If the most fascinating thing about historical photos of Toronto is that they allow the viewer to track just how much the city has changed, then aerial shots would have to sit somewhere near the top of the archival heap. The macro-perspective they afford may not make for the most rewarding study of buildings that have survived the test of time, but there's probably no better way to get a sense for how Toronto's built environment has expanded over the years than by looking at the city from the air over the decades. What might be familiar geography today can look completely foreign in the absence of development or infrastructure that's now ingrained in our minds as part of the landscape.
King West and what is now Liberty Village in 1920
Toronto Islands and Hanlan's Point Stadium,
The Distillery District
Looking north across Toronto Ca. 1929
Downtown Toronto 1930
Bayview and Lawrence in 1930
Above what is now Pearson International in 1930
Northern Secondary School 1930
Queen's Park 1930
Toronto Islands 1930
Mount Dennis and Kodak Plant 1930
Looking southeast across Toronto 1930 (The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Building was quite prominent back then)
Chorley Park 1930
Aerial with R101 Dirigible in view 1930s
Downtown Toronto 1932
Maple Leaf Gardens and the now demolished Normal School (Ryerson campus today)
Bathurst north of Eglinton had yet to be developed much in the 1930s
Above Forest Hill 1935
Above Toronto in the 1940s
East York Aerial 1942
St. James Town Aerial 1942
High Park Aerial 1942
Rosedale north to St. Clair Aerial 1942 (notice the Rosehill Reservoir was yet to be covered)
Damage from Hurricane Hazel north of Toronto 1954
Looking southwest from around Jane and Lawrence 1950s
A freshly demolished Maple Leaf Stadium 1960s
The TD Centre has arrived late 1960s
Hello CN Tower mid-1970s
The Port Lands in the 1970s
Exhibition Stadium and the CNE grounds 1980s
Sunday, September 25, 2011
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