First Parliament Site Photo Gallery

Line drawing of the first parliament buildings, which consists of two small one-level buildings (each with a door and a small window above it at one end, and a set of four windows along the right side), connected by a shorter, long structure in the back.

Drawing of Ontario’s First Parliament Buildings, 1796-1813, c1910 (City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1231, Item 2076)

Pen and ink drawing of the First Parliament site.

First Parliament Buildings in York, 1796, burned by Americans in 1813, 27th April / These buildings stood on Beverley St. (Front) E., on site of Gas W of 1846-64. / They were built of Brick with a corridor of wood in / the rear. — First buildings erected in York — See Heriot’s Travels

Artist rendering of the 1840 Home District Gaol (pronounced jail), which has what looks like three levels to the main part of the building that is rectangular, and is attached to a six-sided building with what looks like four levels and is topped with a copula.

Jail, c1850, Frederic Victor Poole (Toronto Public Library)

1922 Retort House before the renovation.

Retort House, Station A, c1922 (City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1034, Item 821)

View of Front Street, looking west from Parliament Street, with a car wash and gas station in view on the left, cars on the street waiting at a light and downtown can be seen in the horizon.

Photo of Front Street, looking west from Parliament Street, Don Ritchie, 1973 (Toronto Public Library)

Present day aerial view of the first parliament site.