Industrial site.

Details of Site Location: Keele and Dundas Streets, south of the railway overpass.

Boundary History: The factory was on three acres on the southwest side of the Heintzman Street, and the company owned the houses on the northeast side of the street.

Current Use of Property: Canadian Tire store

Historical Description: Theodore Heintzman, a Jewish immigrant born in Berlin in 1817, started learning to manufacture pianos at the age of fourteen. He came to Canada by way of the United States (1850) and started his manufacturing business in his house in 1861. After working several years for the John Thomas Piano Company on King Street West, he began building his own pianos in a manufactory above and in the rear of 113-117 King Street West. In 1888, a new and bigger plant was opened on Heintzman Street, which was near Dundas and Keele. This building was made of brick and was four storeys high, with a water tower on the roof. With his four sons and a workforce of 150 at his Toronto Junction factory, he was, by 1890, turning out some 800 pianos a year. In an advertisement in the 1907 city directory it stated: “The Heintzman Piano is the exclusive choice of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall (now the Prince and Princess of Wales) in their magnificent and successful Canadian Tour.” In 1919, the Heintzman lands were assessed at $19,500 and the factory at $75,000. The Heintzman home at 288 Annette Street at the corner with Laws, after the family moved out, was turned into St. Cecilia’s Convent and has since been converted into a multiple dwelling. The Heintzman family moved to a larger home on the southwest corner of Avenue Road and Heath Street. Son George took over the company after Theodore’s death in 1899 and bought out their rival firm, the Nordheimer Piano Company, whose factory was on the CPR line east of Keele Street – within earshot of Heintzman’s. George Heintzman moved to 403 Russell Hill Road prior to World War II. In 1962, company operations moved to Hanover, Ontario, and in 1981 the family sold the business to Sklar Manufacturing Company.

Relative Importance: This was a major company in Canada. Most children growing up in Canada learned to play on a Heintzman piano.

Planning Implications: A free-standing plaque should be placed on Heintzman Street telling about the origin of its name, the company and family, and the benefits to the local economy.

Reference Sources: Frederick H. Armstrong, Toronto – A Place of Meeting (1983); West Toronto Junction Revisited (1992).

Acknowledgements: Maps Project.