Friday, June 14, 2019

The 160-acre property that houses the former London Psychiatric hospital has been sold to a local developer for 17 million dollars.  Most of the buildings will likely be demolished with the exception of three historically designated ones.  So, with a Friday off work I decided to go on a road trip outside the GTA and see what is there and get some pictures while they can still be taken.

The original name for the facility was The London Asylum for the Insane when it opened in November of 1870.  The original building had 500 beds and these were filled almost immediately.  In 1928 it was renamed the Ontario Hospital for the Mentally Ill.  It became The London Psychiatric Hospital in 1968.  The Western Archives photo below shows the main building before it was demolished to make way for more modern buildings that stand at the front of the lot today.  The remaining historical buildings are all at the rear of the property.

The original idea for the asylum included various types of therapy.  Natural surroundings were considered ideal to medical recovery in the late Victorian Era.  The hospital also applied various work programs to the patients to help prepare them to be integrated back into society when they were well.  Men worked at farming and gardening while the women were taught sewing.  The wings of the replacement facility extend from a round central hub.  This building was opened in 1968.

Insanity was a simple diagnosis that could be applied to any socially unacceptable behaviour including masturbation, depression or senility.  Patients were not always treated in ways that we would find acceptable today.  Some of the treatments were considered too much, even in those days.  Between 1895 and 1898 one doctor performed over 200 surgeries on women’s reproductive systems to help try and cure hysteria.  Apparently an hysterectomy would be a suitable cure.  The buildings on the site are a mix of the mid-20th century replacement structures and the original buildings from the 1870’s and 1880’s.

This building will need to be removed as it appears to have been allowed to deteriorate to the point of self-demolition.

The redevelopment plan calls for the preservation of the old recreation hall.  Also known as the assembly hall, this building was erected in 1920.

The infirmary for the asylum is still standing and is also featured in the cover photo.  It was built in 1902.  There is a central administration block and two wards on either side.

Patients sit on the lawn in front of the infirmary in this historical photo from the Western Archives.

The non-denominational chapel on the hospital grounds was built partly using labour from the patients.  It was constructed in 1884 in the Gothic Revival style that was popular for churches in that era.

The church was known as the Chapel of Hope and was used for thousands of weddings in recent years.  The last wedding was held here on September 30th, 2014.  With the land sold for development it is unclear what the future of the chapel is but is is protected under a heritage designation.

The modern buildings will likely all be removed in the name of progress and residential, office space and a large component of  park land will replace them.  Several of the older buildings may be incorporated into the development due to their designation as historic structures.

There are several of these unremarkable building on the site that were built during the 1964 renovation of the property.

Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of the stables so it is a good thing that they will be preserved in the redevelopment.  It will be interesting to see what becomes of this piece of property.  In the GTA we had a similar hospital at the Mimico Branch Asylum

Google Maps Link: London Psychiatric Hospital

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Sunday, June 9, 2019

The land that we know as Queen’s Park actually belongs the The University of Toronto and the name is often used to mean the Ontario Legislative Buildings which occupy the centre of the park.  The City of Toronto has leased the land from the university for 999 years at the rate of $1.00 per year.  The grounds to the north and south of the buildings contain many statues and other historic artifacts as well as providing green space for local residents to enjoy.  The park grounds have also served as a place for peaceful protesting over the years,  I decided to walk around the park and enjoy the statues and information plaques as well as the interesting architecture of the legislative buildings.

King Edward VII ruled from the time of Queen Victoria’s death in 1901 until he died in 1910.  The statue of Edward on his horse was originally located in India but when the Indian Government decided to get rid of symbols of British rule they elected to give it to Toronto.  Edward had visited Toronto in 1860 as the Prince of Wales and had officially opened Queen’s Park.  In 1969 it was installed in the north end of Queen’s Park.  Due to restorations the north end of the park is currently closed except for the major pathways.  It isn’t possible to get close enough to the statue to read the inscriptions.

The picture below is from the Toronto Archives and shows the building as it looked in 1903.  The three front arches over the main entrance would be featured on the front cover of the album Moving Pictures by Rush.

When the legislative assembly buildings were designed there was intended to be a clock in the tower on the left side of the main entrance.  The clock turned out to be more expensive than planned and the funding was withdrawn.  The end result was a pair of ornate round windows.

