Gooderham Building

One last view of a mural near the St. Lawrence Market...

Although I'd seen this iconic building before on postcards in Torontian gift shops, we weren't prepared to see it up close and personal a mere few minutes away from the market. This was a pleasant surprise...

The Gooderham Building (aka the Flat Iron Building):

Sorry! I had to sneak this in! Tim Hortons is everywhere! Timbits anyone?

Okay, back to the history lesson.

(info from wikipedia's entry on "Gooderham Building"):

"The red brick Gooderham Building (commonly referred to as the "Flatiron Building") is at 49 Wellington Street East in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the eastern edge of the city's financial district (east of Yonge Street), on the north side of the Front Street (St. Lawrence) neighbourhood wedged between Front Street and Wellington Street, where they join up to form a triangular intersection. Although a prominent landmark both for its colour and shape, it is only five storeys high. Completed in 1892, it was an early example of a prominent "Flatiron" building..."

I like the juxtaposition of old and new.

"The previous building was shorter but in the same shape and was called the Coffin Block. The current building was built by architect David Roberts, Jr. and originally cost $18,000 to construct for distiller George Gooderham, son of the founder William Gooderham. It was the office of the Gooderham & Worts distillery until 1952 and sold by the Gooderham Estate in 1957.


The Gooderham’s or Flatiron building which is located at Front and Wellington streets, is the very first Flatiron building built in North America. Commissioned by George Gooderham, it was built by architect David Roberts Jr. in 1891. After George Gooderham’s death it was declared to be an official Ontario Heritage property. The wedge-shaped structure creates an illusion of being a real wedge to the two high-rise buildings when standing in front of the building."

Ooh, so cool, I didn't realize it was the very first Flatiron building! We've seen the one in NYC near the Shake Shack (see a quick peek here from this moldy oldy post from our NYC trip in June 2007)...

Here's a Pizza Pizza joint (this is a Canadian chain)...

(info below from wikipedia's entry on "Pizza Pizza"; official Pizza Pizza website here):

"Pizza Pizza currently uses the self-explanatory slogans "Hot and Fresh" and "Ontario's #1 Pizza!" However, perhaps better known still is the chain's Toronto phone number, (416) 967-1111, the last four digits pronounced "eleven-eleven" to rhyme with "seven". The company claims that its early adoption of the centralized single-number ordering system, and its subsequent use and heavy promotion of this rhyming phone number, helped the chain to grow and soon dominate the Ontario pizza market

[Pizza Pizza] has also recently secured product placement on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation."

That's a series I haven't watched but I know that Kevin Smith (director of "Clerks", "Mallrats", et al, loves this show!)

And here's another interesting tidbit:

"Pizza! Pizza!" is also recognized, primarily in the United States, as the slogan for another pizza franchise, Little Caesars. The companies are not affiliated and in fact compete in many areas of Canada. Little Caesars has been prohibited from using it as a slogan in Canada, as part of Pizza Pizza's court defence of the trademark and the great possibility of confusion between the two firms. Pizza Pizza sold its "Pizza Pizza" slogan to Little Caesar's in 1979."

Another Second Cup...

"The Gooderham Building has a Romanesque cornice and frieze above the arched windows on the fourth floor. The main entrance located on 49 Wellington St makes use of a French Gothic archway. The foundation is made of sandstone. The steep copper roof has eight gable dormers, four on the south facade and four on the north facade."

This view from from the traffic median which was pretty wide and had seating! It was a pretty good vantage point for shots like these!


I'm glad we stumbled upon this intersection and historic architectural landmark...