Tuesday Treasures

 Tom the backroads traveller hosts this weekly meme.

Travel Tuesday

Our World Tuesday

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My Corner of the World

Postcards

Timeless Thursdays is hosted by Stevenson Que

May 2021 - Toronto ON

Click here for a history of Toronto lane naming and a list of other lanes with neighbourhood descriptions. That post is a work in progress, and gets updated frequently.

 Back in Cabbagetown this week.

Al Purdy Lane - after Al Purdy who was born in 1918. Purdy is considered by many to be the most accomplished Canadian poet of the English language though his history of work includes written work in broadcast media of radio and television. Born in Wooler, Ontario, Purdy came to Toronto and resided at 435 Sackville Street in his youth. He is said to have enjoyed spending time people watching at the Riverdale Zoo. Purdy spent 6 years in the RCAF. Over the course of his career, Purdy penned 33 books. He received Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Award in 1965 for Caribou Horses and once again in 1986 for Collected Poems. He received the Order of Canada in 1982. He died on the morning of Good Friday, 2000 at the age of 81. 

Yen Lane - after J. L. (Allen) Yen PhD who was born in 1925 in Canton, China. Yen was first appointed to the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto in 1952. There he became a Professor of Electrical Engineering and contributed to the theoretical and experimental advances made in the new fields of signal theory, communication and digital signal processes. In 1967, Dr. Yen shared in receiving the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Rumford Medal for advances in Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). Yen was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He died in 1993. 

Edensmith Lane - after Eden Smith who was born in 1858 in Birmingham, England. Smith and his wife Annie were residents of Toronto at 34 Salisbury Street. In 1882, Smith began his practice of architecture. At first, he designed several churches to service the growing population of Toronto. Among his designs to take form were TheChurch of St. Thomas on Huron Street,

 The Church of St. Cyprian in Seaton Village and St. John the Evangelist on Portland Street. 

After 1888 his work shifted to residential designs. His work includes many homes in Toronto’s early municipalities including Wychwood Park, Rosedale, The Annex and Forest Hill. Smith favored and was influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement. His “state of the art” design of the public housing complex on the corner of Spruce and Sumach Streets in Cabbagetown was built in 1913 and stands as a rare example of early public co-operative housing projects. Smith died in 1949.