Toronto's first permanent mosque, Jami Mosque in High Park, has a rich 52-year history. Its home is the beautifully adapted Gothic Revival High Park Presbyterian Church, built in 1930 by John Francis Brown & Son. The church was constructed to replace an old school, which its congregation purchased from the board of education in 1925.  The property was originally donated to the City by John Howard in the late 19th century. 

Between 1961 and 1968, Toronto's first Muslim congregation gathered in a crowded leather shop on Dundas Street West near Keele Street. Originally named the Albanian Muslim Society of Toronto for its early membership of pre-World War I refugees from the Ottoman Empire, in 1969 the Muslim Society of Toronto managed to secure funds from Saudi Arabian King Faisal to purchase the High Park Presbyterian Church. This was a momentous acquisition for the community as it provided a secure and spacious place of worship.

In its physical transformation from church to mosque, the building retained the majority of its Gothic tracery and pointed arches while taking on complementary elements of Islamic design, such as the geometric Kufic Arabic script motif added to its southern façade gable.

(Research and text by Alessandro Tersigni.)

• Architect - John Francis Brown  <-- More buildings by this architect.