• Toronto’s Tollkeeper’s Cottage
    Cottage in its location on Davenport Road and Bathurst in 1875
  • A Humble Home
    Built in the 1830s, this structure housed multiple tollkeeper families over the years
  • The Families Who Lived Here
    Including John Bulman (1861) and others like Frances McCegue, Moses Hanna, and Thomas Brown
  • Art Cox’s 1875 Painting
    Color version of this rare depiction by local artist Arthur Cox
  • Now across the street
  • Restored to 1861
    Furnished with period artifacts including some from the Bulman family and other 19th century pieces
  • Meet Our Costumed Docents
    Experience daily life as it was for Toronto’s early tollkeeping families
  • A Living History Site
    One of Toronto’s few surviving examples of early municipal architecture
  • Visit the Tollkeeper’s Cottage
    Open February-December
    Saturdays 12-5pm & first Sunday each month 1-4pm

Tollkeepers Cottage Museum

Open Saturdays 12 noon – 5 pm summer, 12 noon – 4 pm winter; next Sunday opening August 9: 1 – 4 pm

Thank you to the Christie Gardens Retirement Community on Melita Crescent for hosting three of our docents
who introduced residents to the Tollkeeper's Cottage by means of a lively talk and PowerPoint presentation. And after the presentation, a group of residents decided to visit for a tour and tea. We received hearty compliments for what we are doing in keeping this heritage house alive for the public. Do you know a seniors residence that might be interested in finding out about us? We'd be happy to spread the word to others!

CYANOTYPE WORKSHOP SOLD OUT!
SATURDAY AUGUST 8 FROM 10 AM-2 PM FEE: $25.
Photographer Terence Reeves will guide up to 12 participants (age 13 years +) through a day of botanical printmaking at the Tollkeepers' Cottage. Due to Terence's fine marketing efforts, his recent outreach on Eventbrite has filled the workshop. Since the interest is so great, we will consider sponsoring other workshops like this in the future.

Cyanotype is very early form of photography discovered by John Herschell in 1844, making it one of the earliest forms of photography invented. Anna Atkins, a family friend of Herschell's, established a tradition of botanical printmaking when she travelled around the British coastline documenting seaweed.

The process fell out of use, due to a misconception that cyanotype was only suitable for line drawings. Eventually, it became ubiquitous as a method for quickly reproducing building plans and schematics, which is why these are often called "blueprints" today. Once blueprinting was made obsolete by modern photocopiers, artists began to experiment with the process and discovered it was a more capable photographic medium than anyone had previously realized.

WE'RE HOPING FOR A POSTCARD PLAQUE THAT MENTIONS THE COTTAGE!
You're familiar with the Heritage Plaques program that has placed many plaques around the city. One of these is right near the Cottage and describes the history of Davenport Road. Project Bookmark is a unique, non-profit initiative that sponsors a series of site-specific literary exhibits using text from imagined stories that take place in the location where they are placed. Perhaps you recall Catherine Little whose several presentations with us introduced us to her children's books. Her latest is Anne of the Library-on-the-Hill, a story that imagines a visit by Lucy Maud Montgomery to a library on the very Bathurst Street hillside that crosses Davenport Road and refers to our beloved Tollkeeper's Cottage in its park nearby. The aim is to use an excerpt from the book on the plaque.

Project Bookmark is proceeding with the process to request approval for this plaque from the City of Toronto. We'll let you know what happens!

 
 
REQUEST FOR VOLUNTEERS: TALKS AND WORKSHOPS
We are so pleased that we have connected with Brianna Davies, a museum graduate from the University of Toronto, who will be reviewing how to deal with our many oral histories taped many years ago and filled with interesting stories of the old Ward 5 neighbourhood.
 
Are you a craftsperson interested in working with children or adults to help with skills, especially those that might soon be lost? Or perhaps you could give a Talk about a topic that resonates with our interests at the Cottage? We will be on hand to give you a lot of support! We are still in need of a person interested in history who could assist the docent while on tours and in the Cottage, doing a variety of tasks. Let us know at tollkeeperscottage@gmail.com.
 
 
Hello walkers. We are planning a walk in Wychwood Park on Sunday August 9th at 10 am . The weather in the morning is promising, and gets worse as the day goes on, so 10 am seems best.
Wychwood Park. A secluded quiet refuge from the city, with a pond with turtles. Started as an artists’ colony, it was the homes of some of Canada’s great artists. 400 year old oak trees. Eden Smith architecture. (One of his houses was the home of Marshal McLuhan. )
When 4 people have expressed interest, I will send details of the meeting place. A leaflet describing the walk is available for $5 if you wish, and donations to the Tollkeeper’s Cottage are very welcome.
Hit reply to tell me if you wish to join us!
Hoping to walk with you on Sunday!
Marilyn Spearin


walk coordinator.

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walk in Wychwood Park on Sunday August 9th at 10 am