The Annex is a residential district in central Toronto, bounded roughly by Bloor Street to the south, Bathurst Street to the west, the Canadian Pacific tracks to the north, and Avenue Road to the east. It takes its name from the “Toronto Annex,” a subdivision that the developer Simeon Janes laid out in 1886 on land outside the city limits. Toronto City Council agreed to annex the property in 1887.
Before the subdivision: Taddle Creek and farmland
Taddle Creek, one of Toronto’s buried streams, crossed the area from the Dupont and Bathurst vicinity toward Bloor Street, just west of today’s Avenue Road. According to the Lost Rivers project, most storm water now flows to the bay through overflow sewers, and little evidence of the creek remains in the Annex apart from a faint dip in the ground over its last 200 meters.
The district’s eastern neighbor, the Village of Yorkville, agreed to annexation by the City of Toronto in 1883, according to Wikipedia. Lost Rivers adds that the last 180 meters or so of Taddle Creek ran through Yorkville.
Simeon Janes and the name
In 1886 Simeon Janes developed subdivisions on property he owned, roughly between Bedford Road, Spadina Road, Dupont Street, and Bloor Street. According to Lost Rivers, the land lay outside Toronto, so Janes asked City Council to annex it to gain water, sewers, and paved roads, and he called the area “The Toronto Annex.” Lost Rivers draws this history from Jack Batten’s book The Annex. In 1887, Council agreed to annex the Janes property plus two more blocks to the west as far as Kendal Avenue. In 1888, the city’s western boundary moved out to Lansdowne Avenue.
Lost Rivers says the name later spread to nearby areas, including the part of Yorkville west of Avenue Road, St. Alban’s Park, and part of Seaton Village. Boundaries differ by source: Wikipedia calls the traditional neighborhood the area from Bloor Street north to Dupont Street and from Bathurst Street east to Avenue Road, and adds that the City of Toronto’s broader definition includes Seaton Village and Yorkville.
Houses and first residents
Large houses went up from the late 1880s. Wikipedia names two examples: a house by the architect E. J. Lennox at 37 Madison Avenue, completed in 1887 for the contractor Lewis Lukes, and the University of Toronto’s Robert Brown House at 4 Bancroft Avenue, completed in 1890. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography records that the distiller George Gooderham (1830 to 1905) built a mansion called Waveney at the northeast corner of Bloor and St. George streets between 1889 and 1892, in what it calls the newly fashionable Annex. Its entry on the merchant Timothy Eaton places his family’s large residence at the corner of Spadina Road and Lowther Avenue, which they entered in 1888; the entry does not use the word Annex. The Eaton Coach House at 78 Lowther Avenue, completed in 1899, appears in the Architectural Conservancy Ontario Toronto listings.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1883 | The City of Toronto annexes the Village of Yorkville. |
| 1886 | Simeon Janes subdivides his land and calls it the Toronto Annex. |
| 1887 | Council annexes the Janes land and two blocks west to Kendal Avenue. |
| 1888 | Toronto’s western boundary moves to Lansdowne Avenue. |
| 1956 | The Hungarian Revolution begins a wave of refugees to Canada. |
| 1961 to 1962 | Metro Toronto Council approves the Spadina Expressway. |
| June 3, 1971 | Premier William Davis’s government withdraws support for the expressway. |
The Spadina Expressway fight
The Spadina Expressway was a Metropolitan Toronto project to bring a highway from the north toward downtown. Metro Council approved its first section, from Lawrence Avenue to Highway 401, on December 12, 1961, and the whole project on March 6, 1962, according to the Wikipedia article on the expressway. An interim roadway opened to Yorkdale on February 25, 1964. The planned southern extension would have divided the Annex, and a coalition called Stop Spadina formed in October 1969, chaired by the University of Toronto professor Allan Powell. The Globe and Mail reports that the urban writer Jane Jacobs, who moved from New York to Toronto in 1968 and settled at 69 Albany Avenue, inspired and energized the Stop Spadina Save Our City group, but that Annex residents led the effort. Wikipedia says she lived at that address from 1971 until her death in 2006, while the Globe says she lived there for 37 years, so the year she moved in is reported differently.
The Ontario Municipal Board approved the project 2 to 1 on February 17, 1971, but on June 3, 1971, the government of Premier William Davis withdrew provincial support, and Davis told the Legislature that the Spadina was “a good place to stop.” The road opened to Eglinton Avenue on September 8, 1976, and stops there as Allen Road. These dates follow the Wikipedia article, which cites Globe and Mail and Toronto Star reports of the time; those newspaper pages are behind a paywall and were not re-read here.
Later communities and the university
The Annex borders the St. George campus of the University of Toronto, and the district has long housed students and faculty. Wikipedia says Hungarian immigrants moved in during the 1950s and 1960s after the 1956 revolution was suppressed, and that a government freeze on buildings above 45 feet (about 14 meters) is the reason most original houses still stand. The text read gives no year for the freeze.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called the Annex?
Simeon Janes named his 1886 subdivision “The Toronto Annex” because he wanted the City of Toronto to annex it and supply services. Council agreed in 1887.
What are the boundaries of the Annex?
Common descriptions place them at Bloor Street on the south, Bathurst Street on the west, the Canadian Pacific tracks on the north, and Avenue Road on the east. Informal use of the name has varied since the 1880s, so maps do not all agree.
Was the Spadina Expressway ever built through the Annex?
No. The portion north of Eglinton Avenue was built, and the province canceled the rest on June 3, 1971. The road now ends at Eglinton Avenue as Allen Road.
Who lived in the Annex?
Early residents included Timothy Eaton, at Spadina Road and Lowther Avenue, and George Gooderham, at Bloor and St. George streets. Jane Jacobs lived there later in her life, and the area has housed generations of students and immigrants.
Related reading
- How Toronto’s districts grew
- Yorkville: from village to district
- History of the University of Toronto
- Casa Loma on the Davenport ridge
- An overview of Toronto’s history
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- Lost Rivers, “Annex Reach” (Taddle Creek route, Simeon Janes, 1886 to 1888 annexations, boundaries).
- “The Annex,” Wikipedia (secondary: boundaries, Yorkville 1883, Lennox and Robert Brown houses, 1956 immigration, height freeze).
- “Spadina Expressway,” Wikipedia (secondary: dates from 1961 to 1976; its sources are Globe and Mail and Toronto Daily Star articles and Albert Rose, Governing Metropolitan Toronto, 1972).
- Beeby, Dean, “Gooderham, George”, Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. XIII (Waveney mansion, 1889 to 1892).
- “Eaton, Timothy”, Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. XIII (residence at Spadina Road and Lowther Avenue, 1888).
- “The places that mattered to Jane Jacobs”, The Globe and Mail (69 Albany Avenue, 1968 move, Stop Spadina).
- Architectural Conservancy Ontario, Toronto Branch, listing for the Eaton Coach House, 78 Lowther Avenue (completed 1899; heritage status listed).
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 25). The Annex: How a Developer’s Subdivision Became a District. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/the-fascinating-history-and-evolution-of-torontos-annex-neighborhood
MLA: “The Annex: How a Developer’s Subdivision Became a District.” History of Toronto, 25 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/the-fascinating-history-and-evolution-of-torontos-annex-neighborhood. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “The Annex: How a Developer’s Subdivision Became a District.” Last modified October 25, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/the-fascinating-history-and-evolution-of-torontos-annex-neighborhood.
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