The first footage of Toronto ever taken(1904)

The first footage of Toronto ever taken. The Great Fire of April 19th, 1904.
credit: Library & Archives of Canada

[@jpt8011]

Wow! I think I saw the Eglinton Cross Town LRT starting construction in the background.

[@Up_north_with_Mike]

You have a good eye. It’s been taking a while to complete due to two pandemics, two World wars, a couple of occupations in Africa and Ottawa but the end is in sight around 2024.

[@madmanx58]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🏆

[@vancouverapartmentowner9476]

lol!

[@robertfraser7199]

And you'll die before it's done! Yay Toronto!

[@fazalshaikh422]

😂😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣

[@bradwalton3977]

I met a woman back around 1982 who had been born in Toronto on April 19, 1904. Her family called her "the Fire Baby." She worked as a gerontologist in a hospital. She was also a nun.

[@Glipsnarp]

I do emergency water and sewer in Toronto. I dig up stuff older that this video. Old pharmacy bottles. Horseshoes are everywhere. Old shoes. Coke bottles. Also near Liberty village there was some sort of by products from munitions factory or something cause 4 feet under ground there is highly toxic, fuming black sludge that seeps out. Burns your skin

[@OldTorontoSeries]

That's awesome. Love the horseshoe fact.

[@DucatiKozak]

@evan8388 wow! During COVID they were ripping up Liberty street to redo the sewage drainpipe in front of the building I call home! Now tell me more about this sludge?!

[@entertain402]

open a museum and don't report the income...

[@deepaksetia]

This city, like others in America and Europe, was wiped out due to mud floods to eliminate giants. The people in the video are on horse buggy, but how did they build such huge buildings without any technology. You can all old buildings in the University area, old churches have massive doors and windows, they were running on free energy and all built of stone (no wood). You look south from Aurora, and you see Downtown well below ground level and waves of mud flood left behind

[@blabbinglobster]

I didn't know that film footage of this event existed. Thank you for posting this.

[@steelcom5976]

The standards for electrical wiring were almost non-existent. No one knew the dangers of overloading cables, arcing, uninsulated wires, a lack of grounding and bonding. It was a time bomb waiting to happen

[@discodirk48]

The more things change the more they stay the same. What happened in Maui happened in these cities. These were not naturally occuring events. When the rich and powerful want something they go in and take it.

[@steelcom5976]

@@discodirk48 Maui suffered high winds that topplied hydro poles.

[@Magdalene777]

Imagine all those people without cell phones, tv or internet, going outside to actually do things, living lives where they interacted with others, face-to-face.

[@stewartgillis4851]

Yes . It was a world filled with common heritage and community. I remember living in the Junction circa 1953 walking hand in hand with my parents sister and brother to Sunday church at High Park United. HP United is now a swanky condo. What happened?

[@danzig159]

Yeah, now imagine one of those people needing a major surgery for one reason or another or getting an infection that could kill you but can be easily cured with simple antibiotics, or just imagine one of those people needing immediate rescue but they're in a place too remote to be heard which could easily be reached if they had a cell phone.

[@reginaldperiwinkle]

It's almost too horrible to imagine.

[@systemschef]

Don't forget the illness and shortened life expectancy!

[@user-xg8yy7yl1d]

People still do these things all the time. The truth is the internet is essentially just the final form of what started with the telegraph. These horse people long but not so long ago experimented with more and better technology until we have what we do now. By definition these people had to do a lot more with less both in materials and yet to be discovered knowledge. I wonder what some of the pioneers of technology the operator of this camera included would think of what it all evolved into.

[@carolbrooks4598]

My grandfather was born in Toronto in 1890! I wonder if he or his brothers were involved. I also notice the Canada Cycle and Motor sign which brought to mind that he rode a motorcycle as dispatch rider in France in the First World War.

[@John-sk8cm]

Thank you for sharing a bit about your grandfather. You know that question people ask sometimes, "if you could, who would you like to meet that is no longer living?" Well your grandfather would have been on my list. Much respect to him.

[@northlander4370]

That is where CCM hockey equipment was born...

