Knox College

Photos by Alan L Brown - Posted September, 2006

You've probably seen this building before although I took this shot of it from the not usually seen east side. It's in the middle of Spadina Avenue just north of College Street, sitting there staring down the avenue forcing all us travellers to move around it. Here's what the 1995 Toronto Historical Board plaque attached to the building says:

Plaque coordinates: 43.659381 -79.400586

Founded in 1844 by the Free Presbyterian Church as a seminary, Knox College was named in 1846 to honour Scottish reformer John Knox. After the 1861 union of Presbyterians, it remained as the only Presbyterian theological school in Toronto. This Gothic Revival structure, the college's fifth home, was designed by Toronto architects Smith and Gemmel in 1875. The college received its charter to confer degrees in theology in 1881 and affiliated with the University of Toronto in 1887. It moved to new premises on King's College Circle in 1915. This building has housed a series of occupants, including the Spadina Military Hospital. Connaught Laboratories, a world leader in the development and manufacture of vaccines, insulin and penicillin, purchased it in 1943 largely for penicillin production. The University of Toronto acquired the property in the 1970's.

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Posted May 1, 2011
That's my plaque! It took a year and a half of letter writing on behalf of the ALumni Committee for the 150th anniversary of Knox. It was unveiled by Hal Jackman, the Lt. Governor.

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