Public Transit in Yorkville Commemorative Plaque, 2017
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Resource ID
5265
Access
Open
Address
139 Cumberland Street, Toronto, ON M5S 2W7
Credit Line
Heritage Toronto
Date of Creation
2017
Historical Themes
Program Category
Rights
Heritage Toronto
Caption
Public Transit in Yorkville Commemorative Plaque, 2017
Description
Commemorative Plaque for Public Transportation in Yorkville. Featuring two images of different modes of public transportation in Yorkville and one image of the TTC subway line in 1966. The Text reads: Yorkville has been a vital centre for public transit for more than 150 years. The first transit, in 1849, was a horse–drawn omnibus service owned by cabinetmaker and carriage builder H. Burt Williams. His vehicles carried passengers and mail on a fixed route between St. Lawrence Hall, at King and Jarvis Streets, and the Red Lion Inn, at Yonge and Bloor Streets. The inn was a landmark in the independent Village of Yorkville.
In 1861, the City of Toronto awarded the Toronto Street Railway a franchise to build and run the city’s first streetcar line. These first streetcars were horse–drawn, built in Philadelphia, USA, and decorated with images of Toronto landmarks. The line, tracing the route of Williams’ bus service, contributed to Yorkville’s growth. Toronto annexed Yorkville in 1883. The streetcar lines were electrified in the 1890s.
The Yonge streetcar line became the busiest in the city, prompting construction of Canada’s first subway. Operated by the publicly owned Toronto Transit Commission, it opened in 1954. Completion of the first phase of the Bloor–Danforth line in 1966 confirmed Yorkville’s position as a hub for public transit in Toronto.
Marker lat / long: 43.669891, -79.392667 (WGS84)