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Visiting Toronto’s First Post Office? Why not spend the whole day in Old Town Toronto? Old Town Toronto is full of history waiting to be discovered. Luckily, many of the points of interest are within walking distance of Toronto’s First Post Office. Learn how and where the founders of our city lived and worked. Discover where they shopped for food, picked up their mail, went to church and sent their children to school.  For today’s schoolchildren, all of the following attractions offer curriculum-based education programs.  For group tours and other programming, please contact them directly. The Distillery District 55 Mill Street Toronto, ON M5A 3C4 416-866-8687 www.thedistillerydistrict.com/frameset.html Founded in 1832 by two brothers-in-law, the Gooderham and Worts Distillery was once the biggest in the British empire.  With forty-four buildings on thirteen acres in downtown Toronto it is the largest and best preserved collection of Victorian industrial architecture in North America.  This pedestrian-only complex is now home to art galleries, studios, shops, restaurants and cafés.  As a national historic site its unspoiled character and cobbled streets have also made it a much sought-after film location. The Canadian Opera Company 227 Front Street East Toronto, ON M5A 1E8 416-306-2307 www.coc.ca A number of heritage buildings have been transformed into the office, rehearsal and other backstage spaces of Canada’s premier opera company.  They also house a music library and archives, as well as stores of props and costumes.  A visit to the wig department alone is a memorable and eye-opening experience.  Interestingly, the rehearsal hall is a former Consumer’s Gas Building the roof of which is designed to lift straight up in the case of an explosion, in order to prevent the walls from being blown apart. Enoch Turner Schoolhouse 106 Trinity Street Toronto, ON M5A 3C6 416-863-0010 www.enochturnerschoolhouse.ca   Toronto’s first free school was established in 1848 by local brewer Enoch Turner in order that children of the working class might get an education.  Although closed as a school in 1859, the building remained in continuous use until the 1960s when its state of disrepair put it in danger of being torn down.  Thanks to the foresight and hard work of architect Eric Arthur and local citizens it was saved and restored, opening as an historic site and museum in 1972. The Market Gallery 95 Front Street East Toronto, ON  M5E 1C2 416-392-7604 www.toronto.ca/culture/the_market_gallery.htm The gallery occupies the 19th century city council chamber which is all that remains of the building that served as Toronto’s city Hall from 1845 to 1899.  Enclosed within the south St. Lawrence market building, which opened in 1902, it was boarded up and forgotten until the 1970s when it was rediscovered and put to a dignified use.  It now offers changing exhibitions dedicated to Toronto’s history, art and culture, and houses the city’s permanent art collection. St. James Cathedral 65 Church Street Toronto ON, M5C 2E9 416-364-0295 www.stjamescathedral.on.ca This Gothic Revival building, constructed following the great Toronto fire of 1849, is the fourth Anglican church to have stood on this site – the first wooden building having been erected in 1807.  It boasts the tallest church spire in the country and also the only full complement of twelve change-ringing bells.  Its archives and museum offer changing exhibitions and extensive resources on the early history of Toronto.  The cathedral itself is set in a beautiful Victorian garden park, and across from it is the Toronto Sculpture Garden. Mackenzie House 82 Bond Street Toronto ON, M5B 1X2 416-392-6915 www.toronto.ca/culture/mackenzie_house.htm This late-Georgian row house was the last home of William Lyon Mackenzie, the outspoken newspaper editor who was both Toronto’s first mayor and the leader of the 1837 rebellion.  It was purchased for him by the community in recognition of his life-long efforts to reform the political system of Upper Canada.  Now restored to the 1850s, its period rooms exemplify middle-class life in Toronto at that time.  The museum also houses a recreated print shop with an 1845 flatbed press, as well as a gallery with changing exhibitions. Campbell House 82 Bond Street Toronto ON, M5B 1X2 416-392-6915 www.campbellhousemuseum.ca Campbell House is the oldest remaining house from the original site of the town of York.  It was built in 1822 for Judge William Campbell and his wife Hannah on Duke Street (now Adelaide) at the top of Frederick Street.  It is no longer there.  Industrial use throughout the 20th century had taken a toll on the building and its last owners wished to tear it down in order to enlarge their parking lot.  The building was offered up to anyone willing to remove it from the property.  It was rescued by the Advocates Society, moved to its current location at Queen and University in 1972 and subsequently and magnificently restored.

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