downtownaddresses

Downtown Properties

of Francis Brown

The various gold-marked properties shown on the map below were owner by Francis Brown in 1890.

The two orange-marked, side-by-side properties were owned by his son Archibald Brown.

This information was located in the assessment rolls for the year 1890.

Note 1: The original map itself is based on the 1899 mapping done for fire insurance requirements. In nearly all cases the addresses found in the 1890 assessment roles still existed when the map was drawn 9 years later. One notable exception to this was the property, owned by Francis Brown, that was the place of business for his son Archibald Brown and David McCaw (Plasterers). Located at 234 Elizabeth Street, this area had been cleared of buildings by 1899 in preparation for the construction of the Toronto General Hospital.

Note 2: Two major streets shown on this map have since had name changes. Terauley Street is now Bay Street, while Agnes Street is today's Dundas Street West.

Note 3: The red-dotted line indicates the approximate boundaries of the current Toronto City Hall and its surrounding property.

Several of these streets have changed over the years to accomodate the expansion of Osgoode Hall (eliminating Osgoode St) and later the building of the New City Hall, and the Eaton Centre (eliminating Louisa St. entirely and parts of Chestnut, Elizabeth and Albert Streets.) The following satellite map provides the approximate locations of these original streets so that the properties of Francis and Archibald Brown can better be 'seen' in relation to current day landmarks.

As a sample of what the buildings of the day looked like, the following picture is of the back of 102 Centre St (on the west side of the street, the second south of Elm St.) The camera faces towards the north. The nearest of Francis Brown's properties would have been behind the photogapher, to his right, less than 100 metres away.