Landmarks 7: The Ward to The AGO via St. Patrick's Ward!

\The Toronto History Walks Yearly Pass is available. Get it now for $125.00 for 1 year of unlimited tours, email
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for more information or for signing up!

\ Please note: Please e-transfer the ticket amount when booking your space for this tour! You can e-transfer to the following email at:
[email protected]

Toronto is a city that hides its history in plain sight. Beneath the glass towers are layers of stories — grand hotels that vanished overnight, political scandals whispered through stone corridors, theatres that once glittered under gaslight, and laneways where the city first learned how to become a metropolis.

This new Toronto History Walks Series invites the walker to slow down, and see the city differently.
Over the course of 30 carefully chosen stops, this walking tour traces the landmarks that helped shape the history of Toronto. Beginning at the site of the legendary Holland House — once one of the city’s finest mansions, and a gathering place for politicians, and businessmen, the route winds through the old heart of downtown, uncovering stories both famous and forgotten.

The Ward, Toronto's first suburb, first immigrant community and first large scale urban renewal project is a neighbourhood that dates to the beginnings of local history.

Bounded by Yonge Street on the east, College Street on the north, University on the West, and Queen Street on the south, is a history walkers dream.

But before the area developed and a civic square was even dreamed of, it was forest on the edge of Little York, with a clear flowing creek, named Taddle at its centre. A few years later James Macaulay established himself in the area northwest of the town of York.

By mid-century the winds of change brought in Chinese rail workers and Jewish immigrants, mostly from Eastern Europe. The face of The Ward changed once again, but this time the ugly realties of racial injustice were prominent.

With the building of the new Toronto General Hospital in 1909 the area reinvented itself, and the mass migration of jewish residents to the Kensington Market area to the west started. The Ward changed again and the idea that the area could be a pedestrian square with a new town hall at its centre took shape. And the rest as they say is history, Toronto got its new civic square and Toronto a new voice at the dawn of a new era in city building.

The ward is a fascinating look at life in Toronto in the late 19th, 20th, and 21 century. For a quick preview of the walk click on the following link and enjoy https://youtu.be/4QEHjfuhmik

This walking tour is for all walking levels and fitness skills. Please dress for the season and bring water. And remember to bring your love of history as well. Hope to see you there. Welcome to Landmarks 7!

This walking tour begins on the steps of Old City Hall at the northeast corner of Queen Street West, and Bay Street. The tour returns to the start location at the Old City Hall.

This tour has a ticket price of $15.00 per person.

\ Please note: Please e-transfer the ticket amount when booking your space for this tour! You can e-transfer to the following email at:
[email protected]