Financial District in Toronto, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)
Hotel Victoria
1909
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 28, 2022
1. Hotel Victoria Marker
Opened as the Hotel Mossop, this eight-story structure was one of Toronto’s first fireproof buildings. It was constructed in the aftermath of the 1904 Great Fire of Toronto, which destroyed over 100 buildings west of here. As a result, architect J. P. Hynes included fire-resistant architectural features and used interior materials such as marble, iron and slate. The building’s design was also celebrated for its clever use of space in a narrow lot. It was sold in 1927 and renamed the Hotel Victoria. In 2019, it was one of the city’s oldest active hotels.
Erected 2019 by Heritage Toronto.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1909.
Location. 43° 38.894′ N, 79° 22.66′ W. Marker is in Toronto, Ontario. It is in the Financial District. Marker is on Yonge Street just south of Colborne Street, on the right when traveling south. Marker is mounted at eye-level on the northeast corner of the subject building, facing Yonge Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 56 Yonge Street, Toronto ON M5E 1G5, Canada. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. The Dominion Bank Building (about 90 meters away, measured in a direct
this page online
Also see . . .
1. Hotel Victoria.
The hotel was built after Toronto's Great Fire of 1904. Following the fire, in 1906, Frederick Mossop, a former hotel clerk, purchased the site at 56 Yonge Street with the intention of building a hotel. Mossop hired Canadian architect J.P. Hynes to design the building, which was intended from the outset to be completely fireproof. After three years of planning and construction, the 48-room, eight-storey hotel was finished at a cost of $250,000. Hynes also faced the "most difficult problem" of "erecting(Submitted on March 4, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)the hotel on an extremely narrow site", which was only 40 feet in width and 112 feet in depth. Despite this significant constraint, Construction remarked that there was "not the slightest semblance of crowding in the arrangement of the entire interior scheme," and that the space had been "so advantageously utilized that the rooms… [were] of generous dimensions."Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 28, 20222. Hotel Victoria Marker(marker is at right/north corner of front facade)
2. Great Fire of Toronto (1904).
The fire was first spotted at 8:04 p.m., on April 19, 1904, by a Toronto Police constable on his regular street patrol. The exact cause of the fire was never determined, but a faulty heating stove or an electrical problem is suspected. With 17 fire halls alerted, two engine companies and one hose company, the fire took nine hours to get under control. Damage on Wellington Street West and Yonge Street was limited because one of the buildings, the Kilgour Brothers factory, had a sprinkler system fed by water tanks on the roof, preventing the fire from spreading in that direction. It caused Can $10,387,000 ($337 million in 2021 dollars) in damage and put five thousand people out of work. The fire remains the largest ever to have occurred in Toronto.(Submitted on March 4, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 28, 2022
3. Hotel Victoria (east/front elevation)
Credits. This page was last revised on March 4, 2023. It was originally submitted on March 4, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 95 times since then and 30 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on March 4, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
