In my last post, I traveled downtown to the Ice Fest in Yorkville, but I had an ulterior motive in venturing into this area.
On my list of Toronto heritage buildings, there were several in the Yorkville area that I wanted to check out. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
The one building I was particularly interested in visiting was Fire Station, 312.
When it was built in 1878, I’m sure that 5-storey clock tower would have been very impressive to the countryside around it. Today however it is dwarfed by the city towers that surround it.
Station 312 is one of the oldest fire halls still active in Toronto and quite simply, I think it’s cute as a button.
The Coat of Arms over the tower door is from the Yorkville Town Hall which was destroyed by fire in 1941.
According to the historic plaque on the building, the symbols on the Coat of Arms represent the occupations of the first councillors of Yorkville – a brewer, a brickmaker, a carpenter, a blacksmith, and a butcher. The whole thing is rounded off with a beaver on top – Canada’s Official National Animal.
Yorkville was later annexed into Toronto in 1883 and is now one of the most affluent neighbourhoods in the city.
If you plan to go shopping there, prepare to dig deep. In a 2015 article, this area was ranked 21st in the world of most expensive shopping destinations.
[…] next door to the heritage Fire Hall I featured last week, is this gem built in 1906 in what was once considered the northern end of the […]
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I guess an affluent part of town needs a jazzy firehouse, and that one is a beauty. Wow. 🙂
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It seems only fitting, doesn’t it? 🙂
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Forget the shopping I just want to try to get a photo half as good as yours with those skyscrapers towering above the fire hall. Brilliant shot Joanne.
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Thanks Sue. That’s a nice compliment. I’m proud to say this was my first excursion where I shot everything photo in manual mode.
Husband still pointed out all my mistakes, but I’m patting myself on the back 🙂
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Oh that is fantastic Joanne! I’m still addicted to auto but really want to learn.
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Sometimes I think the learning process just takes many really bad photos 😉
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Love the juxtaposition of the old and new in your first shot. Beautiful.
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Thanks Emilio. That one is my favourite for the same reason 🙂
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These photos are absolutely stunning, Joanne. I especially love the first photo of the old fire station surrounded by the sky scrappers. The incredible beauty of the fire hall totally causes it to dominant the sky scrappers surrounding it (at least in my mind)!
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I agree Donna. I think the tall buildings around it actually makes it look more interesting!
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I love that you can still find these little gems among the giant towers in the city! Unfortunately, I don’t think my pockets are near deep enough to shop in this area but a fun spot to browse & people watch!
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I rarely go into Yorkville. I just find the atmosphere so intimidating. Everyone seems to be fashionably dressed with their ostentatious jewelry. I feel like an alien.
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Yes, it definitely a different world!
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It’s beautiful! I love the juxtaposition of the old and new buildings.
It’s a treasure!
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I had seen a picture of it, so I knew what it was going to look like. However, I hadn’t seen a photo with the high-rises as a background. That was a wow for me 🙂
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It really is a WOW with the skyscrapers surrounding it. Reading some of the comments I learned many old buildings were torn down to make room for those skyscrapers. I’m glad this one wasn’t one of those!
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While I researching about this fire station, I discovered there is a whole list of old fire halls still operating around the Toronto area.
Guess what I’m going to be doing? 😉
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Woman, because of you I crawled by my fire house to see if there’s a tower to dry the hoses! Guess what? There is! I NEVER noticed it before your post!!! Figure-toi? 🙂
I am looking forward to your future fire station posts!
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hahaha!! I did the same thing today! There is a fire hall nearby which I’ve passed a million times, but today I made a point of looking for a tower. Yes!! There was!! I couldn’t believe I had never noticed it before!
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Do you suppose there’s a nippy nose fireman/woman who always hangs out by the window at one or more fire houses noticing an uptick in a number of people slowly passing the firehouse eyeing it up and wondering why? LOL!
If I was stopped I was fully prepared to blame you, confess I was totally ignorant of the fact that hoses needed drying, and point to your post! 🙂
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LOL! If we start to see articles about fire hall stalkers, I’ll take the fall as the cause 😉
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Nice pics. Unfortunately, Yorkville is one of those areas which has lost many of this historical buildings to be replaced by ugly high rises…too bad! (Suzanne)
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I agree. Toronto has a shameful record on destroying its old buildings. It’s getting better, but sadly so many are gone.
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The Fire Hall is an inspiration to those of us underdogs who hang in there, not letting any oversized domineering edifice, or person, outshine us. Great photos.
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I like that 😀
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I’d like to see it back in the day surrounded by small town and countryside, as you mentioned, but it is pretty cool now against the big towers.
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I too feel the same way. I would love to peak back in time and see what a familiar place used to look like.
Periodically I’ll see an old photo of Toronto and I just can’t reconcile the image to current day.
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That is THE cutest fire station I have ever seen!
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I thought so too 🙂
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I’m not sure what buttons you’ve been frequenting with, Joanne but this fire station has to be far cuter…(unless they were chocolate ones and then as you were) 🙂
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Chocolate anything always wins 🙂
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I remember a children’s book I used t read to my sons when they were little, I think it was called the Little House. It was just like this firehouse. Tucked between tall buildings and was finally moved into the countryside where it belonged. What a beautiful sight this little building is.
Peta
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Another person also mentioned the book The Little House. I’ve never seen it, but it sounds like a cute story.
I hope this one stays where it is for a very long time!
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It’s adorable!!
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I think the fact it’s tucked in with all the high-rises around it that makes it look so adorable. Perhaps if it was standing by itself as the tallest building it wouldn’t have exactly the same charm.
