By DAVID VAN DYKE In the Sept. 22 issue of Beach Metro News, if you recall, I revisited a 60-year-old photo taken by Herman Sahrmann, of the Leuty Lifeguard Station. Herman was a young lifeguard at the then Toronto Harbour Police Sub Station. This incredible shot above showing the beach was taken from the mast […]
By DAVID VAN DYKE Friends tell me, to make me feel better about my age, that 60 years is young for a tree. That’s how many years are in between these two photographs. Obviously, the Leuty Lifeguard Station has been moved, but on the right of the picture, barely visible for all the trees, is […]
By DAVID VAN DYKE The Chopping Block is an ironic name for a butcher’s store that is no longer in business. In the 1980s, the store was was home to Canadian’s Dry Cleaners. The location is at the northwest corner of Queen Street East and Willow Avenue. I have Chris Nicholls to thank for submitting […]
By DAVID VAN DYKE This is the northwest corner of Hambly Avenue and Queen Street East. Back in the 1980s, when Chris Nicholls was a photography student, he strolled up and down Queen (here in the Beach) with his Hasselblad in tow. It has been a real treat to travel back to the 1980s and […]
By DAVID VAN DYKE Chris Nicholls stood in front of St Aidan’s Anglican Church to get this shot of the the Red and White Family Food Fair back in 1982. I know this because this was my balcony view when I lived at Silver Birch and Queen. I loved to grocery shop at Value-Mart mostly […]
By DAVID VAN DYKE As local historian Gene Domagala can attest, the Leuty Lifeguard Station gets around. This glorious colour image above was taken in 1957 by Herman Sahrmann. Herman was working as a lifeguard for the then “Toronto Harbour Police-Leuty Sub Station”. You can just make out the long boathouse to the left of […]
By David Van Dyke From dry cleaners to Chinese cuisine, you can be sure to find what you are looking for in the Beach. As government incrementally opens up smaller businesses on Queen Street East, I’m sure Beachers are looking forward to supporting them as we know they are a huge part of our unique […]
By DAVID VAN DYKE Local photographer Chris Nicholls forwarded me this image of the IGA at Queen Street East and Lee Avenue with no specific date other than the early 1980s. I’m going out on a limb here and will say this photograph was shot in the month of October. Really, you’d think this grocery […]
By DAVID VAN DYKE In 2005, Fire Station 227, celebrated it’s centennial. This image on the left was taken more than 115 years ago by an unknown photographer and it is plain to see, apart from the construction site, there wasn’t much going on at the intersection of Queen Street East and Woodbine Avenue back […]
By DAVID VAN DYKE What’s the first thing you do when you want to build Toronto’s largest water filtration plant? Well, a fortified retaining wall is a good start! Construction of the R.C. Harris Water Filtration Plant began in 1933 (the year the photo above was taken by an unknown photographer) and became fully operational […]
