Vintage Toronto
- Thread starter The Oracle
- Start date
Another very popular type of entertainment back then we're the many dance halls through the GTA that featured singers and live bands where many single young girls would go to meet guys or dance among themselves. Places like the Masyryk Hall in Parkdale, Club Trocadero which featured R & B music, Maple Leaf ballroom where all the girls would sot at one side and the guys on the other. During the rock songs the girls would dance with themselves but when a slow soñg began to play there was a stampede of guys running across to the other side to get a dance if they were lucky. I decided to learn to dance to rock songs and would easily get a girl to dance with me then when the slow song began, I already had a girl on my arms to dance with and take them to their home later and become good friends, LOL. Met my wife at the Avenue Road Club 55 years ago.
Interesting how Melinda Street curves into Jordon Street not too far from the building. Melinda and Jordon were husband and wife. Melinda got cutoff from Bay St. when 199 Bay Street went up. Jordon also got cutoff with development in the commerce court south area.
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I edited my post because I meant to say Melinda got cutoff from Bay St., not Yonge Street. It no longer goes to Bay Street because of the 199 Bay St. building which was completed in 1972.
Here's a question: - Why does Davenport Street turn south-east, just west of Bay St and run into Church Street, instead of following a grid pattern?
Yes, that is a good one. I have wondered about that also. I should google or AI that.
Here is what I got. Interesting stuff!
AI Overview
Davenport Road turns southeast near Bay Street and runs into Church Street because
it follows the ancient shoreline of Glacial Lake Iroquois. Unlike most of Toronto's streets, which were laid out in a grid pattern by British surveyors in the late 18th and 19th centuries, Davenport was originally an Indigenous trail (known as Gete-Onigaming or "the old portage") that navigated the base of an escarpment, avoiding the higher, steep ridge to the north.
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) +4
Here are the specific reasons for this alignment:
- Prehistoric Topography: Around 13,000 years ago, a large glacial lake covered much of the area. As the water receded, it left behind a steep ridge (escarpment) that runs east-west across the city, roughly aligning with modern-day Davenport Road. The trail was established at the base of this ridge for easier travel.
- The Influence of Ancient Creeks: Near Bay Street, the road's bend is influenced by Castle Frank Brook, an old waterway that used to flow south towards the Don River. The creek carved a valley that forced the, then, rural road to bend around it rather than cutting a straight line.
- Pre-Existing Route: When British surveyors arrived, the trail was already a well-established, established route used for travel and trade. While new streets in the Town of York were planned in a strict north-south/east-west grid, Davenport was kept as an existing, non-conforming, and historically important path.
- "Jog Elimination" and Later Development: While many roads in Toronto were later straightened to fit the grid, Davenport remained a diagonal element. The intersection at Davenport, Bay, and Church is therefore a "map of Toronto's hidden geography"—a legacy of the land's original, natural shape before modern urbanization.
Transit Toronto +4
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I can only guess that Castle Frank Brook and its valley were filled in when the city expanded north of Bloor Street in the late 1800's. But the road was already built and functional.
