Queen Street Subway northeast side, 1894. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 376, File 1, Item 53.
The first grade-separated “subway” in Toronto was built on Queen Street at the eastern edge of Parkdale in 1884. It originally consisted of bridges for two train lines, the Credit Valley Railway and the Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway. When the last girder was laid on October 5, 1884, thousands descended on the construction site to witness the event. “Now that the girders are all in place,” reported the following day’s edition of the Globe, “the work of excavating will be carried on much more rapidly, and the residents of Parkdale look forward to a drive through the subway in about ten days.”
