arob
Jr. Member
Forward Condo Excavator Finds Century Old Soda Bottles at Fort York Blvd and Queen's
Forward Condo Excavator Finds Century Old Soda Bottles at Fort York Blvd and Queen's Wharf
The excavation site of the Forward and Newton condominiums, on the S.E. corner of Bathurst and Fort York Blvd. in downtown Toronto, has exposed the site of what was once the Through Freight & Passenger Depo of the O.S. & H.R. Railway (the Ontario Simcoe and Huron Railway circa 1870), and here, on the threshold of this hole in time, I encountered a professional excavator with small treasures that were made and sold over one hundred and thirty years ago.
Here's an Alex Burns / Toronto aqua blob top soda.
It has a right facing beaver which you can barely see . The beaver was a hotly contested trademark.
ALEX BURNS / TORONTO
BELFAST GINGER ALE
A bottle of Belfast Ginger Ale probably sold for a penny or two on the steamship in the 1880s, In mint condition, this 130yr old Alex Burns Belfast Ginger ale bottle would sell for anywhere from $30 to $60 today. .
Below is a picture map from the 1850s (?) and here you can see its just one pier to the right of the Queens Wharf below the train station is very busy.
The Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railway - In July 1849, the Toronto, Simcoe & Lake Huron Union Railroad was founded by Frederick Chase Capreol and Charles Albert Berczy. An act of Parliament, known as the Guarantee Act helped finance construction of the railway through the sale of bonds.
The OS&HR Railway name was changed to Northern Railway of Canada on August 16, 1858 and it became part of the Northern and Northwestern Railway on June 6, 1879, (its now part of Canadian National Railway or CNR).
The Port of Toronto is the gateway to Ontario; fast forward twenty more years and we can see how the port and the railway grows as business and commerce expands on the Canadian frontier.
In 1887, the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) gained a controlling interest, and the takeover was formalized in January 1888. Now there are four piers, each connected to a railway line.
The port before the first world war
Here are steamers docking at the railway piers in 1914. Look at the smokestacks and industry in this photo and imagine all the garbage that went over the side of these boats
Fast forward one hundred years from this exact same spot, looking in the same direction...
Behold we see the wooden piers where the steamers docked to unload small wooden boxes filled with goods from other parts of the British Empire and America cities south of the Great Lakes. This soil is filled with the relic of our ancestors; their primitive glassware, medicines, sodas, beers, and sealer jars, whisky jugs, crocks, clay pipes, dental tooth powder jars, ceramic moustach grease containers -small items mixed in with their early industrial age garbage are among many Canadian antiques collectors most coveted treasures today.
Forward Condo Excavator Finds Century Old Soda Bottles at Fort York Blvd and Queen's Wharf
The excavation site of the Forward and Newton condominiums, on the S.E. corner of Bathurst and Fort York Blvd. in downtown Toronto, has exposed the site of what was once the Through Freight & Passenger Depo of the O.S. & H.R. Railway (the Ontario Simcoe and Huron Railway circa 1870), and here, on the threshold of this hole in time, I encountered a professional excavator with small treasures that were made and sold over one hundred and thirty years ago.
Here's an Alex Burns / Toronto aqua blob top soda.
It has a right facing beaver which you can barely see . The beaver was a hotly contested trademark.
ALEX BURNS / TORONTO
BELFAST GINGER ALE
A bottle of Belfast Ginger Ale probably sold for a penny or two on the steamship in the 1880s, In mint condition, this 130yr old Alex Burns Belfast Ginger ale bottle would sell for anywhere from $30 to $60 today. .
Below is a picture map from the 1850s (?) and here you can see its just one pier to the right of the Queens Wharf below the train station is very busy.
The Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railway - In July 1849, the Toronto, Simcoe & Lake Huron Union Railroad was founded by Frederick Chase Capreol and Charles Albert Berczy. An act of Parliament, known as the Guarantee Act helped finance construction of the railway through the sale of bonds.
The OS&HR Railway name was changed to Northern Railway of Canada on August 16, 1858 and it became part of the Northern and Northwestern Railway on June 6, 1879, (its now part of Canadian National Railway or CNR).
The Port of Toronto is the gateway to Ontario; fast forward twenty more years and we can see how the port and the railway grows as business and commerce expands on the Canadian frontier.
In 1887, the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) gained a controlling interest, and the takeover was formalized in January 1888. Now there are four piers, each connected to a railway line.
The port before the first world war
Here are steamers docking at the railway piers in 1914. Look at the smokestacks and industry in this photo and imagine all the garbage that went over the side of these boats
Fast forward one hundred years from this exact same spot, looking in the same direction...
Behold we see the wooden piers where the steamers docked to unload small wooden boxes filled with goods from other parts of the British Empire and America cities south of the Great Lakes. This soil is filled with the relic of our ancestors; their primitive glassware, medicines, sodas, beers, and sealer jars, whisky jugs, crocks, clay pipes, dental tooth powder jars, ceramic moustach grease containers -small items mixed in with their early industrial age garbage are among many Canadian antiques collectors most coveted treasures today.
It's fascinating what lies beneath all the developed city harbors- world-wide! Thanks for this!