[@andrewdouris6035]

My grandfather rode a motorcycle as dispatch in WW2

[@davidgiles5030]

My grandfather was born in 1888 and would have been 16 when this occurred. Maybe he's in the picture. He lived in the area.

[@RPRIMICI]

This is very close to where I formerly worked (Sterling Tower - 372 Bay St) at Richmond and Bay. Right in the heart of the city since Old City Hall is just north of it.

[@briangraham1024]

Lived in Toronto between '84 - '88. It was great time to be there. Some fun places were Madison's, Chicken Deli, Blue Note, Caps, Brunswick House, Horseshoe, Bamboo, Whistling Oyster, etc. The Blue Jays were always in the hunt and a weekend series against Detroit at the CNE was a plus. Thanks for the memories.

[@OldTorontoSeries]

Many of those spots are still up and running. Horseshoe is almost identical to then still, Madison as well. Brunswick house closed down a while ago though.

[@pathologicallyfriendly]

Toronto's population at this time was around 210 000, and Canada's was around 5.5 million, smaller than the GTA today

[@vancouverapartmentowner9476]

Metro Vancouver and region in about 30 years should be 5.5 million.

[@alistersutherland3688]

Such a terrible loss. The core of Toronto might have been so different today.

[@bobbbxxx]

Don't forget that a lot of the cheaply built old brick warehouses that burned down were anything but beautiful. Mostly sweatshops. Some of the buildings that were lost were beautiful and others were no great loss. The first Great Fire of Toronto was 1849.

[@samuellavoie3894]

@@bobbbxxx what cause it?

[@samuellavoie3894]

@@bobbbxxx and did they have electrecity ?

[@bobbbxxx]

@@samuellavoie3894 a lot of these old warehouses were firetraps. Plus people smoked on the job fairly commonly.

[@ED80s]

I work right on Bay and Wellington so its very close to where this happened and yet I had no idea about this fire. Thank you for the video.

[@mckessa17]

This was when the Leafs last won a Stanley Cup.

[@n.b.3521]

😂

[@bobbbxxx]

Foot and vehicular traffic was so random on the roads back then before left/right directional rules came in.

[@222radar]

That fire was so incredibly devastating. Amazing footage.

[@christopherwelch136]

Wow. Priceless footage.

[@OldTorontoSeries]

For sure!

[@michaelverbakel7632]

1904 was the year of the Great Toronto - Bay Street fire. Mostly in the Bay- Yonge Street area.

[@carterfifteen]

So odd how countless major cities around the world all experienced these massive destructive fires all within a relatively short time from one another. Almost like something was deliberately being done

[@OldTorontoSeries]

Was a combination of materials used in buildings during the era and a lack of modern firefighting/access to water to put out the flames. You're right though - every city has a "Great Fire"

[@romeomontague2309]

Get rid of the tartarian buildings 🤔

[@carterfifteen]

@@romeomontague2309 I think that's a very reasonable hypothesis

[@2Sugarbears]

My sentiments exactly. Who had ever heard of Tartaria in those days?

[@MrMACHINE]

Thanks for sharing this footage. Incredible that CCM is still around. Live streaming v.1 lol

[@jacobrocks7]

Wow born in Toronto and had no idea about this massive fire ..recognize the old city hall which is now a court house ..118 years later ..wow ..thanks

[@doreendaykin6693]

Awesome!! Thanks for sharing!

[@VC-mo5yg]

Truly amazing, how fabulous, and how my blessed and beautiful Toronto has grown. 🥰

[@EyesonEnforcement911]

Toronto has definetly not grown into anything beautiful at all unfortunately.

[@greatunz67]

Beautiful? it's turned into condo city these days, and a crime cesspool with daily shootings, non stop condo's, no affordable housing, one of the worst traffic grids in North America. Toronto peaked in the mid 70's and since the 90's it's been steadily going downhill.

[@greatunz67]

@@EyesonEnforcement911 He or she has obviously never heard the Joni Mitchell line 'they paved paradise and put up a parking lot' or 'condo' in our case..

