Tag Archives: Joseph Russell

The TTC’s Russell Car Barns and the TRC Car Barns that Burned Down not once, but twice and the TRC Car Barns that Sank into a Swamp

By Joanne Doucette, local historian Scroll down through this post for a visual history of the TTC Car Barns at Connaught Avenue and Queen Street East. Commonly known as the Connaught Barns, they are officially the Russell Car Barns, probably named after Joseph Russell. The second fire sealed the deal, creating the Russell Division andContinue reading “The TTC’s Russell Car Barns and the TRC Car Barns that Burned Down not once, but twice and the TRC Car Barns that Sank into a Swamp”

March 2 in Leslieville’s past

Natural gas, odourless and invisible, seeped into pockets in the shale and overlying gravel in Leslieville.  Joseph Russell Junior’s brickyard stretched between Leslie Street and Greenwood Avenue, south of Gerrard to what is now Dundas Street. In 1908 workers were digging clay in the bottom of a 50-foot-deep pit. One worker swung his pick down and struck a pocket ofContinue reading “March 2 in Leslieville’s past”