Dating to 1872/1873, 106 Huron Street, Toronto was one of the first residential properties (houses) built on Huron Street and is one of the oldest extant properties on Huron Street and within the Baldwin Village - Chinatown West neighbourhood.


Its first occupants were Thomas Smith Carré (c. 1841 - 1880/1881) and family. Thomas Smith Carré — born in France in 1841, later emigrating to England in the 1860s, and then to Canada — was a builder, foreman, and bricklayer (mason) by trade. It is possible that Carré built and designed 106 Huron Street. The property historically has had a high degree of architectural details and craftsmanship visible, although some of these elements were removed after a recent (2016/2017) sale of the property and others have since fallen into disrepair. The Carrés resided at 106 Huron Street until 1880.

Historically, several other individuals and families have been associated with 106 Huron Street. This includes:  Frank Lever Blake (c. 1853/1854 - 1935) - a surveyor with the Dominion Land Survey and an astronomer with the Royal Meteorological Service of Canada - who resided at 106 Huron Street between 1883 and 1885; as well as George Alfred Lowe (c. 1867/1868 - 1942) - a prominent philatelist and stamp dealer - who resided at 106 Huron Street with his family between late 1887 and 1894 and again between 1900 and 1913.  In 1925/1926, Michael Barkensky (Barchinski) purchased the property. Recent real estate ads indicate that the sale of the property in Fall 2016 was the first time 106 Huron Street was on the market in almost a century. 


Neighbourhood History:

Between 1842 and 1845, much of the present-day Baldwin Village - Chinatown West neighbourhood was on the grounds of the St. Leger Race Course / Union Race Course.  This racecourse was run by Bill Boulton (1812-1874) — of the same Boulton family that constructed the nearby The Grange estate. Huron Street first appears surveyed in maps — although without a name — in the late 1840s and early 1850s. The name Huron Street itself first appears in the 1857 Fleming, Ridout, and Schreiber Plan of the City of Toronto. In the 1850s and 1860s, large undeveloped lots - many of which were owned by prominent members of Toronto's upper classes - were created along Huron Street. These larger lots were later subdivided into smaller lots for a mix of small-scale commercial and residential development. Huron Street was not developed (built on) for residential purposes until circa 1872, although a municipal waterworks (the first in Toronto) was built at the southeast corner of D'Arcy Street and Huron Street in the 1840s and remained extant until the 1890s or early 1900s. 



(Research by Adam Wynne)