Queen Street, downtown Toronto

Few historic buildings has survived Toronto's transition, you can see subtle evidence of a rich past by looking at the building's on Queen street for instance. Many developments have been made over the years to disguise what happened in the past. By entering the basement of many buildings along Queen street you can see a an old brick wall with bricked in windows, due to the street level being raised in height over the years.

Recently strict laws have been passed to prevent changes to historic buildings, a new law has prevented building restorers from removing a brick and placing anywhere else other than the exact spot where it originally came from. A major influence of this law had a lot to do with the type of brick in question, the 'London Stock Brick.' These bricks were made in England's east London up until the early 1900's. During the 18th and 19th centuries, boats brought shipments of these bricks to Canada to build what is now know as the 'Distillery district.' Back in London, wars and bombs have destroyed many building where the bricks were used. This then opened a reclaimed brick market as the bricks are too valuable to be used for rubble. After demolition they are cleaned and chiseled by hand to remove cement and resold to reclaimed architectural dealers. You can expect to pay £1 to £3 per brick ($2.50 to $7.00). Here in Toronto the the value of these bricks overseas has added to an awareness of protecting its rich history.