page_title: St. Lawrence Market
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: St. Lawrence Market / History
caption_attribution_description: English: "The Old City Hall", now known as St. Lawrence Market, on King Street East, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building served as the municipal seat of government for 55 years, at which point it was replaced by what is now called Old City Hall on Queen Street West.
context_page_description: St. Lawrence Market is a major public market in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located along Front Street East and Jarvis Street in the St. Lawrence neighbourhood of downtown Toronto. The public market is made up of two sites adjacent to one another east of Jarvis Street, St. Lawrence Market North, and St. Lawrence Market South. St. Lawrence Market South is situated south of Front Street East, and is bounded by The Esplanade to the south. St. Lawrence Market North is situated north of Front Street East, and is bounded by St. Lawrence Hall to the north.
  St. Lawrence Market was first established in the early 19th century, originating from a proclamation that established a designated area near King Street and New Street for a public market in 1803. The first buildings erected for the market emerged in 1814, with the first permanent structures built in 1820. The first permanent market building was later replaced in 1831 with the first St. Lawrence Market North building. The building was damaged after the Great Fire of Toronto of 1849, and was replaced with a new building in 1851.
context_section_description: By 1803, the population of York, Upper Canada had increased to the point where a public market was needed. Upper Canada Lieutenant Governor Peter Hunter established a weekly market day and designated an area. His proclamation appeared in the November 3, 1803 issue of The Upper Canada Gazette saying, “Whereas great prejudice hath arisen to the inhabitants of the town and township of York and of other adjoining townships from no place or day having been set apart for exposing publicly for sale, cattle, sheep, poultry and other provisions, goods and merchandise brought by merchants, farmers and others for the necessary supply of the town of York and whereas great benefit and advantage might be derived to the inhabitants and others by establishing a weekly market at a place and on a day certain for the purpose aforesaid;”
  The original market was known as Market Square and people gathered there on Saturdays at the corner of King Street and New Street, (today's Jarvis St) stretching west to Church Street and south to Palace (today's Front St), with a creek running through the center from King south to the bay. The plot set aside for the market was 5.5 acres (2.2 ha). The market square was the centre of the city's social life where auctions took place and public punishments were carried out. In the earliest days of the town, when slavery was still legal, this included auctions of black slaves. Town bylaws prohibited the selling of butter, eggs, fish, meat, poultry, and vegetables between the hours of 6am and 4pm on Saturdays, except at the market.
  In the nineteenth century, Toronto had three public markets named after the wards within which they were located. St. Lawrence Market, founded in 1803, was the first, St. Patrick's Market at 238 Queen Street West was the second, created in 1836, and still exists in the form of an organic food court within its current building, constructed in 1912, and St. Andrew's Market on the block between Richmond, Adelaide, Brant and Maud streets was built in 1850 and is now a park.
  The first St. Lawrence market building, a temporary shelter, 24 feet (7.3 m) by 36 feet (11 m) was built in 1814. The first permanent structure was built in 1820. In 1823, the town's first public well was dug on the property. In 1831, the wooden market building was torn down and a quadrangular brick building with arched entrances at the sides was built. The building's office space served as a temporary home to City Council until 1845. This building was used until the 1849 Toronto Great Fire destroyed the northern side of the building and it was torn down.
  After the fire, St. Lawrence Hall was built, along with a new market building between it and Front, the first to be known as St Lawrence Market. It was an arcade in a north-south orientation. To finance the new construction, the City of Toronto sold lots on the market block. In the 1850s, the railways arrived in Toronto, and rail lines were extended along Front Street to the market. These lines were relocated to the new Esplanade south of Front Street and a passenger station was erected.
  The present St. Lawrence Market South building was built in 1845 as Toronto City Hall and was rebuilt in 1850. In 1899, Toronto City Hall moved to a new building at Queen and Bay Street. Part of the old City Hall was incorporated into a new building in 1904. At the same time, the 1851 north market building was torn down and replaced with a new building similar to the new south building. A canopy was built between the north and south buildings and this was torn down in the 1950s. The north market building was replaced with a simple single floor building in 1968, and the south building was renovated in 1972. The north building was demolished in 2015.
  The City of Toronto government is now proceeding with another market building on the site of the North building at 92 Front St. A new four-storey building with an atrium is to replace the 1968 North building. The city council has awarded the contract to The Buttcon Limited/The Atlas corporation Joint Venture. The construction on the new pro
caption: St. Lawrence Market South in 1899. Built in 1845, the building was re-purposed for market use in 1902.
exif: {"Image Copyright": "Public Domain, from the British Library's collections, 2013"}