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Description:
1398-1400 Queen Street West / 1 O'Hara Avenue is a 3-storey building located at the northeast corner of Queen Street West and O'Hara Avenue in the Parkdale neighbourhood of Toronto. 1398-1400 Queen Street West / 1 O'Hara Avenue was constructed in 1887/1888 in the Italianate style of architecture. 1398-1400 Queen Street West / 1 O'Hara Avenue was originally known as MacMath Hall.
The original 1880s architect and builder of 1398-1400 Queen Street West / 1 O'Hara Avenue is unknown at present. Archival resources — presently inaccessible to the public due to COVID-19 pandemic-related closures — may be able to identify these parties. However, the architect of the 1906 renovations to convert 1400 Queen Street West into a Merchants' Bank of Canada bank branch — which included modifications to the exterior storefront — was Morley W. Hogle (see below for further information). Later exterior modifications to 1398-1400 Queen Street West include removal of a triangular turret, the removal of the roof parapet, the removal of several chimneys, and the recladding of the exterior with stucco.
The Queen Street West (south) elevation of 1398-1400 Queen Street West / 1 O'Hara Avenue contains terra cotta panels between the 2nd and 3rd floor windows.
Prior to the annexation of Parkdale, 1398-1400 Queen Street West was known as 150-152 Queen Street, Parkdale.
1398-1400 Queen Street West / 1 O'Hara Avenue presently contains a mix of commercial and residential units.
MacMath Hall:
MacMath Hall was a public hall located in the upper floors of 1398-1400 Queen Street West / 1 O'Hara Avenue from its construction in 1887/1888 until the mid-1910s (around or just after World War I). MacMath Hall was used for community and/or political meetings and could also be rented by organizations for their meetings. MacMath Hall appears to have been accessed via O'Hara Avenue.
Between 1900 and 1910, a section of MacMath Hall appears to have been renovated for use as a dental office. Following World War I, uses of the space included as company meeting rooms, offices (including for medical practices and trade unions), and eventually as residential apartments. The name MacMath Hall in association with the building appears to have fallen out of use around or shortly after World War I.
MacMath Hall was named after Hugh MacMath (1841-1921), a significant figure in the history of Parkdale. Further research is required to determine whether Hugh MacMath was the original owner of the building. Notably, his real estate office was only two doors east at 1394 Queen Street West.
J. H. Beers & Company's Commemorative Biographical Record of the County of York (1907) provides the following biography of Hugh MacMath (1841-1921) and his wife Helen MacMath (1847-1933):
"Hugh MacMath, of No. 1394 Queen Street West, Toronto, enjoys the distinction of being the oldest real estate broker in, and the second assessor of, Parkdale, now a part of Toronto. Mr. MacMath is of Scotch extraction and a member of a family long identified with Canada.
[...]
Hugh MacMath was born in Lot 16, Concession 4, Goderich Township, County of Huron, July 30, 1841. He was educated in the public schools of his native township and in a commercial college. Mr. MacMath began his business life as a merchant in Kincardine, where he remained five years. In 1873, he removed to Toronto, where he remained but a few months, and then went to Hamilton, where for two years he was in the life insurance business. He next engaged in the fire insurance business in Goderich, in which he remained until 1879, when he returned to Toronto and settled in Parkdale. At that time, the municipality was two months and seventeen days old. Mr MacMath's first duties on settling in Parkdale were in the management of the Agricultural Insurance Company of Ottawa. In 1880, he was appointed assessor of Parkdale, and this making him well acquainted, he decided to embark in the real estate business. This he did on May 10, 1880, opening an office for that business, in which he has successfully continued ever since. In 1880, 1881 and 1882 Mr. MacMath was assessor of Parkdale, and in 1884, 1885, and 1886 reeve thereof. He was a member of the county council of York, and in 1891 was elected an alderman of the city.
Mr. MacMath was one of the original promoters of the Jameson Avenue Collegiate Institute, of Parkdale, and a member of its first board of trustees. He is superintendent of the Andrew Mercer Reformatory Sunday School and is also a member of the executive board and treasurer of the Prisoners' Aid Association of Canada. Since 1884, he has been a member of the board of the Home for Incurables, and for fourteen years treasurer of that board. Mrs. MacMath was treasurer of the same board for nine years, and is now a member of the executive board, and for six years she was a member of the Toronto Collegiate Board.
In her maidenhood, Mrs. MacMath was Miss Helen Gordon, daughter of Murdock Cameron Gordon, one of the oldest pioneers of Goderich Township. [...] Like her husband, Mrs. MacMath is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and they both take great interest in institutions for the benefit of unfortunates. Mr. MacMath is a Reformer and he fraternizes with the Masons." (page 338).
Hugh MacMath was also chair of Parkdale's finance committee during the mid-1880s. He was notably opposed to the annexation of Parkdale by Toronto.
In December 1917, Hugh MacMath suffered a stroke while giving a speech at a union meeting. He died in Toronto in February 1921.
