Early Meteorology in Canada

Photos by Alan L Brown - Posted September, 2006

In the many times I had walked past this building, on the southwest corner of Bloor Street West. and Devonshire Place, I had occasionally wondered about that round thing on the roof. After reading this Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada plaque attached to the outside fence, I now know the answer. Here's the text of that plaque:

Plaque coordinates: 43.667631 -79.398617

The British Army began regular meteorological and magnetic observations on this campus in 1840, stimulating colonial society's fascination with science. After the Province of Canada took over the program in 1853, it built a new observatory, which became the headquarters of the Meteorological Service of Canada. Superintendent G.T. Kingston set up a system of stations, many telegraphically linked, which enabled the Service to issue both storm warnings and daily forecasts by 1876. Opened in 1909, this building was the Service's headquarters until its centenary in 1971.

Related Toronto plaques
Sir John Henry Lefroy 1817-1890
The Stewart Observatory

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