Click on the map below for memories of Toronto.

For feature-length versions, choose "Stories" from the menu above.

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Change is everywhere in our city. It’s easy to lose sight of what our neighbourhoods were like even a decade ago. Fortunately, we have a resource – our seniors – to tell us how things used to be. We are asking them to share their memories, which we are linking to our digital map for easy access. Click on the pins and enjoy our collective history.


49 BEVERLEY ST.

Where sleeping car porters stayed

Gil Carty remembers his great aunt Jean McKenzie, who immigrated from Jamaica in the 1920s, saved her money and bought a house downtown. She turned it into accommodation for sleeping car porters and others. 


1637 QUEEN ST.

The love story of Ruth Frocks

As the owners of the Roncesvalles landmark Ruth Frocks clothing store, Adam Eckhardt and his stylish wife Phyllis dressed everyone from society queens to drag queens. And everyone in the ‘hood couldn’t wait to see their glamorous new window displays every Thursday.


41 RONCESVALLES AVE.

Sunnyview Restaurant

When the lights went out in 1965, residents naturally gathered at Steve and Helena Sromek’s popular restuarant in Little Poland.