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Local Landmarks & Heritage

  • 37 Madison Avenue (1887)
  • Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema (1941 building)
  • Bloor Street West

Neighborhood History

The Annex is a downtown Toronto neighbourhood bounded by Bloor Street, Dupont Street, Bathurst Street and Avenue Road. The land joined the City of Toronto in parcels between 1883 and 1888, and by 1886 developer Simeon Janes, who had bought much of the Baldwin estate lands, was advertising newly subdivided lots in what he called the Toronto Annex. The neighbourhood soon emerged as a sought-after enclave for many of Toronto's leading citizens.

The Annex gave its name to a house style that blends Richardsonian Romanesque with Queen Anne Revival, with massive rounded arches, deeply recessed entrances, corner turrets and decorative shingles; the first example is E.J. Lennox's 1887 house at 37 Madison Avenue. In the 1960s the planned Spadina Expressway would have divided the neighbourhood in half, and residents helped defeat it before Premier Bill Davis withdrew provincial support on June 3, 1971. Urbanist Jane Jacobs lived on Albany Avenue until her death in 2006.

The Annex tee is for the neighbours of its turreted Victorian streets and the Bloor Street strip below them.

MY-NHD

The Annex - Central Toronto - Unisex Cotton Tee

The Annex - Central Toronto - Unisex Cotton Tee

Regular price $29.95 CAD
Regular price Sale price $29.95 CAD
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The Annex lies north of Bloor Street between Bathurst Street and Avenue Road, on land Simeon Janes subdivided in the 1880s. Its residents helped stop the Spadina Expressway in 1971.

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