Sitting on the south lawn of Queen’s Park is a pair of cannons that were captured during the Crimean War.  The war was fought over the rights of the Christian minority in the Holy Lands which was under the control of the Ottoman Empire.  The war lasted from 1853 to 1856 with the British and French supporting the Ottoman Empire against Russia.  The two cannons were sent to Toronto in 1859 as a gift from Queen Victoria.  Many of the captured cannons were melted down to make Victoria Cross medals for heroic soldiers.

Oliver Mowat was the third premier of Ontario, a position that he held for nearly 24 years.  Mowat was the premier from 1872 until 1896 which included the period of time that the legislative assembly buildings were under construction.  He was the first person to sit as premier in this building.  Mowat was also one of the Fathers of Confederation and as a Liberal was a political rival of Sir John A MacDonald.  This monument has stood near the front entrance since 1905.

Carvings adorn the building and all sorts of fanciful gargoyles can be found as you walk around the structures.  Some of them are funny, some are lifelike while others are a little on the macabre side of things.  This image shows how painful it can be to have your head eaten by a demon.

In other cases the faces are very lifelike.  It is speculated that since the stone masons were not allowed to sign their work they may have decided to include an image of themselves.  If this is true then the four faces near the front entrance may reveal the identity of some of the men who spent countless hours carving the tons of stones that make up the building.

There is also a suggestion that the face on the east side of the building may be a parody of Queen Victoria.

Carvings of dragons and lions are found all around the exterior of the building.

On the east lawn of the legislature is a maple tree that was planted on November 14, 1968.  It represents the one billionth forest tree seedling that was distributed from the Ontario Government Nurseries since the program had begun in 1909.  Ontario has provided incentives to farmers to turn their unused lands back into forest.  This is one of the main reasons that you will find fences running through the forest.  They mark previous field divisions.   In 2008 the Ontario Government began a program they called 50 Million Trees which has seen over 27 million trees planted to date.  In reversal of a 110 year history of planting trees, the Ontario Government recently cancelled the 50 Million Tree program.

Queen’s Park has been used for the provincial seat of government for the Province of Ontario where a beautiful building stands in the middle of a beautiful park in downtown Toronto.  It is certainly an interesting place to wander around.

Google Maps Link: Queen’s Park

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Monday, June 6, 2019

Situated at 220 Charlton Avenue is a very unique house in a subdivision of cookie cutter homes built in the late 1980’s.  The John Charlton House faces the wrong way on the street as the lane way was formerly known as 7281 Dufferin Street or Lot 2, Concession 2 in the Town of Vaughan.  It was placed on the historic register as having been built in 1861.  As this house is situated between my workplace and Swiss Chalet, I decided to stop and get some pictures to record this small part of the local history.  The 1877 county atlas shows the estate as just above the Presbyterian Church from the ghost town of Fisherville.

A large front porch was added in the 1940’s which radically changed the story and a half house.  It looks a little overwhelming on the front of the house.

The rear of the house has three doors, two of which share a common lintel.  There is also a tiny window just below the roof which likely marks the top of the hallway.  In a modern house this would often be a washroom window but this house likely didn’t have indoor plumbing when it was built.  An outhouse would have served the family needs.

A large fireplace is located on the west face of the house.  The quoins are made of a lighter colour brick as is the stretcher course along the top of the first story.

The front of the house shows the three bay construction.  A single window faces Dufferin Street from the second floor.

The porch was added with a curved ceiling so as to allow light to still get into the upper window.  Below the window a line in the brickwork reveals an earlier, smaller, front porch.  The four panel door detailing is repeated in the panels on either side of the door.  The transom window above the door also has fine detail in the glass.  These are some of the details that have led to the preservation of this house.

The historic designation suggests that there may be a date in the white circle under the east gable that is covered over with paint.  Upon closer examination I suggest there is no date and no paint either.  There is a series of three short horizontal lines bisected by a vertical line up the middle.  This is most likely a signature of the builder.  In the same document there is belief that the builder was Isaac Hafenbrach who built the Octagonal Barn on Lot 1 Concession 3.  That barn was disassembled in 1978 and moved to the Country Heritage Park in Milton.

Throughout the GTA there are too few of these old houses that survived from our pioneer era.  Some are moved into strip mall parking lots and repurposed while others get to remain on their original sites.

