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139-145 Front Street East
Photos by Alan L Brown - Posted September, 2006
These buildings at 139-145 Front Street East have this 1984 Toronto Historical Board plaque attached. Here's what it says:
Coordinates: 43.649887 -79.369376 |
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In 1867, William Davies built a two storey brick building here and established the first large meat-packing house in Toronto. J. & J. Taylor Safeworks purchased the building in 1871, and as the business flourished, added two storeys and an addition to the west and south. The buildings were renovated in 1978-80 as part of the revitalized historic St. Lawrence District.
Related webpages
Toronto Safe Works
St. Lawrence District
Related Toronto plaque
Rosetta McClain Gardens
More William Davies
William Davies Company
William Stewart Darling House 1873-1876
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Commercial buildings
Here are the visitors' comments for this page.
> Posted April 7, 2015
Hello. We are trying to get into a family safe. The combination we were given has four or five numbers. It has J+J Taylor Ltd Est. 1855 Toronto Safe Works written on it. How do we go about it? Thanks. Darlene T [email protected]
> Posted April 9, 2013
My name is Robin Burgoyne and I research and write the history of people's homes for them. I am fascinated by the Taylor story and know it quite well, as I researched the history of John Taylor's home in Cabbagetown (by the way, James Taylor returned home not too long after the brothers had arrived and the business was run by John until his passing in 1913.) There are several other pictures of the building in the archives, including the workers inside and pictures of the outside, including a fascinating picture of all of the safes lying outside on the ground.
> Posted June 5, 2012
Yes, it does look like Taylor Safe Works, it's not easy to read as it's between two buildings. Incidentally, though the safe works used the wharf it is now certain that the name "Taylor's Wharf" pre-dated the safe works and it was actually named after Captain Archibald Taylor who, in 1856 to at least 1865, had a coal and wood business and a wharf - noted in City Directories as "Taylor's Wharf - on Palace Street close to what would become George Street South. Prior to this time Capt. Taylor was the Master of several schooners, including the Clarissa, the John A. MacDonald and the Atlantic and was Deputy Harbour Master of the Port of Toronto.
> Posted April 1, 2010
The words on the west wall appear to be "Taylor Safe Works" rather than "Taylor Safe Company".
> Posted November 14, 2009
In 1855 the brothers James and John Taylor, emigrants from England, began making, in a small factory on Toronto's Palace Street, the first safes ever produced in Canada. From the 1870s their factory ( J & J Taylor Safe Company or, later, The Toronto Safe Company) was located at the corner of what is now Front Street East and Frederick Streets - 133-147 Front Street East - and they owned a wharf from which to ship their safes; Taylor's Wharf was located between Frederick and George Streets about where The Esplanade now runs. If you look closely at the west wall of the building you can still see the name "Toronto Safe Company" painted on the wall. These buildings housed the factory until 1959 when Chubb-Mosler and Taylor Safes Ltd. was formed, and a new office and plant were built at Brampton. In 2009, to commemorate the Taylor Safe Company and their wharf the City of Toronto named the laneway which runs behind the building Taylor's Wharf Lane.
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