[@tukaibaba5606]

It's grown ugly and dirty under a blackface JT. It's no longer a beautiful city.

[@neiladlington950]

LOL, beautiful? There is a reason why Hollywood loves to use Toronto in place of American cities and it isn't because it is beautiful. It is because it is generic. I live in Toronto and have seen its evolution since the early sixties.

[@neiladlington950]

Something about the primitive photography makes watching this recording of the burning building seem extra horrific.

[@samuellavoie3894]

it look like old german war footage lol

[@NoName-vx6up]

Yes, it has that gothic and industrial revolution vibe.

[@JoeGrow-pj3nr]

Every city had a great fire in the 1900’s

[@2Sugarbears]

Getting rid of the "old" cities.

[@WRXDEMON]

Lol @ 00:11 CCM!!! Wow. They’re one of the older Canadian companies.

[@cliffhodgins1286]

CCM also built electric and gasoline cars from 1903 to 1916

[@datturaokulkarni6604]

Thanks.

[@rassaneybattiese6932]

Oh how far we have come.

[@ORGANIZEDCoNfUsioN]

Never seen that before. SUPER COOL, thanks. Like # 127!!!!

[@randomrazr]

"a more civilized time" - obi wan kenobi

[@profinished6044]

Awesome!

[@cathybober8774]

LOVED this.

[@rps1689]

Bloody hell! The scenes remind me of Murdoch Mysteries.

[@vancouverapartmentowner9476]

At around 3 minutes - my old workplace, Old City Hall, then in the video (1904) City Hall. Escaped the fire.

[@justhonest8590]

Footage of fire response was filmed at some other date. It was dark when the fire broke out.

[@entertain402]

my great grandfather (maternal) was born 1860 in ireland, but was found in the 1881 Toronto census living in Cabbagetown with his father and 3 siblings; mother was deceased; he died in 1906 of stomach cancer i suppose as a consequence of the potato famine he must have experienced in Ireland...he is buried in Mount Hope Catholic cemetry which is a 12 min walk from where i presently live; i found his address on his burial card and noticed it was the same house he was in during the 1881 census, so as the youngest child i suppose he inherited the house at 172 berkeley st, which is 2km from the centre of the fire...; the house was knocked down to make way for some apartment buildings, but the rest some of the homes from that era still exist...they lived within walking distance of the first Catholic church in toronto St.Paul's Basilica, where my grandmother (his only daughter) met her future husband who had moved to Toronto from Pittsburgh; he was born in England but moved to the usa at age 13...

[@TheDanAge]

Does anyone know how The East and West Mall got their names?

[@jeffreyadams648]

And now it is a small version of the USSR.

[@sturmgewehr4444]

Thanks Jews.

[@SteveLeightonNSF]

Love seeing the CCM sign

[@10percent4DaBigGuy]

Back when men where men! i wish i was my current age living in 1904 right now as we speak

[@Denada1350]

that's a privilege we don't all have.

[@sweiland75]

So you could legally beat women without criminal responsibility?

[@samuellavoie3894]

@@sweiland75 women where nice and plesant in those days and they listen and did what they where told, because they where beaten, unicorn world doesn't exist sorry, today this society is all mess up and falling appart, back then it was kept togheder, don't give people to much freedom and power especially women, they must be kept on a leach in the house

[@laszlozoltan5021]

when where you were was not their's there then or theirs ?

[@sturmgewehr4444]

@@sweiland75lol sod off with the feminist propaganda.

[@michaels2480]

Wow, cool! Driving on the left!

[@vancouverapartmentowner9476]

Vancouver switched over before 1910 to the Right Side of the Force.

[@aldosigmann419]

Epic !

[@Octasia1]

They decided it was in everybody’s best interest to show the fire and disaster for the first film of Toronto very interesting🤔

[@rapperintheend-time1867]

The very first ever gasoline-free, eco-friendly mode transportation vehicles with horsepower 🐴🐎

[@digitalstreetbeggar7351]

I honestly thought it was a time lapse when the fire was running its course and was boutta comment that they were ahead of their time… til I saw the building collapse and I rewinded lol.

