Toronto in 1868 - The Toronto Street Post Office

 

This was originally posted on my Instagram account on July 3rd, 2021.  

You can find me on Instagram @fiennesclinton

This is the Toronto Street Post Office, also known as Toronto's Seventh Post Office.  It was built in 1853 & is still standing at 10 Toronto Street.  The original text from Octavius Thompson’s “Toronto in the Camera” reads as follows.

“The Toronto Post Office was completed May, 1853, at a cost of $16,000. The style of architecture is Grecian Ionic, after the Temple of Minerva at Athens. It is 48 feet in front, by 90 feet in depth. The architects were Messrs. Cumberland & Storm. Besides the offices connected with the Post Office, it contains on the upper floor the offices of the Inspector for the Toronto Postal Division; and in the basement, rooms occupied by the resident porter.

In addition to the Postmaster and Assistant Postmaster, there are employed in the Toronto Post Office 18 clerks, 5 letter carriers, 2 box collectors, and 2 porters. Mails are despatched and received twice daily by Grand Trunk Railway eastwards; twice daily by Grand Trunk Railway westward; twice daily by Northern Railway, and three times daily by Great Western Railway via Hamilton; also once daily by Stages running respectively to and from Rouge Hill, Stouffville, Thornhill, and Cooksville.

The average weight of mail matter despatched daily is estimated at nearly three tons. The postage collected is over $70,000 per annum; and the amount of money orders issued and paid in each year is over $400,000.”