also made our way down to the Regent’s Park area, which is slowly transforming from 1950s “Garden City” style social housing into a new, modern urban area where social housing blends in seamlessly with other high design skyscrapers. It was great to see the effort the city is putting in to modernise the area and provide new opportunities for work and play to the residents.
New development in Regent's Park.
Each of the buildings we passed had a story, such as the old medical school, whose students enjoyed playing pranks with cadavers on unsuspecting neighbours. We also learned about a few of the notable people who’d had an impact on the neighbourhood, such as Dr. Emily Stowe, the first female doctor to practice in Canada and fierce advocate of women’s rights who set up the Ontario Medical College for Women.
All in all, the tour opened our eyes to the invisible forces that shaped the city over a relatively short time. We really enjoyed the tour and are a little wiser as a result. Thanks ROM!
All in all, the tour opened our eyes to the invisible forces that shaped the city over a relatively short time. We really enjoyed the tour and are a little wiser as a result. Thanks ROM!
This time last year we were racing ducks down Rennie's River, and two years ago we were still in San Francisco.
