Adjoining the University grounds is Queen's Park, embracing the most elevated quarter of the city, and including fifty acres, handsomely laid out. In this park a brownstone shaft, surmounted by a colossal statue of Britannia, perpetuates the memory of the Canadians who fell in repelling the Fenian invasion in 1866. This park is from one hundred to two hundred feet above the level of the lake, and is surrounded by handsome public buildings and private residences.
The Episcopal Cathedral of St. James, at the corner of King and Church streets, is a spacious edifice, in the early English style, with lofty tower and spire, and elaborate open roof. It was built in 1852, and is surrounded by well shaded grounds. The Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Michael, fronting on Bond street, is a large, decorated Gothic structure, with stained windows, and a spire two hundred and fifty feet high. The Wesleyan Methodist Church, in McGill street, is the finest church of that denomination in America. Its massive tower is surmounted by graceful pinnacles, and its interior is tastefully and richly decorated. Knox's Church has a beautiful spire. One of the finest church edifices in the Dominion is the Jarvis street Baptist Church, in the decorated Gothic style. St. Andrews Presbyterian is a massive stone structure, which dates back to the Norman style of architecture.
Toronto contains many benevolent institutions, hospitals and asylums. Prominent among them is the Provincial Lunatic Asylum, a large and handsome building, situated west of the city, and surrounded by two hundred acres of handsomely ornamented grounds. The General Hospital is a fine structure, east of the city, in Don street, near Sumach.
The Normal School Building, with its beautifully laid out grounds, is one of the most attractive spots in the city, and the building is said to be the largest of the kind in America. There is very little fine scenery in the environs.
One of the most strikingly beautiful buildings of Toronto is Osgood Hall, in Queen street, an imposing structure, of elegant Ionic architecture, the seat of the Superior Law Courts of Upper Canada, and containing an extensive law library. St. Lawrence Hall, in King street, is a stately structure, in the Italian style, surmounted by a dome, containing a public hall and reading-room. Masonic Hall, an attractive stone building, is in Toronto street. The city contains two Opera Houses: the Grand, capable of seating two thousand persons, and the Royal, with accommodations for about fifteen hundred persons. The Post Office, a handsome stone building, stands near the head of Toronto street. The Custom House is of cut stone, of imposing proportions, extending from Front street to the Esplanade. The City Hall stands in Front street near the Lake Shore, in the midst of an open square, and is an unpretentious structure, in the Italian style. Near by is the extensive Lawrence Market. The Court House is in Church street.
Of the hotels, the Rossin House, corner of King and York streets; Queen's Hotel, in Front street; the American House, in Yonge street; and the Revere House, in King street, are the most noteworthy.
Toronto takes a front rank in literature, a large number of newspapers and periodicals, daily, weekly, and monthly, being issued from its presses. It is unlike, in many respects, its sister cities of Lower Canada. It has more of a nineteenth century air, and more of American and less of European characteristics, than Montreal and Quebec. The French Canadians form a smaller proportion of its inhabitants. The people in the streets are well dressed and comfortable looking, stout and sturdy, though not so tall, on an average, as the people of New York. An educated population is growing up, and Toronto already ranks well, in general intelligence and public enterprise, with other cities of like magnitude in the States while it outranks all others on Canadian soil.