Yorkville Town Hall Commemorative Plaque, 2016
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Resource ID
5228
Access
Open
Address
18 Yorkville Avenue
Credit Line
Heritage Toronto
Date of Creation
2016
Historical Themes
Program Category
Rights
Heritage Toronto
Time Period
Caption
Yorkville Town Hall Commemorative Plaque, 2016
Description
Designed by William Hay, one of Toronto's most important early architects, the Yorkville Town Hall was built by William McGinnis, and opened on this site in 1860, fronting onto Yonge Street. High Victorian in style, it was constructed of local 'white' (yellow) bricks with red and blackened brick trim, and boasted three stained glass rose windows that illuminated a third-floor public hall seating 500.
In its second-floor Council Chamber, local politicians debated, among other things, "the running at large of Pigs and Swine and Poultry, " the planking of sidewalks, and the “prevention of immoderate driving.” In 1861, the privately owned horse-drawn Toronto Street Railway commenced service from the Town Hall to the St. Lawrence Market. After the clock tower was completed in 1889, the Town Hall's bells sounded the working day and rang for fire alarms.
After annexation in 1883 ended Yorkville's village government, the Council Chamber was used as a public library. The building also housed the Yorkville Company of the York Rangers, the Naval Club, the offices of the Toronto Street Railway, and had space for community use.
The Yorkville Town Hall was destroyed by fire on November 12, 1941. All that remains is the carved stone coat-of-arms, since mounted on the Yorkville Fire Hall.
Marker lat / long: 43.671829, -79.388273 (WGS84)