Queen Street West Commercial Units:
1398-1400 Queen Street West contains two commercial storefronts on its Queen Street West (south) elevation. These units were first home to a tailor (1398) and a butcher (1400). Later, for much of the 20th century — between the 1900s and 1980s (est.) — 1400 Queen Street West housed bank branches.
Circa 1888/1889:
1398 Queen Street West: Southcott & Son — tailors.
1400 Queen Street West: Green & Company — butcher.
Circa 1889/1890:
1398 Queen Street West: Southcott & Sons — tailors.
1400 Queen Street West: Samuel E. Wilkins — butcher.
Historical photographs indicate that Wilkins' butcher shop was known as the Union Meat Market.
Circa 1890/1891:
1398 Queen Street West: Vacant.
1400 Queen Street West: Vacant.
Circa 1891/1892:
1398 Queen Street West: Vacant.
1400 Queen Street West: Erin & Credit Valley Mills (branch) — flour dealers.
Circa 1892/1893:
1398 Queen Street West: Malcolm, Harrad, & Company — wallpaper merchants; and John Harrad's residence.
1400 Queen Street West: Vacant.
Circa 1893/1894:
1398 Queen Street West: Malcolm, Harrad, & Company — wallpaper merchants.
1400 Queen Street West: Byrnell Brothers — dry goods.
Circa 1894/1895:
1398 Queen Street West: Vacant.
1400 Queen Street West: Vacant.
Circa 1899/1900:
1398 Queen Street West: Merchants' Bank of Canada (branch); and Samuel Saunders — publisher.
1400 Queen Street West: J. C. Gray & Company — drugstore; Parkdale Post Office (Postmaster William Gray); and the Canadian Pacific Telegraph Company (branch).
1 O'Hara Avenue: MacMath Hall.
Circa 1909/1910:
1398 Queen Street West: Vacant Store.
1400 Queen Street West: Merchants' Bank of Canada (branch).
1 O'Hara Avenue: MacMath Hall; and Dr. Alexander W. Thornton — dentist.
Architect Morley W. Hogle designed and oversaw the renovations which converted 1400 Queen Street West into a Merchants' Bank of Canada bank branch in 1906. Hogle designed branches for the Merchants' Bank of Canada across the country. For a few years prior to this, the Merchants' Bank of Canada branch was located next door at 1398 Queen Street West.
Circa 1919/1920:
1398 Queen Street West: The Arena Theatre.
1400 Queen Street West: Merchants' Bank of Canada (branch).
1 O'Hara Avenue: The Merchant Bank Chambers; Dr. Archibald S. Thomson — dentist; and Elizabeth Macdonald.
The Arena Theatre (also known as the Adanac Theatre) was a motion picture theatre active at 1398 Queen Street West during the mid-1910s through early 1920s. In January 2022, the theatre was fined $25 for failing to pay its amusement taxes. The licensee, as of that point in time, was Isaac Miller.
Circa 1929/1930:
1398 Queen Street West: Robert J. Anderson.
1400 Queen Street West: Bank of Montréal (branch).
1 O'Hara Avenue: Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge Rooms; Dr. W. R. Mills — dentist; and Bruce C. MacNeil.
Please note that the Bank of Montréal purchased the Merchants' Bank of Canada in 1922.
Circa 1939/1940:
1398 Queen Street West: The Boston's Men Shop; Stanley P. Robinson; and Charles T. Howard.
1400 Queen Street West: Bank of Montréal (branch).
1 O'Hara Avenue: Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge Rooms; and John T. H. Walters.
Circa 1949/1950:
1398 Queen Street West: The Boston's Men Shop and Gordon Strait.
1400 Queen Street West: Bank of Montréal (branch).
1 O'Hara Avenue: United Automobile Workers CIO (Local 252); United Rubber Workers CIO (Local 136); and William R. Golden.
Notably, between the 1880s and 1960s, the largest rubber manufacturing factory in Canada — the Gutta Percha & Rubber Manufacturing Company — was based in Parkdale (at the northern terminus of O'Hara Avenue and West Lodge Avenue). This likely contributed to the presence of the rubber workers' union on O'Hara Avenue.
Circa 1959/1960:
1398 Queen Street West: Melrose Furniture Company; Hugh Windsor; and Ernest Ross.
1400 Queen Street West: Bank of Montréal (branch).
1 O'Hara Avenue: United Rubber Workers CIO; William R. Golden; and Henry Turp.
Circa 1968/1969:
1398 Queen Street West: Melrose Furniture Company.
1400 Queen Street West: Bank of Montréal (branch).
1996:
1398 Queen Street West: Mr. Furniture Ltd. — furniture retailers.
1400 Queen Street West: Vacant and for lease.
2000s to Present Day (Early 2022):
Since November 2000, 1400 Queen Street West has housed Super Land Market — a convenience store which additionally sells fresh produce and has a small garden centre. Since 2007, 1398 Queen Street West has had several changeover of commercial tenants, including: Downtown Savings (pre-2009); Mankind Grooming Studio for Men (c. 2015 to 2018); Queen Street Espresso (c. 2019 to 2021); and Point Blank Hair (2021 to present day).
(Research by Adam Wynne)
