February 8th 1915 proved to be the start of a memorable sequence of events in the city of Toronto. Carrie Davies, an 18-year-old domestic servant working in the home of Charles Albert ‘Bert’ Massey, shot and killed her employer as he arrived home. She did not try to conceal her […]
In 1968 the federally appointed Toronto Harbour Commission (THC), desperate to generate revenue after the dream of a burgeoning Port of Toronto caused by the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway had foundered, drafted a visionary master plan for the development of the Central Toronto Waterfront called “A Bold Concept.” […]
When discussing J.B. Salsberg, there are two main associations that instantly surface: Jew and Communist. Salsberg was a dominant figure both politically and socially for the twentieth-century Toronto Jewish labour movement. But these words hardly do justice to the depth of this man. It is true that for many decades Salsberg […]
By the 1870s many Torontonians had come to accept the necessity of public ownership of its waterworks. The city’s ratepayers – residents who paid property taxes – had approved the takeover of the city’s drinking water services. Since the system needed high expenditures of capital to expand, private interests could not do […]
Horses, pigs, cows, and chickens once roamed the streets of Toronto. They lived and worked alongside their human owners, providing vital sources of food and labour for the growing city. This article explores the history of Toronto’s nineteenth-century domestic animals.
