Labatt wall

 

Location: Queen's Quay Terminal

Date photo taken: 12 July 2025

On a hot, sunny visit to Toronto's waterfront recently I spent some time discovering the early history of Labatt. It wasn't intentional, but while cooling off in Queen's Quay Terminal I stumbled across this timeline. It runs along a wall outside the Labatt offices and it has some pretty cool early photos, labels and marketing pieces. If you want to learn more about this London, Ontario born brewing company find your way up to the quiet second floor of the Terminal via the escalators in the southern atrium. Or you can always just visit their website. 

Traffic Signal Box - Blue Jays

 

Location: Railside Road and Lawrence Avenue East

Date photo taken: 23 January 2021

Image #22 in the Traffic Signal Box Series

There's so much buzz about the Toronto Blue Jays right now that it seemed a good time to share this signal box. It was created by Tomas Del Balso as part of the 2016 Outside the Box painting program and was designed to "inspire the public with their own hometown bird and to remind the community that we truly have something special living in Toronto."

The Ned Hanlan

 

Location: Hanlan's Point

Date photo taken: 17 September 2021

This tugboat, now stationed near the ferry dock at Hanlan's Point, is a true piece of Toronto history. It was built for the Toronto Works Department in 1932 right here in Toronto. This piece of information shocked me. For some reason it never occurred to me that this city, despite being on a such a large body of water, would have a shipbuilding industry. 

The boat was retired from service in the 1960s and eventually moved to Exhibition Place before being relocated to Hanlan's Point in 2012. You may have noticed the name of the boat written on the side and assumed that it and Hanlan's Point are named for the same person, but you'd be wrong. The point is named for James Hanlan, an early settler on the Island. The tug was named after his son, an early Canadian sports hero who won seven straight world sculling championships in the 1880s.

Traffic Signal Box - Toronto Map Maze

 

Location: Eastern Avenue at Carlaw

Date photo taken: 9 January 2021

Image #21 in the Traffic Signal Box Series

If you find yourself near the corner of Eastern Avenue and Carlaw with some time on your hands, pop over to the north east corner and find this traffic signal box. On it artist Pam Lostracco has created a maze using Toronto's streets and rivers. The CN Tower is marked as the start and there are other destinations, many of them greenspaces, to discover as you work your way through the maze and around the box. A fun and different way to discover the city.