Toronto has a lot of weird little gems. Many of them are right under people’s noses. Yes, the majority of people walk or drive past some amazing details in the city without realizing what they’re looking at, but they really should.
Here are ten Toronto secrets hidden in plain sight. Which of these do you want to go and see the most?
The half house on St. Patrick Street
The half house on St. Patrick Street is exactly what it sounds like. It’s just one side of what would otherwise be a regular old Victorian house. People tore down one half decades ago.
However, the other half stayed put, and it’s fully lived in, complete with windows & a mailbox. It’s at 54½ St. Patrick. Because what other street number could you give a half-house?
The tiny Day Avenue house
The main reason so many people miss the tiny Day Avenue house is because, you guessed it, it’s so small. The house is squeezed between two regular homes on Day Avenue. It’s near Rogers Road.
In 1912, construction workers built the home on a 7½-foot lot & it’s barely wider than a front door. The whole home is approximately 300 square feet. But it has a real kitchen & bedroom, even a backyard, and people still live in it.
A buried bridge in Trinity Bellwoods
Most people don’t realize there’s a bridge hidden underneath Trinity Bellwoods Park. Anytime that you walk through it, you’re walking over the buried bridge.
Crawford Street used to cross a ravine. However, during the 1960s, the government filled in Garrison Creek and chose to bury the bridge instead of removing it. They left it there perfectly intact.
A reservoir under Sir Winston Churchill Park
Take a look at the big patch of grass & tennis courts at St. Clair & Spadina. You may be surprised to know that it’s actually the roof of a water reservoir that was built in 1930.
The reservoir contains millions of litres of drinking water for the city. The entire thing is sealed underground. You’re technically on top of it when you’re walking nearby.
A second theatre floating above the Elgin
Yes, practically everyone in Toronto knows about the Elgin Theatre downtown. But most people don’t realize there are two of them.
The Winter Garden Theatre is seven floors above the Elgin, and it contains lots of fake leaves & lanterns. It looks more like an early 1900s movie set than a real theater. Both the Elgin & the Winter Garden Theatres opened in 1913, yet the Elgin’s the only one people really know about.
The only Edward VIII cypher on a Canadian building
Postal Station K sits on 2384 Yonge Street & it seems rather unremarkable. But take a closer look. Right above the main entrance is a royal cipher that reads “E VIII R.” It belonged to Edward VIII, one of the shortest-reigning kings in British history.
He reigned & abdicated the throne in the same year, 1936. It makes this cipher extremely rare because very few were created in the short time that he reigned, especially in Canada.
A lighthouse marooned by condos & a streetcar loop
Queen’s Wharf Lighthouse is a historic lighthouse on 651 Fleet Street that most people ignore. It’s surrounded by a TTC streetcar loop and much further inland than it used to be.
The lighthouse was built in 1861. However, it was decommissioned in 1922 & was moved inland as the shoreline changed. It’s one of two 19th-century lighthouses left in the city.
A church hidden behind the Eaton Centre
There’s a secret behind the storefronts of the CF Toronto Eaton Centre. It’s the Church of the Holy Trinity. It was built in 1847 & survived the mall’s construction.
How? By putting the development around the church. The parish is still active today, and you can check it out by walking through Bay or Dundas.
A buried creek you can still follow by foot
Philosopher’s Walk is a path you walk down on the University of Toronto campus. What most people don’t know is that it follows the route of the Taddle Creek, a creek that was covered over in the 1800s.
The path traces the ravine’s original route from Bloor to Hoskin. Even though you can’t see the water itself, the terrain tells the story of the area’s history.
The sealed underground washroom at Queen & Spadina
There used to be a public washroom right underneath Queen & Spadina. It was right in the middle of the intersection & it opened in 1906.
Originally, it had marble fixtures and a stair from the street, but the city closed & filled it in during the 1930s. If you stand at the intersection’s median, you’re right above it.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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