City of Toronto Archives building reopens with exhibit marking TTC’s 100th anniversary

The City of Toronto's archives building has reopened to the public after the COVID-19 pandemic and its first exhibit pays tribute to the TTC's 100 years of service. Nick Westoll has more on what you can see.

By Nick Westoll

Posted March 26, 2022 10:00 am.

Last Updated March 26, 2022 2:20 pm.

After a lengthy closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Toronto Archives building has reopened with a large exhibit dedicated to mark the TTC’s 100 years of operation.

“I think it’s just ubiquitous. There’s hardly anyone whose life is not touched by the TTC,” Michele Dale, a supervisor with City of Toronto Archives, said during a tour of the space.

“I think it’s important for us to remember just how far we’ve come. The photographs in this exhibit show how much progress has been made and how much hard work over the years has gone into building the system we have today.”

Entitled TTC – 100 Years of Moving Toronto, there are more than 400 photos, tickets, tokens, maps and commercial ads on display until August.

It opens with a tribute to the formation of the then-Toronto Transportation Commission (it was renamed the Toronto Transit Commission in 1954 around the time the Yonge subway opened), which consolidated nine different streetcar companies with different fares into a single entity and one fare.

“It was confusing and they had to transfer, and every time they transferred they had to pay another fare (five cents at the time) and people were kind of dissatisfied with that,” Dale said.

She said the display outlines how the 1920s saw a lot of growth during the decade and in the 1930s the TTC expanded to provide service to Toronto Island. Dale also said the exhibit also recognizes the agency’s early usage of accessible features on its vehicles to allow those who use wheelchairs to get onboard as well as the role women played during wartime.

Riders board a bus on Fleet Street in front of the Maple Leaf Baseball stadium in 1930. CITY OF TORONTO / TTC

Second-generation TTC veteran reflects on changes

Kevin Brown has been with the TTC for nearly four decades and 30 years of his tenure as a subway instructor. With his father holding a similar role and being involved on the frontline when the Yonge, Bloor-Danforth and Spadina subway lines, he became intimately familiar with the system.

So what has been the biggest change in Brown’s opinion throughout the years?

“The vehicles are much more advanced now. My family members wouldn’t recognize today’s vehicles to what they used to drive, back to wooden streetcars, back to coal stoves, back in the 1930s and 1940s to what we have today,” he told CityNews at the subway simulator at the TTC’s Wilson Yard.

Brown reflected on the role the TTC played during the pandemic as well as looked ahead, sharing a message to those hoping to join the agency and keep Torontonians riding the rails for decades to come.

“During the pandemic, we kept the city moving. We were truly part of the fabric of the city keeping the health-care workers going to work, keeping the emergency crews going into work,” he said.

“The shifts are hard. It’s going to be a different world or a different life for you at the very beginning, but stick with it. It truly is rewarding. You’re going to have a wonderful career and you’re going to be part of a huge city.”

A TTC trolley bus makes its way along Mount Pleasant Road in 1922. CITY OF TORONTO / TTC

City of Toronto Archives building also open for research

The research hall at the City of Toronto Archives building was also reopened to the public, but on an appointment basis. For those who are curious, Dale said there’s an extensive collection available.

“People can research their house, people can look at council minutes, assessment rolls. There are many, many private records held here that relate to businesses and organizations in the city,” she said, citing the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s collection as an example.

Meanwhile, for anyone interested in attending the exhibit at the Spadina Road facility, it is open on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Click here book a space online.