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You nailed it. The station is as cute as a button. It’s so clean and spotless.
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This little station is actually not so little, but it just oozes charm. Glad you agree 🙂
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Everything is so clean, too. I visited a site after yours that took me to London. It was so different, though the vintage was about the same. Our area, though beautiful, lacks the pride of cleanliness along the highways and streets. That added to the innate charm of your photos. I also love the way the old is intermingled with the new. Isn’t that amazing that the city kept such a functional place in tact and historical? I’m sure there are more efficient stations. Good on them as the Aussies would say! 🙂 Have a great day Joanne. 🙂
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Toronto hasn’t had a great reputation in saving its heritage buildings. Too many of them have been lost to aggressive developers – particularly in the 60s and 70s.
In the past year alone, there have been 2 significant landmarks that were demolished even while the application to declare the buildings as heritage protected was in process. Shameful!!
… but admittedly, they are getting better.
Toronto does work hard to keep clean, but it’s discouraging when all the snow melts in the spring and the discarded garbage is evident along the sides of highways. Today we walked along a ravine trail and the garbage was terrible. It will get cleaned up, but it makes me sad that people are such disgusting pigs.
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We don’t have snow to hide it here. Granted it is worst on the freeways. Sometimes I feel like getting out of the car and heading up the hill from the shoulder and start picking up trash. But it is dangerous without support. I should quit blogging long enough to organize a cleanup party of at least one! – Me! 🙂
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The Little Fire House That Could!
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🙂
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Joanne, I love the cuteness and different era look of the station juxtaposed against the sleek, modern, and very tall skyscrapers around it. It reminds me of one of the classic children’s books, The Little House (http://tinyurl.com/jnnm6l5), although I doubt this station will ever move to the country. 🙂
janet
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Once upon a time, it used to be in the country … now it’s just a reminder 🙂
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The little house started in the country. Then the city built around it,but finally it was moved back to the country. 🙂
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It does look out of place next to those modern buildings!
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I think that’s what makes a city interesting when there are these old bits that hint of the past intermingled with the new 🙂
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must be nice to live among that outstanding scenery!
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Yes, it is. Toronto is a nice looking city … in my humble opinion 🙂
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That is such a wonderful little building in the midst of the skyscrapers. I love it. I’m so happy that they have chosen to maintain it in such good condition. Thanks for seeking it out and sharing it with us.
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It all started a few months ago when I accidentally discovered that little fire hall turned theatre. While I was researching that one, I found this little treasure.
NOW I’ve discovered there is a whole LIST of these old fire stations dotted around the city and surrounding area. OMG – I’m going to be soooo busy 😉
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Yeah, but that’s a worthy cause. I have an upcoming post about two small fire stations in our area that have been repurposed. It’s fun finding them.
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It is fun finding them and I think we honour them and their history by doing so 🙂
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The fire station looks almost like a church, doesn’t it? I love how it stands proudly in front of the skyscrapers, as it should!
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This might sound funny, but that first photo makes me think of the song “I’m a Little Teapot”. It looks all prim and proud. It makes me smile 🙂
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Oh, I like that!
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Yorkvile was expensive when I was seventeen. That’s like a century ago. Was always known as ritzy to my little knowledge.
Love your photos, Joanne and your fantastic tour. 🙂 😀
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From what I understand, back in the 60s it was rather gritty … but by the time I got here in the 80s, it was anything but. It’s always been out of my snack bracket.
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The fire station is cute as a button. I’d have to skip the shopping though!
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That makes two of us. I feel like an interloper just walking the streets in this area 😉
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I agree, cute as can be! Charming, fantastic! I love it.
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I wasn’t sure if a building could be considered ‘cute’, but then I thought … why not? …. because it really is 🙂
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It totally is, because it looks like one that would grace Main Street in Disney World! 🙂
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… or could be animated for a movie 🙂
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What a lovely fire station! And, just as you taught us in a prior post about old fire stations, I assume the tower is there to dry the hoses, as well as to tell us the time?
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I’m assuming that’s a drying tower too. I’ve started to pay attention to fire stations now and I’m surprised I never really noticed before their tendency to have a tower 🙂
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The difference between the shiny, modern skyscrapers in the back and the detailed architecture at the firehouse makes these pictures so incredible. I have a weak spot for brick houses.
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As do I 🙂
I love that first photo of the old and new. That little fire hall is standing proud!
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I think that has to be the cutest Fire Station I have ever seen! 🙂
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I think it’s the surroundings with all the tall high-rises that makes it stand out as something extraordinary 🙂
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I remember when Yorkville was first trendy, and the word spread as far west as London, Ontario. This was in the early 80’s? It was the place to be. Sounds like it still is, as long as you have deep pockets.
The firehall is a cutie and deserves your attention!
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I think Yorkville started to be THE place to be in the 60s with Joni Mitchell and her cohorts.
By the time I arrived in the 80s it had already started to drift high-end. I could never afford to hang there.
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Ah, OK – it was *I* who was just starting to follow trends in the 80’s, I guess – that figures, I’ve always been a decade or two behind the wave.
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LOL!! 😀
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You should give tours of Toronto – even though I know it well you present it so attractively!
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awww – thanks 🙂
… but I would not be happy talking in front of people all day!
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I don’t know if it’s appropriate to call a fire station cute but it is!
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I thought the same thing and pondered whether it was appropriate … then thought, hell, why not? It is!! 🙂
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It’s a beautiful old fire station and it’s probably built better than the skyscrapers that dwarf it Joanne 😀
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Good point. My money is on the little Fire Hall still being there in another 100 years 🙂
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