[@markhuk1323]

That's my Great Grandpa following on His cycle...Great footage. Where's W. Murdock when I need Him? Mimico. 416

[@vancouverapartmentowner9476]

He HATES Mimico. Those exurbs have strange people in them.

[@markrussell383]

Where do these videos come from?

[@robichj]

France

[@elias7748]

Why are there car sounds in the background lol??

[@RatKindler]

Where is that pic shot at 2:58?

[@antoniosoul]

It's looking up Bay Street towards Old City Hall, from approximately King Street I'm guessing.

[@wellingtonsanissimo8703]

Pretty sure there was a lot of footage taken of Toronto before this, it was just lost or destroyed over time.

[@medeirosrui1576]

There I was running towards the front lines from behind enemy lines

[@timc2346]

Wow that alot of bicycles.

[@user-mx5kh9qo3z]

Wow fires. With the wooden telephone poles intact. Unbelievable

[@ltdasilva93]

To think everyone in this video is dead by now. What a world.

[@ReviewUSA-ri5dv]

People in horse and buggies built all those buildings and infrastructure...yeah.

[@brunettesweetie21]

Lol

[@Phoenixrising8313]

Hey

[@gulfy09]

Dinosaur's to 😂

[@gunzalez507]

Any clips from 2004-2009

[@mellejobs7412]

The way the run towards the dust before the days of health standards and respirators. Those folks were all kinds of sick.

[@NoName-vx6up]

I just marvel that there was sound.

[@thegoldendog7991]

I’m guessing that the sound was added. Silent movies didn’t have sound incorporated into a recording.

[@NoName-vx6up]

Ahhh, good one. Didn't think of that.

[@frankdiscussion2069]

Detective William Murdoch was there

[@botcrack]

huh....even in 1904, Toronto cyclists thought they could do whatever they want on the road

[@Hamzakhan-dt3gv]

Interesting

[@Overleb]

It is so crazy that all these people have lived all their life and died, without internet, wonder how they passed time, and some of them probably died during the world war.

[@annjones5201]

your comment speaks volumes. Best Wishes ❤

[@vancouverapartmentowner9476]

A LOT of the children in the video would have died in the Great War, yes.

[@ED80s]

I imagine they passed time listening to the radio, reading books, playing musical instruments, hobbies...meanwhile, I'm embarrassed to admit, I feel panic when the internet is down.

[@2Sugarbears]

Makes you wonder about who lit the fire.

[@marlonlo9661]

Good ole Muddy York. Hey, I think I saw Vito Corleone.

[@mikedrown2721]

👍😊

[@ehrichan6726]

Mary Pickford was only 12 when this fire had happened.

[@Candymannproductions]

Its sad to see what the city have become to 😔

[@bazbrown9696]

Yes, it's an absolute heart breaking tragedy, what's become of Toronto and Canada, far worse then the 1904 fire!

[@RUBY-zi2ug]

Huh??? Toronto still looks beautiful!

[@frankdiscussion2069]

it's a steaming cauldron of human waste now

[@An-lv9vw]

@@frankdiscussion2069 it used to be in 1904.. better now

[@stewartgillis4851]

That's the 1906 Toronto fire !

[@OldTorontoSeries]

1904.

[@stewartgillis4851]

@@OldTorontoSeries Right I stand corrected. I should have known.My Great Grandfather was badly injured fighting the fire and was sent to London England for treatment.

[@OldTorontoSeries]

👍👍

[@Thorscauldron]

I don't think Toronto had water filtration & fluoridation until the 1920s. So it's possible some of those firefighters could of got typhoid from the water.

[@oliverlegarde8966]

😱😱😱

[@Cal-TwentyNine]

"THE STREETS WERE MADE FOR CARS!"

[@laki879]

in the city everything is electrified and Tesla creates alternating current 1900 years from where they get electricity

[@FaadumoArdo]

You mean tthis the first footage ever taken nothing before that?

[@dollybrooks3112]

How do stone and brick buildings even burn?

