Historic photos from around Distillery District, Toronto

The Distillery District is centred around the Gooderham & Worts Distillery which was in continuous production for 153 years - from 1837 to 1990. In 1831 James Worts emigrated to Canada and started a grist mill on the site. He was joined by his brother-in-law William Gooderham, and in 1837 they add a distillery. Eventually they had a flourmill, their own wharf, an icehouse, and a dairy.

It remains one of the largest and best preserved set of Victorian-era industrial architecture in North America. For more information, see the Distillery District Heritage webpage

List of all areas in Toronto or take a look at the historic photos by date. A subset of the photos have also been arranged by subject.

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1834		General View of Toronto (featuring the windmill of Worts and Gooderham, Millers) 179 years ago - Distillery District - 1834 Link to archive record - Map location
1907		Parliament St., looking north across Mill St. and the railway crossing 106 years ago - Distillery District - 1907 Link to archive record - Map location (From the Toronto Public Library)
1907		Parliament St., looking south across Mill St. 106 years ago - Distillery District - 1907 Link to archive record - Map location (From the Toronto Public Library)
1907		Cherry St., looking north from n. of Mill St., across C.P.R. tracks towards Front St. E. 106 years ago - Distillery District - 1907 Link to archive record - Map location (From the Toronto Public Library)
1912		Old houses - northwest corner of Trinity and Fronts Streets 101 years ago - Distillery District - Saturday, February 3, 1912 Link to archive record - Map location (From the City of Toronto Archives)
1916		Original staff of British Acetones 97 years ago - Distillery District - Thursday, November 30, 1916 Link to archive record - Map location (From the City of Toronto Archives)
1917		Condemned Houses - Southeast corner of Eastern Avenue and Trinity Street 96 years ago - Distillery District - Friday, November 9, 1917 Link to archive record - Map location (From the City of Toronto Archives)
1918		Ground floor mill showing machinery for driving millstones and rolls 95 years ago - Distillery District - Tuesday, November 12, 1918 Link to archive record - Map location (From the City of Toronto Archives)
1918		Groundfloor mill, showing machinery for driving millstones and rools 95 years ago - Distillery District - Tuesday, November 12, 1918 Link to archive record - Map location (From the City of Toronto Archives)
1918		View looking south on Trinity Street, showing to the right the M. E. K. still and tank houses 95 years ago - Distillery District - Tuesday, November 19, 1918 Link to archive record - Map location (From the City of Toronto Archives)
1918		View of the plant from the west, showing the butyl tank, capacity 1.4 million gallons; boiler house, with distillery and mill in the distance 95 years ago - Distillery District - Thursday, November 21, 1918 Link to archive record - Map location (From the City of Toronto Archives)
1954		Cherry St. Hotel, then Eastern Star Hotel ca 1904, with Tippet Richardson sign (Categorized under: Hotels ) 59 years ago - Distillery District - 1954 Link to archive record - Map location (From the Toronto Public Library)
1981		Cherry St - Canary Restaurant, Palace Street School, and Cherry Street Hotel (Categorized under: Hotels ) 32 years ago - Distillery District - Monday, May 18, 1981 Link to archive record - Map location (From Collations Flickr stream)
1981		Cherry St, ws, south of Front St E. One of the last originally residential structures left by 'collations' Patrick Cummins 32 years ago - Distillery District - Monday, May 18, 1981 Link to archive record - Map location (From Collations Flickr stream)
1983		Mill St looking west, from east of Trinity St. to the CN Tower 30 years ago - Distillery District - Wednesday, July 13, 1983 Link to archive record - Map location (From Collations Flickr stream)
1995		Barbwire gate for a movie set - Distillery District 18 years ago - Distillery District - 1995 Link to archive record - Map location (From the City of Toronto Archives)