King Street (Toronto)

This article is about the street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. For other uses, see King Street.

King Street West

King Street at Yonge

The King Street West Railway Subway, built in 1888, carries CN and GO Transit rail traffic above King Street West between Atlantic and Sudbury.

Wall and chairs (1985) by Al McWilliams on King Street

The intersection of King and York Streets in 1834, looking east along King Street. The Chewett Building, on the southeast corner, was Toronto's first office block and the largest single structure in town.

King Street is a major east-west commercial thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was named after King George III, the reigning British monarch at the time the street was being built in early Toronto (then called the Town of York).

King Street's western terminus is at an intersection with The Queensway to the west, Roncesvalles Avenue to the north, and Queen Street West to the east. King runs to the south-east briefly before curving to the east until just west of Parliament Street. There, it curves north-east until terminates at a merge with Queen Street East just west of the Don River. Prior to a realignment, Eastern Avenue was the East end of King Street and crossed the Don at the King Street Bridge (which has since been abandoned). Yonge Street, the north-south divider of many Toronto east-west streets, divides King Street into King Street East and King Street West.

King Street is also served along its entire length by the Toronto Transit Commission's 504 King streetcar route, the busiest line in the fleet with an average of 50,000 passengers per day. It connects with the Yonge-University-Spadina subway line at St. Andrew Station at University Avenue, and at King Station at Yonge Street. It connects with the Bloor-Danforth subway line at Dundas West and Broadview stations. The street is also served by the 508 Lake Shore car.

In recent years there has been a proliferation of chic restaurants, clubs and galleries in the area (such as Cobra, Brant House, Susur, Senses Bar and Restaurant, Thuet Cuisine, Lux, Old Yorke Pub and Grill, the Navarro Gallery etc.) as King Street West becomes more oriented to Toronto's nightlife crowd, and is near major attractions such as the Rogers Centre (formerly Skydome), Air Canada Centre, The Distillery District, Hockey Hall of Fame, Roy Thomson Hall, Hummingbird Centre, St. Lawrence Market and the historic King Edward Hotel.

Canada's Walk of Fame runs along King Street from John Street to Simcoe Street and south on Simcoe. It is a tribute in granite to Canadians who have gained fame in the fields of music, literature, journalism, dance, sports, acting, entertainment and broadcasting.

King Street East is predominantly known as the high-end, luxury furniture district of downtown Toronto, with dozens of stores on King Street and in the surrounding area.^{[citation needed]}

History

In Toronto, during the Typhus epidemic of 1847, 863 Irish immigrants died of typhus at fever sheds built by the Toronto Board of Health at the northwest corner of King Street and John Street.

Landmarks

Popular attractions along King Street include

• Canada's Walk of Fame
• Princess of Wales Theatre - owned by theatre giant Ed and David Mirvish
• Royal Alexandra Theatre - owned by theatre giant Ed and David Mirvish
• Roy Thomson Hall

Office towers on King

• Toronto Stock Exchange
• Toronto-Dominion Centre
• First Canadian Place
• Scotia Plaza
• Commerce Court, including the historic Commerce Court North

Other notable buildings on King Street

• King Edward Hotel
• St. James' Cathedral (Toronto) (Anglican Church)
• St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church
• Toronto Sun Building

Neighbourhoods

• Corktown (at Cherry)
• Entertainment District (at John)
• Fashion District (at Spadina)
• Financial District (at Bay)
• Liberty Village (at Dufferin)
• Parkdale (at Dunn)
• Roncesvalles (at Queen)
• Old Town of York (at Parliament)
• St. Lawrence (not actually on King but south of King at Jarvis)
• Trinity Niagara (at Bathurst)

See also

• Royal eponyms in Canada