Discover Toronto's history as told through its plaques

2004 - Now in our 15th Year - 2019

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St. Lawrence Hall 1850

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted April, 2004

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted November, 2013

Photo Source - Wikimedia Commons

Jenny Lind, the Swedish Nightingale, sang to packed houses here in 1851. Frederick Douglass attracted crowds. It's quite a building here at 157 King Street East on the southwest corner with Jarvis Street. Here's what this Ontario Heritage Trust plaque, just inside the front doors, has to say:

Coordinates: 43.650252 -79.372283

Click here for a larger map

Erected in 1850 this structure provided a grand public hall in the St. Lawrence market-place, then the centre of Toronto, for concerts, balls, meetings and other civic events. Seating a thousand, it was proudly regarded as one of the city's finest buildings. Here Jenny Lind sang, the Anti-Slavery Society met, and George Brown addressed ardent Reform gatherings before Confederation. When the centre of the city shifted north and west in the 1870's, St. Lawrence Hall's great era ended.

Other plaques at this location
St. Lawrence Hall
St. Lawrence Hall
St. Lawrence Hall

Related Toronto plaque
George Brown 1818-1880

More
Institutional Buildings

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