Broadview School photos 1959-1960

A while back, I discovered a random little trove of photos taken of students at Broadview Public School during the 1959-60 school year. These were taken by the National Film Board, and were taken by NFB famed photographer Chris Lund for their Still Photography Division.

I am not certain why this set of photos was taken, but it is a nice sampling of school life 60 years ago. Have a look, particularly if you or a family member attended Broadview at that time - you may find yourself!

"A kindergarten class at Broadview Public School."
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"A woman and two children seated at table in the library at
Broadview Public School."
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"A close-up of a young student seated at a desk in the
classroom. Broadview Public School"
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"A Group of children standing around together. In the foreground
is a little girl holding a rabbit. Broadview Public School"
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"View of the Broadview Public School. In the foreground
can be seen children running out at recess."
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"A view from the back of the classroom looking towards the
teacher and the blackboard. Broadview Elementary School"
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"A high angle view looking down on a group of young students
who are seated on the floor listening to their teacher explaining
some material from a text book. Broadview Public School"
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"A high angle view looking down on students in the
Broadview Public School."
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Wellington Village residential-to-commercial, with a focus on the Wellington Diner

The current edition of the Kitchissippi Times features an article I wrote, describing the changes to Wellington Street West over the last 100 years or so, but most particularly since the 1950s, when the area was still largely residential. As the need for more commercial space has increased over time, houses have been re-purposed as shops, stores, restaurants and other businesses. Wellington West is fairly unique in this regard, and what's great is that almost all of the original buildings in Wellington Village still remain today (unlike Westboro, where a lot of these old converted houses were demolished during the late 1990s and in to the 2000s).

This article takes a particular look at the Wellington Diner, at the corner of Wellington and Western, and it's history from residential house, to used car lot, and eventually, a restaurant. The article also details just how it ended up that a vacant lot ended up in this spot, a story which originates all the way back in 1911. This vacant lot of course now is contentious over the establishment of a patio, the matter passing through Council but now headed towards the Ontario Municipal Board in Toronto.

The online version of the article contains a few extra photos of the neighbourhood, and some neat old ads for the used car lot which stood on this location for over 40 years. Thanks for reading!

https://kitchissippi.com/2017/08/03/home-car-lot-restaurant-the-evolution-of-1385-wellington-st-w/

The Wellington Diner - aka the Stacey home.
Circa 1930

A walk through Kitchissippi in 1867

I'm well behind in posting my updates to the blog! My apologies!

Earlier this summer, you may have caught it: the cover story of the mid-June Kitchissippi Times was my article on Kitchissippi of 1867. As we are the midst of Canada 150 celebrations, it was good timing to write an article talking about the people, places and streetscape that would have existed in our area in 1867. This was a really fun article to write, and combines years of research on various topics, culminating in painting a picture of exactly what someone in 1867 would have experienced. I included as many photos as I could find that would apply, including some very rare pictures I acquired over the last few months but haven't shared yet.

I hope you'll enjoy it, and gain a bit of an appreciation for just how different life would have been in our area 150 years ago. You can read the full article at:

https://kitchissippi.com/2017/06/22/historical-walking-tour-of-kitchissippi/