Muddy York: A Toronto History Podcast

For decades, Massey Hall was the most famous venue in Canada. It hosted legendary performers like Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry and Gordon Lightfoot. It also hosted a variety of events staged by local community groups. On this episode, we cover the history of the Grand Old Lady of Shuter Street. Learn all about it from Muddy York, Toronto's #1 history podcast. You can follow  Muddy York  on Twitter: ...

Toronto's Black community is almost as old as the community itself. The first census ever done in York identified 15 black residents. Some of them were slaves, but some of them were free persons who chose to settle there. Natasha Henry-Dixon of York University has made it her mission to recover the stories of these often overlooked people. She joins us on this episode to talk about the lives of th...

Next Monday, June 8th, is the 200th Anniversary of an often overlooked event. On that date in 1826, a mob forced its way into a newspaper printing shop and proceeded to smash the printing press as well as anything else they could find. The rioters were all members of the local elite, better known to us as the Family Compact, and their target was a muckraking journalist named William Lyon Mackenzie...

Ontario Place was Toronto's summer getaway from the noise and heat of the city. It was also our attempt to match Montreal and the spectacular success of Expo 67. Today, it's at the centre of a debate about what to do with the stretch of the waterfront that it used to occupy. This episode is about the creation of Ontario Place. Former MP Adam Vaughan will also join us to talk Therme's p...

In part two of our history of the Don Jail, we'll learn more about some of the men who were executed there, including the last two men to be executed in Canada, we'll hear about the gang of bank robbers who managed to escape, not once, but twice, and we'll find out what happened to the building after the jail was finally closed. Learn more about Toronto's most notorious prison on t...

The Don Jail was Toronto's most notorious prison, home to some of the most dangerous offenders in Canadian history. In part one of this episode, we'll explain why the prison was built and the ideas behind its design. We'll also talk about some of the people who spent time there during the 19th century. Learn all about it at Muddy York , Toronto's #1 history podcast. You can follow ...

In 2010, the world-famous Toronto International Battle of the Bands would become the centre of a series of bizarre events related to a little known group called Sex Bob-Omb. On this episode of Muddy York , we will be telling the story of the 2010 TIBB and the mysterious band that came out of nowhere to dominate all the news surrounding it.  You can follow  Muddy York  on Twitter:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Most people believe that ML baseball arrived in Toronto with the Blue Jays on April 7, 1977. However, this was actually the third ML game to be played in the city. Harvey Sahker, author of Before the Blue Jays , joins us to talk about these two lesser known ML games. Learn all about this forgotten part of Toronto baseball history on Muddy York, Toronto's #1 history podcast. You can follow  Mud...

On the evening of March 17, 1960, five workers died in an underground tunnel because of the neglect and indifference of the men in charge of the project. It became known as the Hoggs Hollow Disaster and it would fuel a drive for workplace safety that created many of the rights that we have today. Learn more about this tragic event in this episode of Muddy York , Toronto's #1 history podcast. Y...

Beatrice Worsley became a computer scientist at a time when computers could fill entire rooms and most people had no idea what they were or how they worked. She operated and designed the programming language for Canada's first digital computer. And she was often the only woman in the room while she did her groundbreaking work. Scott Campbell from the University of Waterloo joins us to talk about t...

Parkdale might seem like an ordinary Toronto neighbourhood, but its story includes the Grey Cup, an amusement park, the KKK, mental health and the largest school in Canada. Learn more about this distinctive community on this episode of  Muddy York , Toronto's #1 history podcast. We would like to give a shout out to Brett Craig who first requested this topic and now has a moral obligation to pr...

Black slavery arrived in Canada with the loyalists. It would be limited in 1793, but not fully abolished until 1834. This is the story of the people who were enslaved, the woman whose defiance prompted the government to take action, and the continuing threats of enslavement faced by Black Torontonians even after emancipation. You can follow  Muddy York  on Twitter:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

The Royal Alex is the grand old dame of Toronto theatres and the oldest continuously-operating legitimate theatre in North America. In this episode, you can learn about how it was built in a fit of upper-class pique, how it became the only Canadian legitimate theatre to survive the Depression, and how it became the heart of the Mirvish theatrical empire. If you're a Toronto theatregoer, this i...

