Modest hopes : homes and stories of Toronto's workers from the 1820s to the 1920s / Don Loucks & Leslie Valpy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Loucks, Don, author.

Valpy, Leslie, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Working class--Dwellings--Ontario--Toronto--History.

Working class.

Row houses--Ontario--Toronto--History.

Row houses.

Semi-detached houses--Ontario--Toronto--History.

Semi-detached houses.

Historic buildings--Ontario--Toronto.

Historic buildings.

Working class--Ontario--Toronto--History.

Toronto (Ont.)--Buildings, structures, etc.

Toronto (Ont.).

Toronto (Ont.)--History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 272 pages) : illustrations.

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Homes and Stories of Toronto's Workers from the 1820s to The 1920s

Place of Publication:

Toronto : Dundurn Press, 2021.

Summary:

"Modest hopes" are the houses that were home to the people who built Toronto. These small homes found in rows, semis, or the rare detached, still exist throughout the older neighbourhoods of Toronto, yet they are an under-valued and endangered heritage resource.

"Celebrating Toronto's built heritage of row houses, semis, and cottages and the people who lived in them. Too often, workers' cottages are characterized today as being small, cramped, poorly built, and disposable. But in the late 1800s, to have worked and saved enough money to move into one was an incredible achievement. Moving from the crowded conditions of boarding houses, or areas such as Toronto's Ward or Ashport's 'shanty-town,' just east of the city, to a self-contained, six-hundred-square-foot row house was the result of an unimaginably strong hope for the future, a belief in it, and a commitment to what lay ahead. For the workers and their families, these houses were far from modest. The architectural details of these cottages suggested status, value, and pride of place; they reminded the workers of where they had come from, with architectural roots from their homeland. These 'modest hopes' are an undervalued heritage resource and an important but forgotten part of the Toronto narrative about the people who lived in them and built our city."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title Page

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Authors' Note

Introduction: Home Is Where the Heart Is

1 Origins: The History and Antecedents of Workers' Housing Movements

2 The Architecture: Five Modest Hope House Types

3 The Newcomers: Early Immigrants to Toronto Who Built and Lived in Modest Hopes

4 Toronto: 1820-1920

5 The Neighbourhoods: A Selection of Historic Toronto Areas Where Modest Hopes Were Concentrated

6 The Stories: Portraits of the People and Their Modest Hopes Homes

Bridget Ann Treacy McTague (1840-1924)

Murray Buchman (1923-)

Sam Ching and Dennis Chow

William Joseph O'Connor (1862-1892)

Thomas T. Ferguson (1893-1918)

Anne O'Rourke (Circa 1820-1891)

The Moore Family

Albert Jackson (1857-1918)

Conclusion: Why Are Modest Hopes Important Today?

Acknowledgements

Notes

Bibliography

Image Credits

Back Cover.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781459745568

1459745566

OCLC:

1164731684