A laundry mat owned built in wood near the public library. It was presumably owned by Sun Long and called Sun Long Laundry.
Fire Insurance Plan 1903
Current location
Fire Insurance 1903 close up
Name of owner and type of business 1901 microfilm
A laundry mat built with wood. Originally, it was owned by Hing Quong. Around this time, a sidewalk was put in along Adelaide St W connecting Bay St and York St. A few years later, the shop changed owners to Parfiovsky Louis and Walsh Walters is also cited as living there.
Fire Insurance 1903
Fire Insurance 1903 Close Up
Sidewalk Installment on Adelaide between York and Bay (photo taken across the street from 126)
Microfilm 1899 Owner Hing Quong, Laundry
Microfilm 1903, owner Parslovsky Lois and Walsh Walter, Laundry
City Assessment Rolls
City Assessment Rolls
City Assessment Rolls
City Assessment Rolls
Current Address
This is what the space is currently occupied as.
Photo taken: 2014.
According to Valerie Mah’s thesis, The Bachelor’ Society, within the bounds of 1060 Queen Street west, there was a single Chinese resident named Sing Lee who lived above an unnamed laundry facility (1). The leaseholder, however, was a man named Tong Ho who was also Chinese but did not live within the space (2). The primary owner of this wooden house lived within the foundations of Trinity College (3). As the number of residents remained at one, Sing Lee continued to be the only resident of 1060 Queen Street west between the years 1899, 1900 and 1901 (4). The house still remained intact between the years 1913-1924 but gradually became a smaller space throughout those years. What stands on that property today is a real estate presentation centre called LightHaus that promotes the growing urbanization in Toronto with the production of condominiums, metropolitan architecture and modernized living spaces (5). In terms of the picture, it was quite impossible to find a before picture of the Laundry.
Work Cited
Assessment Roll: Ward 5 Division 1 1899, Reel 187.
“General Information.” UrbanToronto. Media, n.d. Web. 10 April. 2014.
Toronto: Might’s Directory Co. 1899. Microform. the Toronto city directory for 1899: Vol. XVI. Location no. 2643730-46, Reel 58.
Toronto: Might’s Directory Co. 1901. Microform. the Toronto city directory for 1901: Vol. XII. Location no. 2643730-47, Reel 66.
Mah, Valerie. The bachelor society: a look at Toronto’s early Chinese community from 1878-1924. MA Thesis. 1978. Print.
Over the next 28 years Chon worked at the laundry service, through changes in ownership (from the McCarrons to the James & Bach Macdonald Supply Company; and later to Daniel Kenson and Alfred and Ruth Johnston) and directory assignment (29 Queen Street East was originally part of Division 1B within Toronto Ward 3. Between 1910 and 1911 the location was merged into Division 3 of the same Ward). The first two years, Chon spent all alone, living in his workplace. In 1901 he was joined by another Chon, unfortunately one without any first name listed in the Toronto City Directories. 1901 was also the year Chon Tai moved to 279 Church Street (which opened its own laundry service, possibly by him, in 1902), while the other Chon was stated to live at 177 McCaul Street. It’s possible that the two Chons were married or relatives; the unnamed Chon might have been a relative who immigrated to Canada in 1901. The second laundry service at 279 Church could indicate either Chon opening his own service or getting a second job to make ends meet, which would make sense given the presence of someone other than himself to support. Valerie Mah listed two other Chinese immigrants with Chon Tai, but only the one, unnamed Chon is listed in the city’s records.
Between 1926 and 1927 Chon Tai passed on the lease to a new owner, Tong Chui. The laundry business continued until 1946, when it was demolished and replaced with a parking station. Such became the lot’s purpose until the present day, for it is now part of a multi-level parking garage owned by the Toronto Parking Authority.
Sources
Toronto Tax Assessment Rolls: Ward 3 Division 1B. 1898-1910. Toronto Archives. Microform.
Toronto Tax Assessment Rolls: Ward 3 Division 3. 1911-1946. Toronto Archives. Microform.
Toronto City Directory. 1899-1901. Toronto Archives. Microform.
Goads Fire Insurance Plan (1899, 1913). Web. Obtained 04/08/2014 from http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=b1ab757ae6b31410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD&vgnextfmt=default
Mah, Valerie. The Bachelor Society: A Look at Toronto’s Early Chinese Community from 1878 – 1924 (unpublished, 1978).