Google Maps link: Charlton House

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Sunday, May 26, 2019

Dawes Road in Toronto has an unusual piece of history in the form of a grain elevator.  While grain elevators were common a hundred years ago, very few still survive.  With a new proposal put before the city in March to develop the site for two condo towers it seemed like a good time to photograph it before the developers arrive.  The picture below is an aerial photograph from 1968 which shows the mill circled in yellow.  Danforth Avenue runs across the top of the clip while Dawes Road runs on a slight angle as far as the former Grand Trunk Railway tracks to the south.

When it comes to research on the internet it is easy to find conflicting information.  Construction dates range to as early as the 1850s with 1890 also being a prominent date.  The city’s land use maps suggest 1906.  The land developers have to present a historic context in their proposals and they also claim it to be a 1906 wooden crib grain elevator and feed mill.  The use of construction materials would suggest that the 1906 date is correct as the first-floor cement would not have come into popular use until after 1900.

The mill was operated under at least two names starting with Chalmer’s Milling Company which is listed in the 1920 Federal Register of Mills in Canada.  The register wasn’t published every year but Chalmer’s appears in it until the 1948 edition.  After that, the next edition is 1954 and it shows Elizabeth Flour and Feed Mill Co. at this site.  Two years later there is no operating mill listed here nor was there again up until 1972 when the registry was discontinued.    The upper floors were divided up into 9 silos for different feed grains.  These were brought in through the front door and lifted to the upper floor by means of the elevator in the corner.

The sign on the side of the building is badly faded but it provides a clue as to what was in the nine silos.  It reads: We carry complete lines for racing pigeons, budgies and other birds. Best mixtures available. Racehorses, dogs, all other animals. Grits, Gravels, Flax

The inside of the grain elevator may look something like the elevator at Roblin’s Mill in Black Creek Pioneer Village where the following picture was taken.  The belt and cups were used to move flour and grain from one floor to another.

Two condo towers are proposed for the site 26 and 33 stories.  The grain elevator will be retained and given to the city as a public asset within the parklands that will surround the site.

Chalmers Milling Company was listed in the 1947 directory of flour mills as producing 60 barrels of flour per day.  The brick structure that housed the grinding rollers is currently divided into three rental residential units.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to have the historic designation of the grain elevator beside it and isn’t likely to get one.  The two story former flour and grist mill will be demolished to make way for the new condo towers as will three buildings to the north of the site.

The image below is from the development submission to the city and shows the old grain elevator looking insignificant beside the 33-story tower.

On the positive note, at least the grain elevator will survive as a cultural arts centre.  I wonder what kind of interpretive signs will be installed, if any.

Google Maps Link: 10 Dawes Road

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Saturday, May 11, 2019

The City of Toronto has begun the process of transforming the former 75-hectare Beare Road Landfill into Beare Hill Park.  The original plan for the landfill when it opened in 1967 called for rehabilitation as a park when the landfill was closed.  We wanted to see if there were any signs of activity at the site and to explore some trails we hadn’t been to in the adjacent Rouge National Urban Park.  We returned to the free parking on Twyn Rivers Drive from where we had previously explored The Mast Trail.

We crossed the road into Celebration Forest where there is a ring of benches and a sign that recognizes people who were instrumental in creating Canada’s first National Urban Park.  Mayapples were growing in a large colony that is quite easy to spot at this time of the year.  The plants grow from rhizomes and spread over a fairly large area.  Only some plants produce the single flower that turns into the “apple”.  Sterile plants have a single leaf and produce no flower while the plants that do flower will have two leaves.  The flower and fruit are produced between the two leaves.  The flowering plants were just opening their leaves while the sterile ones were well advanced.

Black Morels are one of the first fungi to emerge in the spring.  They can be found in May in Ontario and are considered to be a choice edible.  True morels are hollow and are attached to the stalk at the base.  If you cut into the cap and find that it has the stalk attached at the top it could be a false morel and shouldn’t be eaten.  This was the only example we noticed and we would never suggest anyone harvest anything when there is just a single specimen.

The eastern garter snake can be hard to distinguish from other similar looking snakes.  The butler’s garter snake, red-sided garter snake and northern ribbon snake all look similar.  The ribbon snake will have smooth lines to the stripes while the garter snake will have a checkered pattern.  The eastern garter snake has a yellow chin and belly but the rest of the colouring can be quite varied.  Garter snakes give live birth to between 4 and 80 babies in late July to early October.   They have a life expectancy of about ten years and can grow up to 1.5 metres long.

