Despite serving us the wettest summer on record, the weather gods have been surprisingly cooperative during my European friends’ vacation. On August 12, 2008 brilliant sunshine awoke us and it was time for another local adventure. We took the subway downtown to Union Station where I gave my visitors a glimpse of Toronto’s most historic railway station. From here we walked east along the historic townhouses of Front Street that today house a variety of cafes and retail stores. Naturally, the triangular Flatiron Building, or more properly called the Gooderham Building, was a major attraction along the way. It was built in 1892, ten years before the famous Flatiron Building in New York City. Our first destination was the St. Lawrence Market, Toronto’s largest market. We met renowned Toronto historian, writer and performer Bruce Bell who is an absolute expert on Toronto’s history as well as the official historian of the St. Lawrence Market and various other landmarks in the city. Bruce explained that from 1845 to 1899 today’s market was originally the first permanent city hall of Toronto and the location of Police Station #1. Even today part of the original building is preserved under the steel canopy of the market hall which was constructed in 1901. We started with a look at the former council chambers which today hold the Market Gallery. Then we explored the merchants on the main and lower floor of the market and got some tasty tidbits, including Canadian back bacon, different types of mustards, various delicious varieties of honey and some sample brownies. In the basement we checked out the areas that remain of the former jail. We also saw the infamous women’s prison dating back to the mid 1800s. After a short stroll through the North Market we headed into St. Lawrence Hall, a historic meeting hall dating back to 1850 whose history illustrates the severe tensions between the British Anglican elite and the Irish Catholic immigrants during Toronto’s early days. For a number of years it ...
