Religious Institution.

Details of Site Location: The south side of Queen Street West between Bay and Yonge Streets.

Boundary History: The property consists of a few acres in the middle of the block, bounded by Queen, Adelaide, Yonge and Bay.

Current Use of Property: The former Robert Simpson Company Store, now The Bay.

Historical Description: Jesse Ketchum was an American whose role in Toronto’s history is as a businessman, entrepreneur, Temperance man and philanthropist of great generosity. He arrived in the Town of York in 1803 and established a tannery on the west side of Yonge and a house across the street. Later he began to sell parts of his large property or to donate them with the proviso that liquor could not be sold on the premises. When the Reverand James Harris of Belfast had organized a congregation, Ketchum donated a site for the church that ran from Queen Street south to Richmond. In addition he donated 25 Pounds towards the building. The church was built and the congregation prospered. Unfortunately, on 31 May 1847. the church burned to the ground in only two hours. The loss was estimated to be $10,500 but only $5,000 was covered by insurance. The congregation then raised $16,000 and built another church and a Sunday School building. In 1895 the Robert Simpson Company began to take over the block, first renting a small lot on Yonge, then eventually the entire block. The Knox congregation built another church on Spadina Avenue south of Harbord Street and still receives rent money from Simpson’s/the Bay.

Relative Importance:  The church deserves to be remembered as an early and important downtown congregation and because of its links to Jesse Ketchum.

Planning Implications: The present store should be invited to mount a plaque on the exterior of the store, at Queen, halfway between Yonge and Bay, which commemorates Ketchum and his tannery and his great largesse, and the Presbyterian church displaced by his store. In the densely commercial downtown area it is important for the public to realize that the area had layers of uses before the existing commercial ones.

Reference Sources: City of Toronto Archives; Henry Scadding, Toronto of Old (1873); C. Pelham Mulvany, Toronto Past and Present (1884), Presbyterian Church Archives.

Acknowledgements: Maps Project.