Discover Toronto's history as told through its plaques

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Public Transit in Yorkville

Photos and transcription by contributor Wayne Adam - Posted July 2018

This 2017 Heritage Toronto plaque can be found on the south side of Cumberland Street, west of the Village of Yorkville Park. Here's what it says:

Coordinates: 43.669889 -79.392692

Click here for a larger map

Yorkville has been a vital centre for public transit for more than 150 years. The first transit, in 1849, was a horse-drawn omnibus service owned by cabinetmaker and carriage builder H. Burt Williams. His vehicles carried passengers and mail on a fixed route between St. Lawrence Hall, at King and Jarvis Streets, and the Red Lion Inn, at Yonge and Bloor Streets. The inn was a landmark in the independent Village of Yorkville.

In 1861, the City of Toronto awarded the Toronto Street Railway a franchise to build and run the city's first streetcar line. These first streetcars were horse-drawn, built in Philadelphia, USA, and decorated with images of Toronto landmarks. The line, tracing the route of Williams' bus service, contributed to Yorkville's growth. Toronto annexed Yorkville in 1883.

The streetcar lines were electrified in the 1890s. The Yonge streetcar line became the busiest in the city, prompting construction of Canada's first subway. Operated by the publicly owned Toronto Transit Commission, it opened in 1954. Completion of the first phase of the Bloor-Danforth line in 1966 confirmed Yorkville's position as a hub for public transit in Toronto.

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