Researching Toronto History online
Channel: Back Lane Studios
Date: 2021-08-20

Maybe you’ve thought about researching your home’s history. Or perhaps you’re interested in finding out more about your neighbourhood. It's amazing how much information you can access on line. Jessica Algie, from the City of Toronto Archives, shows us how we can dig into the city’s past by accessing city directories, insurance maps, photo archives, old newspaper files and other databases that you can access easily on your computer. 
She does so by exploring the history of the building on Roncesvalles where Back Lane Studios is located. Through this video, you can watch Jessica's Zoom presentation as she takes us step by step through the process of discovering a building's history and its occupants. (Back Lane's building was originally built and owned by Samuel Caulfield for his business Caulfield's Dairy.)
We would like to thank Jessica for her workshop, which has proved extremely useful for our Mapping our Memories project and for those who are helping us collect seniors' recollections of our neighbourhoods. This project has been supported by funding from the Government of Canada and the New Horizons for Seniors Project. 
For Jessica's research tip sheet, go to http://backlanestudios.ca/online-research-workshop/