390-396 Church Street 1938
390-396 Church Street 2011
Sui Wah resided at 396 Church Street starting from 1895, when, at that time, the establishment, a laundry, was named after him. In 1904 the laundry changed names to the “Chong Hong, laundry.” A neighbouring building in the 1930’s eventually became the W. York laundromat, but was most likely not Chinese owned. Other spellings in various directories include “Wah-Sui”, “Sul Wah” and “Sin Wah”. At the time religion was also recorded in the tax assessment, and as opposed to Roman Catholic or Church of England designations, his faith was labelled as “Chinese”.
Sui Wah lived alone under landlord Petros Constantinide. During his tenancy the value of the property decreased significantly by several hundred dollars, which may be caused by decreasing the size of the lot artificially.
Works Cited
City of Toronto. Tax Assessment Rolls. Ward 3 Division 2 (1894). Reel 103, Location 264736:73.
City of Toronto. Tax Assessment Rolls. Ward 3 Division 2 (1901). Reel 147, Location 264736:39. Microfilm. Pg. 27.
City of Toronto. Directories (1894). Reel 39.
City of Toronto. Directories (1895). Reel 40.
City of Toronto. Directories (1899). Reel 44. Microfilm. Pg. 119.
City of Toronto. Directories (1900). Reel 46. Microfilm. Pg. 116.
City of Toronto. Directories (1901). Reel 47. Microfilm. Pg. 114.
City of Toronto. Directories (1904). Reel 50. Microfilm. Pg. 125.
1938. Dept. of Public Works Photographs, Toronto. 390-396 Church Street. Fonds 200, Ser. 372, Subser. 33, Item 367. City of Toronto Archives. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
“390 Church Street, Toronto, ON.” Google Maps. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
This is 337 Bathurst Street in 1951. Photo is taken from the Toronto Archives
In the Toronto Archives, the city Fire Insurance Plans reveal that from 1899-1924, this address remains the same and the building is still made of wood. Both 335 and 337 Bathurst Street are owned by the Lawson sisters, Caroline and Mary. Both sisters are single and of Catholic faith. In 1902, Mary Lawson is living in the apartment above, while Mr. Lee is still operating the laundry. 335 Bathurst Street is rented to Mr. William Clean, a belt maker. The house has three residents, and according to The City Assessment Roll of 1902, all are of Catholic faith. The neighbourhood appears to be inhabited by the working class. The City Assessment Roll of 1902 reveals the occupation of the residents, they are as follows; book keeper, clerk, belt maker, laundry owner and shoe maker. Skipping ahead a few years to 1951, 337 Bathurst Street is still an active address and now a grocery store. Today this address is currently part of a park.
337 Bathurst Street 2014.
Works Cited
City Fire Insurance Plan (1899, 1903, 1913, 1924); Toronto Archives Website
City of Toronto Assessment Roll: Ward 4 Division 2 1902 (1901 for tax year 1902), Reel 155, Toronto Archives
City of Toronto Directory: Year, 1899, 1900, 1902, 1906, 1913; Toronto Archives
Mah, Valerie. The Bachelor Society: a look at Toronto’s early Chinese community from 1878-1924. MA Thesis. 1978. Print.
Works sourced:
At this time, there were two other people living with him (three total), who presumably helped run the laundry. Valued at $1005 dollars and deemed “Anglican” in official Assessment records, the building was not owned by Kee, but was instead owned by Kenneth Allison, who lived elsewhere at 668 Yonge Street.
Allison still owned the building by 1909, at which time Kee was 30 years old. By this time though, there now only lived two people in the building. Kee did not have any children with him. In 1909 the property was valued at $1225, which was a slight improvement from 1901, though it’s uncertain whether this was due to improvement of the building, success of the business, or differences in dollar value. Perhaps all three.
Works Cited
City of Toronto Assessment Roll, Ward 3 Div. 2, Reel 216
City of Toronto Assessment Roll, Ward 3 Div. 2, Reel 147
Toronto Fire Insurance Plan (1913)
In 1913, 352 Spadina Avenue was part of a string of houses owned by Mary Leadly and Percival Leadly (they owned units 350 to 358)
Two tenants were listed at this address. The first was Louis Wong age 26, who lived on the bottom section of the unit. It was a laundry business in this bottom section, like most real-estates nearby. The number of residents living here including Wong is two. The second tenant was a Frank Tilley age 39, lived on the higher level of the 352 Spadina Ave establishment. The business title given to the tenant is a Collector. The number of residents living on the top section is 6 including Frank. Currently, this location is a Jewellery shop called Minh Chau Jewellery & Watches.
