7-11 Gloucester Street, 1887, Heritage Property plaque
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Resource ID
11731
Access
Open
Address
11 Gloucester St #7, Toronto, ON M4Y 1L8
Credit Line
Heritage Toronto
Date of Creation
2024
Historical Themes
Keywords
Program Category
Rights
Heritage Toronto
Time Period
Caption
7-11 Gloucester Street, 1887, Heritage Property plaque
Description
Originally a set of eight matching row houses, the homes at 7–11 Gloucester Street were designed in the Bay-n-Gable style that was popular in Toronto in the late 19th century. In September 1885, physician and tailor Hugh Matheson received a permit to build a row of homes on this site, located at the rear of his Yonge Street property, at a cost of $15,000 (about $500,000 in 2024). Matheson trained to become a doctor in Toronto and Connecticut, but instead chose to become a men’s clothing retailer, running a successful store at 16 King Street East. His large home was just west of here at the southeast corner of Yonge and Gloucester Streets. Matheson was planning to return to practicing medicine when he died during the construction of the homes, which were completed in 1887. The first people to live at 7, 9, and 11 Gloucester Street were James N. Peer, commercial merchant; George E. Challes, paper company manager; and Margaret J. Pringle, who was recorded simply as a widow. Many middle-class tenants lived in these homes over the decades. In 1950, five of the eight homes were demolished for construction of the subway. The remaining three were incorporated into a housing development in 2024.