Toronto Normal School

Toronto Normal School
(St. James Square)
Toronto Normal School in 1890
Map
Former namesProvincial Normal School, Normal School for Upper Canada, Normal School for Ontario
Alternative namesRyerson Hall
General information
TypeInstitutional
Architectural stylePalladian
LocationSite bounded by Gerrard, Church, Gould and Victoria streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Construction startedJuly 2, 1851
CompletedMay 1852
Demolished1958-63
OwnerProvince of Ontario
Design and construction
Architect(s)Cumberland and Ridout[1]

The Toronto Normal School was a teachers college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1847, the normal school was located at Church and Gould streets in central Toronto (after 1852), and was a predecessor to the current Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.[2][3] The Royal Ontario Museum, the Ontario College of Art & Design and the Ontario Agricultural College all originated at the Normal School's campus and the provincial Department of Education was also located there. Officially named St. James Square (and located with the old Toronto St. James Ward), the school became known as "the cradle of Ontario's education system".[4] The school's landmark Gothic-Romanesque building was designed by architects Thomas Ridout and Frederick William Cumberland in 1852.[5] The landmark building was demolished in 1963, but architectural elements of the structure remain on the campus of Toronto Metropolitan University.

  1. ^ Toronto Normal School:Centenerary Program (1847-1947). Toronto: 1947. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  2. ^ Toronto Normal School (Ont.). Fonds description. Archives of Ontario.
  3. ^ MISSION & PURPOSE. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
  4. ^ From Cradle to Computer: A history of St. James Square, the birthplace of Ontario education. (Ryerson Polytechnical Institute: Toronto, 1984).
  5. ^ Pound, Richard W. (2005). 'Fitzhenry and Whiteside Book of Canadian Facts and Dates'. Fitzhenry and Whiteside.