Commercial Bank of the Midland District

Photos by Alan L Brown - Posted September, 2006

If you've ever walked through the upper level of BCE Place on Yonge Street, between Front and Wellington streets, you may have seen what appears to be a 19th century building inside the Galleria! Well it is! Here's the info from the plaque attached to the building:

Plaque coordinates: 43.646976 -79.377508

Built in 1845 by the Commercial Bank of the Midland District and designed by architect William Thomas, this building originally served as the bank's Toronto branch office. The Commercial Bank was located in Kingston, Ontario, which at that time aspired to become Canada's political and financial centre. Toronto eventually eclipsed Kingston as a financial centre, but the bank did not survive long enough to profit from the rising fortunes of Toronto.

The Commercial Bank was eventually occupied by the Merchant's Bank of Canada in 1868, which in turn was taken over by the Bank of Montreal.

During WWI, the firm Clarkson, Gordon and Dilworth located its offices in the building and remained until 1969.

The façade of the building, as you see it today, was disassembled stone by stone, restored and reconstructed to appear just as it did when it opened in 1845. Its original location at 13-15 Wellington Street was immediately north of where the building sits today.

Related websites
William Thomas
Kingston
Bank of Montreal

More
Financial Buildings

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