Sources
The residential building was located on what is now Dundas St. W. at Dennison Rd. It was owned by Joseph O’Patterson from 1899 to 1901. This building was a wooden building that stayed wooden for more than twenty years according to fire insurance plans. During the time frame of 1899 to 1901 the building had different tenants. Spark Williams lived in this building with two adults from the end of the 19th century until 1900. In 1903, a new name shows up on the tax records: George Hutchington. Mr. Hutchington lived with three other people, none of them children. A factor that did stay the same was that all of the residents throughout the years observed were listed as Protestant. The building has since been torn down, and it is currently a vacant business place, but the upper floor is home to about twenty tenants, the majority of them being students. This building is two blocks away from the heart of Toronto’s Chinatown and is currently owned by a Chinese immigrant.
Works Cited
Assessment Roll: Ward 4 Division 2 1899. Toronto Archives.
Assessment Roll: Ward 4 Division 2 1900. Toronto Archives.
Assessment Roll: Ward 4 Division 2 1901. Toronto Archives.
Goads Fire Insurance Plan: Central Toronto (1899); Toronto Archives Website
Goads Fire Insurance Plan: Central Toronto (1924); Toronto Archives Website
In a July 1900 letter to Rev. Mackay noted in Valerie’s Mah’s Bachelor Society , 175 St. Patrick Street was an address associated with early Chinese immigrants to the city of Toronto. 175 St. Patrick Street was located at the intersection of what is now Dundas Street West and Kensington Road. In 1899, according to tax documents, eight people were residing in this brick residence, three of them children, suggesting it to be a residence for multiple people, possibly immigrants. It was owned by Robert Crates, but the main tenant was Robert McLelland. It is possible that some of the other residents may have been Chinese since the location was relatively close to where old Chinatown used to be. In 1901 the ownership of the building changed hands. Robert McLelland became not only the tenant but the taxable owner as well of the building. The number of residents did not change. This building has since been torn down and is now part of a public housing complex only a block away from the heart of Chinatown at Spadina St. and Dundas St. W.
Works Cited
Assessment Roll: Ward 4 Division 1 1899, Toronto Archives.
Assessment Roll: Ward 4 Division 1 1900, Toronto Archives.
Assessment Roll: Ward 4 Division 1 1901 Toronto Archives.
Goads Fire Insurance Plan: Central Toronto (1899); Toronto Archives Website
Goads Fire Insurance Plan: Central Toronto (1924); Toronto Archives Website
According to taxes of 1901, Kee was a tenant at 82 Gladstone which was owned by Matthew Parsons, owner and trustee of the Presbyterian Church. Mah reports there are three other Chinese immigrants taking residence in the same building. However, observing the accessible rolls of 1900 in Ward 6 division 2, it seems that this number may be an error and that there were actually five individuals are connected to the residence. In others words, it is possible that Kee was living with his family in 82 Gladstone Avenue. Chinese immigrants living with their families in the early 1900s were, however, a rare phenomenon. Most in men in Toronto Chinatown were “bachelors” and “there were only 13 Chinese families among 2035 Chinese in the city in 1921(Mah, 37), therefore there must have been even less Chinese families in Toronto in 1900. Furthermore, a headtax for Chinese coming into Canada had been established and the “$50 a head was a financial hardship” for the Chinese making it very hard to believe that the residents as 82 Gladstone Avenue were Lew Mo Kee’s actual family (Mah, 27).
Currently, 82 Gladstone Avenue is a grocery store called “Friendly Grocery”.
Works Cited:
Mah, Valerie. “The “Bachelor” Society”. A Look at Toronto’s Early Chinese Community from 1878 – 1924 (unpublished, 1978).
Google Maps: 82 GLadstone Avenue. https://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en-CA&gbv=2&q=82+gladstone+avenue&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x882b3455204114fb:0x42d42d4448af7867,82+Gladstone+Ave,+Toronto,+ON+M6J+3K7&gl=ca&ei=S7dIU7CUO6qw2wWL9ICADg&ved=0CB4Q8gEoATAA. Web. Last accessed 11 April ,2014.
Toronto City Directory (1898-1902, 1905); Toronto Archives
Google map:
Goads Fire Insurance Plan (1899); Toronto Archives Website