226 years ago, the Attorney General was shot and killed in a grove near the Distillery District. Everybody knew who did it, but the shooter went free because it happened in a duel. This week’s episode is about the Small-White Duel, a tale of two gentleman who faced each other in mortal combat over a matter of honour and because their wives couldn’t get along. You can follow  Muddy York  on Twitter...

Over the years, A Christmas Story has become a bona-fide holiday classic. However, I would guess that most viewers don’t realize that much of the film was made right here in Toronto. Since we’re only four days away from Christmas Day, we decided to make a bonus episode about the different locations where film scenes were shot. Happy Holidays from Muddy York ! You can follow  Muddy York  on Twitter...

Leo Chan, professor chef and general food expert, joins us to talk about the history of Chinese restaurants in Toronto - from Sing Tom's Cafe (founded in 1901) to the Big Four (Nanking, Lichee Garden, San Woo and Kwong Chow) to the later waves of newcomers and the vast diversity of Chinese regional cuisines. It's the holiday season, so order some Chinese food with Muddy York, Toronto's...

Garrison Creek used to run through western Toronto before flowing into the harbour. Over the years, it would be covered and filled in, but its ghost lingers on. If you know where to look, you can still find traces of it throughout the city. Learn more about Toronto's forgotten river on Muddy York , Toronto's #1 history podcast. You can follow  Muddy York  on Twitter:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is the largest and most-visited museum in Canada. But who built the ROM? Where did the totem poles in the lobby come from and who was the Mr. English who offered to build a planetarium entirely on his own dime? Learn more about Toronto's most distinguished museum on this episode of Muddy York , Toronto's #1 history podcast. You can follow  Muddy York  on Twit...

Ed Conroy of Retrontario joins us to talk about the Golden Age of Kids TV in Toronto. We'll be looking at Uncle Chichimus, the Friendly Giant, Mister Rogers, Butternut Square, Mr. Dressup and more on this episode of Muddy York . You can find more information about ImagiNation: The Golden Age of Toronto Kids' TV here: https://imagination.retrontario.com/#purchase You can follow  Muddy York...

Kit Coleman was a woman; she was also a journalist. When she began her career in 1889, this made her a trailblazer and even a subversive figure. For some people, female journalists were only slightly higher than streetwalkers in the Victorian social hierarchy. For 22 years, she wrote for  The Mail  and  The Mail and Empire  newspapers. Then, she struck out on her own as one of the first syndicated...

The Zoo is a Scarborough institution. But it raises the question: what is a zoo in Toronto’s eyes? Is it an animal sanctuary? A school field trip factory? A conservation lab? On this episode of Muddy York , we'll look at the history of the high-minded, ethically ambitious and chaotically managed mega-zoo that we know today as well as the Riverdale Zoo that came before it. You can follow  Muddy...

In our last episode, we covered the history of Yonge Street up to 1867. This episode will focus on the last 150 years. We’ll talk about how it became the city’s main shopping street, how streetcars and urban development moved north, and how the Yonge Street Strip was left to decay before a massive shopping mall helped to kickstart a recovery. You can follow  Muddy York  on Twitter:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Is Yonge Street the longest street in the world? Hard to say. But it is the most important street in Toronto. On this episode of Muddy York , learn more about the history of this thoroughfare, including how it was built in the middle of winter, what it was like to travel during the 19th century and the corrupt businessman who managed to steal it. You can follow  Muddy York  on Twitter:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

If you went to the Ex from the 70s to the 90s, you may remember seeing a clown’s head logo with red hair, a black hat and plus signs over his eyes. The clown was named Conko and he was the logo for Conklin Shows, the company that managed the CNE midway alongside a host of other fairs across Canada and the U.S. John Thurston, author of Carnie King , joins us to talk about Patty Conklin, the huckste...

Today is the first day of the CNE. If you’re one of the millions of people who will plan to visit the Ex, you might want to take the opportunity to check out the oldest building in Toronto. Built in 1794, it’s called the Scadding Cabin and it’s located on the Exhibition Grounds, just west of the Bandshell and next to the large wind turbine. For the next two weeks, the cabin will be open to the pub...