First Toronto Post Office facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Toronto's First Post Office |
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| Fourth York Post Office | |
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| Location | 260 Adelaide Street East Toronto, Ontario |
| Built | 1833–4 |
| Original use | Post office and home |
| Current use | Museum and post outlet/authorized postal dealer |
| Governing body | Town of York Historical Society |
| Official name: Fourth York Post Office | |
| Designated | June 16, 1980 |
| Designated | November 26, 1975 |
Toronto's First Post Office is a special historic building in Toronto, Ontario. It is also known as the Fourth York Post Office. This building is the oldest post office in Canada that was built just for that purpose. It was part of the British Royal Mail system. It is also the only one of its kind still standing today.
After being a post office, the building was used for different things. It was once part of a Roman Catholic boys' school, De La Salle College. Later, it became a cold storage building. Today, you can find it at 260 Adelaide Street East in downtown Toronto. The building now works as a museum and a real post office. The Town of York Historical Society runs it.
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History of Toronto's First Post Office
This historic building opened in 1833. This was even before the town of York became the City of Toronto. Because of this, it has two names. It is called the "Fourth York Post Office" because three other post offices existed before it in York. It is also known as "Toronto's First Post Office" because it was the first one to serve the new city of Toronto.
The building worked as a post office until 1837. James Scott Howard was the very first postmaster there. A postmaster is the person in charge of a post office.
After 1913, the building was used for many different things. It was owned by Christie, Brown and Company, a biscuit factory. In 1925, a company called United Farmers' Co-Operative Company bought it. They turned the post office building into a cold storage warehouse for food. It was used this way until 1956.
The building was then used for other purposes until 1971. At that time, it was closed and left empty. It was almost torn down for new buildings. But then, Sheldon and Judith Godfrey bought the building. They wanted to fix it up. They found out that it was actually the old post office!
Because of its history, it was named a National Historic Site of Canada in 1980. This means it is a very important place in Canadian history. The building is also protected by the Ontario Heritage Act since 1975.
The First Post Office museum officially opened its doors in 1983.
What is the Post Office Used For Today?
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The building re-opened in 1982. Today, it serves as both a museum and a working post office. It is Canada's oldest post office built for that purpose that is still standing.
Visitors can learn about postal history in the museum. They can also send mail from the postal counter. Toronto's First Post Office is an official dealer for Canada Post. This means it offers full postal services. The Town of York Historical Society manages and operates this unique historical site.
Architecture of the Historic Building
The building's style is called late Georgian architecture. When it was first built, it had three floors. It also had two front doors. One door was for the post office itself. The other door was for the postmaster's home. In those days, postmasters often lived in the same building as their post office.
A fourth floor was added to the roof in 1876. This happened when the building was part of De La Salle Institute. This was a Roman Catholic boys' school. The school had built another building next to the post office.
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