Here’s a little history for all of us, Torontonians or not.

Spadina Avenue extends from Harbourfront at Queens Quay to Bloor Street West. It is the main artery passing through vibrant Chinatown, the area encompassing the University of Toronto, and cuts through the Fashion District.

It was back in 1836 that Dr. William Warren Baldwin named this highly traveled street. It was named after his two-storey house built in 1818, which was located near Casa Loma. While the original pronunciation was actually Spadeena, nobody pronounces it that way anymore. I wonder why?

Spadina Avenue remains as one of the busiest arteries in downtown Toronto and the house after which the street was named still exists, though extravagantly renovated into a Victorian mansion after it burned down in 1835.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 8th, 2008 at 10:58 am and is filed under Toronto History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.