The story of the growth and destruction of Toronto’s first 'priority neighbourhood.' From the 1840s until the Second World War, waves of newcomers who migrated to Toronto - Irish, Jewish, Italian, African American and Chinese, among others - landed in 'The Ward.' Crammed with rundown housing and immigrant-owned businesses, this area, bordered by College and Queen, University and Yonge streets, was home to bootleggers, Chinese bachelors, workers from the nearby Eaton's garment factories and hard-working peddlers. But the City considered it a slum, and bulldozed the area in the late 1950s to make way for a new civic square. The Ward finally tells the diverse stories of this extraordinary and resilient neighbourhood through archival photos and contributions from a wide array of voices, including historians, politicians, architects, storytellers, journalists and descendants of Ward residents. Their perspectives on playgrounds, tuberculosis, sex workers, newsies and even bathing bring The Ward to life and, in the process, raise important questions about how contemporary cities handle immigration, poverty and the geography of difference. Contents & Contributors Introduction - John Lorinc Searching for the Old Ward - Shawn Micallef  No Place Like Home - Howard Akler Before the Ward: Macauleytown - Stephen A. Otto  My Grandmother the Bootlegger - Howard Moscoe  Against All Odds: The Chinese Laundry - Arlene Chan VJ Day - Arlene Chan Merle Foster's Studio: 'A Spot Of Enchantment' - Terry Murray Missionary Work: The Fight for Jewish Souls - Ellen Scheinberg  King of the Ward - Myer Siemiatycki  Where the Rich Went for Vice - Michael Redhill A Fresh Start: Black Toronto in the 19th Century - Karolyn Smardz Frost Policing the Lord's Day - Mariana Valverde 'The Maniac Chinaman' - Edward Keenan Elsie's Story - Patte Roseban Lawren Harris's Ward Period - Jim Burant  'Fool's Paradise': Hastings' Anti-Slum Crusade - John Lorinc Strange Brew: The Underground Economy of Blind Pigs - Ellen Scheinberg  The Consulate, the Padroni and the Labourers - Andrea Addario Excerpt: The Italians in Toronto - Emily P. Weaver Arthur Goss: Documenting Hardship - Stephen Bulger Fresh Air: The Fight Against TB - Cathy Crowe The Stone Yard - Gaetan Heroux William James: Toronto's First Photojournalist - Vincenzo Pietropaolo The Avenue Not Taken - Michael McClelland Timothy Eaton's Stern Fortifications - Michael Valpy Settling In: Central Neighbourhood House - Ratna Omidvar and Ranjit Bhaskar Toronto's Girl with the Curls - Ellen Scheinberg Chinese Cafes: Survival and Danger - Ellen Scheinberg and Paul Yee Defiance and Divisions: The Great Eaton's Strike - Ruth A. Frager Elizabeth Street: What the City Directories Reveal - Denise Balkissoon Growing Up on Walton Street - Cynthia MacDougall Revitalizing George Street: The Ward's Lessons - Alina Chatterjee and Derek Ballantyne Taking Care of Business in the Ward -  Ellen Scheinberg  'A Magnificent Dome': The Great University Avenue Synagogue - Jack Lipinsky Reading the Ward: The Inevitability of Loss - Kim Storey and James Brown Toronto's First Little Italy - John Lorinc The Elizabeth Street Playground, Revisited - Bruce Kidd Divided Loyalties - Sandra Shaul Crowded by Any Measure - John Lorinc A Peddler and His Cart: The Ward's Rag Trade - Deena Nathanson Toronto's Original Tenement: Wineberg Apartments - Richard Dennis Excerpt: Tom Thomson's Diary - Tom Thomson  An Untimely Death - Brian Banks Paper Pushers - Ellen Scheinberg  The BMR's Wake-Up Call - Laurie Monsebraaten Excerpt: Report of the Medical Health Officer ... - Charles J. Hastings Dr. Clarke's Clinic - Thelma Wheatley Slum-Free: The Suburban Ideal - Richard Harris The Glionna Clan and Toronto's First Little Italy - John E. Zucchi 'The Hipp' - Michael Posner Before Yorkville - John Lorinc Sex Work and the Ward's Bachelor Society - Elise Chenier Public Baths: Schvitzing on Centre Avenue - Ellen Scheinberg The Health Advocates: McKeown on Hastings - John Lorinc Remembering Toronto's First Chinatown - Kristyn Wong-Tam Tabula Rasa - Mark Kingwell Unrealized Renewal - J. David Hulchanski A Short History of the 'Civic Square' Expropriation - John Lorinc Storytelling is Part of the Story - Tatum Taylor How We Think About What (Little) Survives - Patrick Cummins Institutional Memory - Scott James & Victor Russell Alternative Histories - Michael McClelland