Sam Townley
Foreman, Fire Hall No. 3 - 488½ Yonge Street
Sam Townley (far left) poses with the crew under his command in front of Fire Hall No.3, on the west side of Yonge Street, a block and a half north of College. The photo was taken in February 1883.
While the main part of the Yonge Street Fire Hall was demolished and replaced long ago, its tower was preserved as an historic structure and can still be easily seen from Yonge Street today, as can be seen in this recent photo.
In the early days of the Toronto Fire Brigade, each fire hall was commanded by a Foreman. Following his serving as Foreman at the Yonge Street Fire Hall, Samuel was made foreman of a new fire hall opened in the west end of Toronto, near the corner of Dundas West and Brock Ave.
Sam retired from active service about 1892. He continued to work for the department as the caretaker at Fire Hall No.12 at the corner of Portland and Farley. (Portland Ave runs south from Queen St W, a block east of Bathurst.)
During the period he served as caretaker to the Portland Fire Hall, Sam and his family lived a half a block south on Portland Ave. They briefly lived at 137 Portland, then finally at 143 Portland where they remained until Sam's death on February 2, 1896.
The red-brick building in the centre is the current 143 Portland. (It is not yet known whether this is the actual building in which Sam lived his final years.)