Industrial site.

Details of Site Location: Within the block bounded by Sherbourne, Richmond, Ontario, and Adelaide Streets, on the south bank of Taddle Creek.

Current Use of Property: The block has been repeatedly redeveloped by commercial, industrial and transportation concerns.

Historical Description: Over time, this brewery and distillery has been owned by a number of businessmen and has had several different names. It was built in 1815 by a man named Henderson and was then called the Henderson Brewery. By marriage, Henderson was connected to the Helliwell family. In 1820, it was called the Sherbourne Brewery and had a stone granary, a range of small frame buildings along Duchess Street where the malt was ground by hand. A row of arches, dug into the bank of Taddle Creek and extending 50 feet along the south side of the lot, were finished with masonery and covered with earth; some arches were used for storing beer and some as fermenting tub rooms. The brewery grounds were entered from Sherbourne. Henderson did not live many more years, and the property passed to William Allan, who in turn sold it to Dr. Thomas Stoyell, an American who had arrived in York in 1799. For three years after 1822, Stoyell ran the brewery, then sold it to Joseph Shaw, who operated it for the next five or six years. John Doel also ran the brewery before building his own at Bay and Adelaide. A Mr. Lynch was the next owner, followed by a rapid succession of owners. Robert Jewell ran the brewery in 1846. Under Lynch, the brewery was named the Caroline Brewery. The Jewell Brewery was mainly operated by Mrs. Jewell after her husband’s death. John Walz took over the brewery in 1859, and in 1881 sold it to Reinhardt and Company, which operated it under the company name. Ignatius Kormann was the next owner in 1894 and ran it under his own company name; his wife continued the business from 1897 until she sold it. In the contemporary and later accounts, there are contradictions and discrepancies. These are resolved by tracing land records and through maps. In fact, there were actually two breweries in the block rather than one, which was constantly reconfigured. The two were Henderson’s at the northeast corner of Duchess and Caroline, and Shaw’s at the southeast corner. In Henderson’s time, Queen Street was impassable because of the Taddle’s ravine, and filling began in the 1840s – a major change for any brewery. The stone building became a blacksmith’s shop in the 1930s, by which time the other buildings had been replaced.

Relative Importance: The breweries within this single city block have a convoluted but interesting history worthy of a volume about their owners and products, or even a television series which might take a year to cover all of the episodes. Until Henderson’s time, beer in Toronto was made in back yards. The residents and employees of present buildings in the area are sure to be fascinated by the rich history in their midst.

Planning Implications: A plaque at Sherbourne, as close to the original entrance to Henderson’s Brewery as possible, would be appropriate.

Reference Sources: City of Toronto Archives; Toronto Reference Library; John Ross Robertson, Landmarks of Toronto; Toronto Registry Office.