158 Bay Street in 1907 – Small building on the lefthand side
According to the 1899 City of Toronto Directory, 158 Bay Street was owned by a man named Jones W H and the building functioned as a restaurant. However, in the following year, 1900, the directory marked the same building as vacant. In 1901, 158 Bay Street came under the ownership of a man named Yee Nam who also ran a restaurant in the same building. The restaurant according to the 1901 City of Toronto Directory was named Kwong Yoot Loy Co. This information corresponds to Valerie Mah’s independent research paper titled, The Bachelor Society. A letter from Rev. Mackay of the United Church recorded that 3 adults of Chinese “religion” lived at this address. From what is known about the history of Chinese immigrants and considering that no children were recorded living in the building, the most likely conclusion is that these residents were Chinese bachelors who came to Canada to make a living.
Chinese residency at 158 Bay Street did not seem to be a long one according to the 1902 City of Toronto Directory. In the year after the Kwong Yoot Loy Co.’s inclusion in the directory, it states that a few barristers and artists took up residence where Kwong Yoot Loy Co. once stood. Of all the names included, none are of Chinese origin. This leads one to believe that the restaurant failed to succeed and therefore closed in favor of business and residential space.
360 Bay Street taken from the southeast corner of Bay and Temperance – April 9 2014
Currently, what once was 158 Bay Street is now a part of 360 Bay Street. On the Corner of Bay and Temperance Street where a restaurant once stood at the turn of the century is now a fast food restaurant called New York Fries/South St. Burger. The address change can most likely be attributed to the expansion of the Toronto harbourfront, causing the addresses to be shifted.
360 Bay Street taken from the southeast corner facing north on Bay and Temperance – April 9, 2014
Works Cited
“Bay Street Looking North from Temperance Street.” 1907. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 43. Web. 7 April 2014.
Mah, Valerie. The bachelor society: a look at Toronto’s early Chinese community from 1878-1924. MA Thesis. 1978. Print.
The City of Toronto Directory. 1899. Microform. City of Toronto Archives. Location no. 264730-45, Reel 45.
The City of Toronto Directory. 1900. Microform. City of Toronto Archives. Location no. 264730-46, Reel 46.
The City of Toronto Directory. 1901. Microform. City of Toronto Archives. Location no. 264730-47, Reel 47.
The City of Toronto Directory. 1902. Microform. City of Toronto Archives. Location no. 264730-48, Reel 48.
“Ward 2 Division 2 (p 196) to Ward 3 Division 2 (p110).” The City of Toronto Assessment Rolls. 1901. Microform. City of Toronto Archives. Location no. 264736-39, Reel 147.
Works Citedd
Assessment Roll: Ward 3 Division 2 1900 (1899 for tax year 1900). Toronto Archives.
Assessment Roll: Ward 3 Division 2 1901 (1900 for tax year 1901). Toronto Archives.
Toronto Directory (1899, 1900). Toronto Archives. Goads Fire Insurance Plan (1880, 1890, 1899, 1903). Toronto Archives.
This picture was taken on Spadina facing north to College, c. 1890s.
This is the building as it stands today, 2014. It is now a commercial and office space located in the now Kensington Market neighbourhood.
Information and Sources taken from City of Toronto. Tax Assessment Rolls. Ward 4 Division 3 (1901). City of Toronto. Directories (1895-1899, 1901). Mah, Valerie. The Bachelor Society: A Look at Toronto’s Early Chinese Community from 1878-1924. MA Thesis. 1978. Print.
Only a year after Yoong took over, 372 Spadina was exempt from the assessment roll. This means that a laundry service was no longer in operation and the building was empty.
Years later the property was sold to Alfred G. Brown who operated a barber and cigar shop at 372 and the neighbouring space next door.
This is what the block, where Mark Lum’s Laundry was situated, would have looked like 37 years before he started.
Reconstruction of Spadina and College in 1927 –Lum’s Laundry is just one block south from this photo —
372 Spadina in the 70’s
372 Spadina in the 90’s
Works Cited
Assessment Roll: Ward 4 Division 2 1899
Assessment Roll: Ward 4 Division 2 1901
Assessment Roll: Ward 4 Division 2 1902
Assessment Roll: Ward 4 Division 2 1903
Assessment Roll: Ward 4 Division 2 1909
Assessment Roll: Ward 4 Division 2 1912
Northwest Corner of Spadina Avenue and Baldwin Street. October, 1973. City of Toronto Archives, Toronto. Print.
Panorama of Spadina Avenue. 1985. Spadina Avenue by Rosemary Donegan. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. Print
Thomson, W.J. Spadina, Baldwin and Nassau. 1896. Metro Reference Library. Spadina Avenue by Rosemary Donegan. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. Print
Toronto Transit Commission. Re-Laying Streetcar Tracks. 1927. Spadina Avenue by Rosemary Donegan. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. Print
