Discover Toronto's history as told through its plaques

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Brunswick House 1908

Photos and transcription by contributor Wayne Adam - Posted January 2018

On the southeast corner of Bloor Street West and Brunswick Avenue can be found this 2017 Heritage Toronto plaque. Here's what it says:

Coordinates: 43.665865 -79.407330

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In 1874, Benjamin Hinchcliffe opened the first tavern on this site. It was a two-storey, roughcast structure with a stable. In 1908, John Wilson Siddall designed the present building in the Edwardian Classical style. After Albert, Molly, and Morris Nightingale purchased the Brunswick House in 1965, it became a popular drinking and meeting place, especially among students and writers. For 27 years, "Rockin' Irene" Laviolette emceed wild evenings of singing, dancing, and a dizzying variety of other entertainments in the main bar, Pickle Alley. The upstairs jazz and blues room, Albert's Hall, hosted artists like Climax Jazz Band and Etta James. Other performers included Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Albert King, Carl Perkins, and k.d. lang, as well as many other blues and jazz legends. In the 1970s, the variety TV show Peter Appleyard Presents was also filmed here. "The Brunny" changed owners, was renovated, and reopened as a drugstore in 2017.

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