Our Stories

panoramic scene of a park with blue sky

Thomas W. Thompson: Champion of Toronto’s Green Spaces

1914–1985 Mount Pleasant Cemetery Section 32 Lot 864 Born beside Toronto’s iconic Casa Loma, Thomas “Tommy” Thompson grew up surrounded by gardens, a
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Stone mausoleum with steps, arched windows, and a statue on top, surrounded by trees and gravestones.

Massey Mausoleum: A Monument to Industry and Legacy

a chicken roaming free

Clucking Through the Silence: A Necropolis Tale

Historic postcard view of Chalmers Presbyterian Church and Sunday School in Toronto, showing a large Romanesque‑style brick church with arched windows, a central tower, and corner turrets. Overhead utility wires cross the scene, and handwritten postcard notes appear along the top and right margins.

Chalmers York Town Line Church: A Lost Cemetery Remembered

big brick house by train tracks

Allan Royce: From English Roots to Toronto Legacy

William Peyton Hubbard historical plaque

William Peyton Hubbard: Toronto’s Trailblazer for Equality and Public Power

large granite bench with naked granite woman and trees and flowers

Lionel Cutten Monument: Art, Memory and Mastery

A historical black‑and‑white photograph of a uniformed military figure wearing a peaked cap with an insignia. The person is dressed in a formal service uniform, standing outdoors in front of a softly blurred background with architectural elements.

Colin Fraser Barron: Hero of Passchendaele

Black and white photo of Lloyd Shaddock. He is smiling and wearing a suit jacket, white shirt and black tie. His hair is well-kempt and short.

Lloyd Shaddock: A Lifetime of Service at Pine Hills

grave with flowers on top

Barbara Frum: Trailblazer in Canadian Journalism

gravestone of Thomas Carfrae

Thomas Carfrae: Civic Leader and Pioneer of Toronto’s Potter’s Field

Black‑and‑white photograph of a city street intersection in 1957, showing brick commercial buildings, overhead streetcar wires, parked cars, and storefront signage. An “Imperial Esso Dealer” sign stands on the sidewalk, with utility poles, a fire hydrant, and early automobiles visible along Parliament Street in Toronto.

Hugh Garner: Toronto’s Chronicler of Cabbagetown

Snow‑covered cemetery scene at dusk featuring a tall stone grave marker in the foreground commemorating James Aikins. The monument is topped with a rounded cap and surrounded by evergreen trees and bare branches, with additional headstones visible along a snow‑covered path in winter light.

James C. Aikins: Statesman, Visionary and Guardian of Toronto’s Cemeteries

big monument in snow

John Ewart: Upper Canada’s First Architect

A large group of Toronto uniformed postal workers, including Albert Jackson, posed in several rows outside a brick building, with men seated and standing in formal arrangement, wearing matching caps and coats in a late‑19th‑century group portrait.

Albert Jackson: Canada’s First Black Letter Carrier

tree stump

Snags: The Hidden Life in Standing Dead Trees

A large, mature oak tree spreading wide branches over a grassy park area, with a wooden bench beneath it. A modern high‑rise building rises in the background, partially framed by the tree’s foliage, and a small white pavilion structure stands to the right under a bright blue sky.

Happy Birthday to Mount Pleasant’s 200‑Year Old Oaks

black man at the piano

Cy McLean: Breaking Barriers in Canadian Jazz

Woman serves food as a man laughs at a dining table in a modern kitchen.

Hidden Toronto: Fire & Light Rita Letendre, 1928-2021

Historic portrait of a man in formal military attire.

From Edinburgh Castle to Toronto Necropolis: The Story of Andrew Clark

Snow‑covered cemetery landscape with an upright headstone in the foreground bearing the name “Clark Heweston.” The stone is surrounded by trees and additional grave markers, with evergreen and bare branches visible in winter light

Rosa and Spencer Clark: Preserving Beauty in a Changing City