Some of the trails were still a little muddy and a few of the side trails were almost impassable.

The trillium is Ontario’s official flower and many people believe that it is illegal to pick them.  That actually isn’t true although a recent bill in the legislature would have made it punishable with a $500 fine.  It is probably a good thing that people think it is illegal because it is so damaging to the plant.  Trilliums grow slowly and can take between 7 and 11 years to produce their first flower.  After that they will flower every year until they reach the end of their lifespan of about 20 years.  If you pick the flower and three leaves around it the plant loses the ability to supply nutrient to the underground stem and the plant will die.

The access road for the former Beare Road Landfill is now closed except for service vehicles and park users.  The road leads from this point back to the parking area near the park visitor centre.  The former Pearce House now serves as the visitor centre and is the starting point for our previous exploration of the Vista Trail.

The Beare Road Landfill was allowed to expand their tonnage of garbage in 1971 following a proposal to turn the site into the Beare Road Ski Facility following closure.  The elevation and grade were modified to create a facility for up to 800 skiers at one time.  The picture below, taken from the Beare Road Park Master Plan,  shows the landfill in 1974 around the time the ski hill was proposed.  At this time the former gravel pit has been filled in and the hill is starting to rise.

By September of 1982 when the site closed there was over 9 million tonnes of garbage placed in a 60 metre hill.  After the landfill had been allowed to settle a cap of clay around 1.5 metres thick was installed over the top to seal and vegetation has taken over since then.  The plan for skiing, hang gliding, an alpine slide and go carts was scrapped and replaced with a 2013 plan calling for mixed use trails.  These trails are expected to be completed and ready for public use by Fall of 2019.

The former landfill continues to produce methane gas as the refuse rots below the surface.  In the 1990’s a private company installed a series of gas wells and pipes throughout the site to collect it.  They constructed a generating plant that converts the methane gas, and supplemental natural gas, into electricity that is sold back to the grid.  One of the challenges with developing a park will be keeping the public safe from this equipment, and vice-versa.

Painted turtles can live up to 25 years and grow until their shells reach about 25 centimetres with the male being slightly smaller.  There are several varieties but the Midland is the one native to the GTA.  They can be hard to distinguish without looking at the underside and these ones weren’t willing to participate.  Looking at the abdomen can also give you a clue to the age of the turtle.  They develop growth rings similar to a tree and these can be counted to determine the age.  Turtles are born with the first ring in place so it must be counted as “0”.

We had followed the trail north that was closest to the rail line and so the return hike called for the trail closest to The Little Rouge.  There are places along the creek that show signs of a much larger flow than the current level.

Following the trail closest to Little Rouge Creek will bring you back to Twyn Rivers Road at the site of Maxwell’s Mill.  Parts of the mill remain and you will exit back onto the road by passing through the entrance gates for the mill.

We went to Rouge Park to explore some more of this local resource with the idea that we would watch out for ticks during and after our hike.  We sprayed our boots and lower pant legs with “Off”  and stayed out of the grass and we never saw a tick.  That kind of ticked us off.  LOL.  It will be interesting to see what becomes of Beare Hill Park because I understand that there are the remains of an old stone well in the remnant of original forest on the property.

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Google Maps Link: Twyn Rivers Drive

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Sunday, April 28, 2019

For the second year in a row I have had the pleasure of seeing a leucistic robin along the East Don River.  This is the same bird I photographed last year living in the same small area between the Rainbow Tunnel and the DVP Tunnel along the East Don Trail.

Leucistic animals have a genetic disorder that causes pigmenattion to not reach some of their feathers or fur.  Unlike albinos they do not have pink eyes or skin.

The cover photo shows that the leucistic bird still gets the worm.  In this picture the worm has been swallowed and the bird has turned an ear to finding another one.

Leucism can result in a great variety of white colouring but the skin and eyes are always normal colour.

Unfortunately, prejudice exists in the wild as well and leucistic animals are less likely to breed because they get shunned during mating season.  This one was feeding among a group of other robins as if it was part of a flock.

The feathers on the back of the neck of this robin are pure white and when in flight the wings show a great deal of white as well.

Robins do not use the same nest every year but they may return to the same area if the food and nesting sites were plentiful.

A robin can live for up to 14 years in the wild but the average is only two years.  It was very cool to see this one again, assuming the white headed robin in the picture below is the same bird.

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Google Maps Link: Moccasin Trail Park

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