[@medeirosrui1576]

When queen st was a field of dreams

[@briangraham1024]

CCM ... Hmmm ... I wonder how much a pair of tacks were back then? :-)

[@OldTorontoSeries]

Great skates.

[@fabienlamour3644]

I have a 1904 Waterbury clock....still working....not those peoples....

[@K__R__K]

So back in the day horse carriages and bikers rode on the left side of the road. For the most part at least 😜

[@DokisKalin1]

disappointing this doesn't show any electric streetcars on Queen...

[@quanny4690]

if you showed a child from this era 6ixbuzz i think they would die

[@michaelellis7325]

Drake needs to use this

[@somedude6683]

Why are these *_Torontonian_* men wearing the *_Picklehaube_* helmets from 19th century Germany and Prussia?

[@DucatiKozak]

Great video! The addition of that soundtrack is terrible, however.

[@jamesgrant3578]

Where's all of the indigenous people? Or was this video meant to exclude them for future deception?

[@vancouverapartmentowner9476]

In their residential schools being murdered probably.

[@apex6186]

This video is definitely sus. How can they say that was a fire? Clearly there were explosions

[@DannyzReviews]

Right?! They look like they're just straight up demolishing buildings and there's a crowd watching. It all looks quite fishy.

[@sassycindy311]

All over free electricity 😔

[@subconsciouswave]

This city was burned down as were allot of major cities Chicago, New Orleans etc.. all similar time. Doesn’t seem like coincidence

[@OldTorontoSeries]

Note the use of wood and lack of fire codes.

[@subconsciouswave]

@@OldTorontoSeries actually lot of those old world buildings like the red brick buildings were lot more advanced in architecture than most steel box buildings today

[@Ynalaw]

Sadly, because the human life span is prohibitive, I'll just have to accept that what you're presenting is truthful.

[@amazingtoad7244]

It’s all fun’n games till you realize that th3 children you see here the the soldiers of World War One, and many of them wouldn’t make it to 25

[@vancouverapartmentowner9476]

Well our 6 year olds may be the soldiers of World War 3

[@Hashishin13]

@@vancouverapartmentowner9476 18*

[@vancouverapartmentowner9476]

@@Hashishin13 18? That would put WW3 in 2034. :)

[@noeyp905]

Ccm

[@ivobiancucci4528]

No graffiti

[@slipperyjim1497]

conspiracy theory: the cameraman set the fire so he would have something spectacular to film. Case solved.

[@stewartgillis4851]

People died.Have some respect.Comment not clever anyway.

[@pathologicallyfriendly]

@@stewartgillis4851 It says at the end that there were zero deaths

[@mikhailpugliano9610]

The first footage of the beautiful city of Toronto.... "THE BUILDINGS ARE ON FIIRREE AHHHHHHH RUUNNN" that's just tuurrible eh? Lol

[@JoeyArmstrong2800]

I can't wait for those horseless carriages we've all been hearing about.

[@georgeemil3618]

Anybody notice all those pedestrians and cyclists all over the road? The real problem started when cars pushed everybody off. That's when road fatalities started to climb.

[@laszlozoltan5021]

would you prefer cars use the sidewalk instead ?

[@georgeemil3618]

@@laszlozoltan5021 Unfortunately, some drivers do that too. There are many cases in which drivers jump curbs and end up killing pedestrians and occupants inside buildings. When was the last time a driver was killed because a pedestrian walked into his car?

[@josecarranza7555]

Racists be like “wHeN cAnAdA wAs CaNaDa, BeFoRe BrOwN pEoPlE cAmE”

[@leeoliver424]

Like you?

[@vancouverapartmentowner9476]

Toronto's first hangman was a black ex-slave from Alabama. He enjoyed hanging racists of every nationality, especially Alabamans.

[@sturmgewehr4444]

Tacos grande

[@guyfantastico8268]

Those horse sounds are super annoying

[@chanc7325]

and i look outside now, to see a shit show everyday

[@zu1352]

😆😁😄

[@richardramfire3971]

Interesting