Queen's Park, Toronto

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Queen's Park is an urban park in the Downtown area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1860 by Edward, Prince of Wales, it was named in honour of Queen Victoria. The park is the site of the Ontario Legislature, which houses the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and so the phrase Queen's Park is also frequently used to refer to the Government of Ontario. Queen's Park is also the name of a street and a subway station, as described below.

[edit] Features

The section of the park north of Wellesley Street follows the traditional British design, dominated by large trees that provide extensive cover during summer. Footpaths radiate outwards from an equestrian statue of Edward VII, which stands on a large mound at the centre of the northern section. The statue originally stood in India, but was moved to Canada after 1949, when India became a Commonwealth republic. The main north-south path runs between the statue and the war memorial of the 48th Highlanders at the park's northern tip. The site is approximately oval; however the southwestern edge of Queens Park "kinks" in somewhat (lower left side of the aerial image). In the past, this was the bank of Taddle Creek. With the creek long-buried, the kink remains.

The southern section of the park is the site of the Ontario Legislature, the seat of the provincial government. The grounds contain several monuments commemorating notable historical figures and events:

• George Brown, one of the Fathers of Confederation
• King George V
• Sir John A. Macdonald, first Prime Minister of Canada
• John Sandfield Macdonald, first Premier of Ontario
• William Lyon Mackenzie, leader of the Upper Canada Rebellion
• Sir Oliver Mowat, third Premier of Ontario
• Northwest Rebellion memorial
• John Graves Simcoe, first Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario
• Queen Victoria
• Sir James Pliny Whitney, sixth Premier of Ontario
• Ontario Veterans Memorial
• Queen Elizabeth II Rose Gardens in honour of Her Majesty's Silver Jubilee in 1977 and Golden Jubilee in 2002

The University of Toronto occupies most of the land surrounding the park. Ministry buildings of the Ontario government are located to the east of the park, in an area between Wellesley Street and Grosvenor Street. The Royal Ontario Museum, McLaughlin Planetarium, and Gardiner Museum buildings are not adjacent to the park, but are on the street of the same name (see below).

[edit] Transport

The oval park is bounded by Queen's Park Crescent East and West. These form part of a major through route consisting, in order, of these separately named streets:

• University Avenue (south of College Street)
• Queen's Park Crescent East and West
• Queen's Park
• Avenue Road (north of Bloor Street)

Queen's Park Crescent East and West carry northbound and southbound traffic respectively and are linked to make a complete anticlockwise loop around the park. University Avenue, Queen's Park (with no suffix), and Avenue Road have two-way traffic and lie in essentially the same straight line.

The Yonge-University-Spadina subway line runs below University Avenue, Queen's Park (the park, to one side of the legislature), and Queen's Park (the street), serving the area via its Queen's Park and Museum stations. Other public transit access is provided by the 5 Avenue Road and 94 Wellesley bus routes, and the 506 Carlton streetcar route.

[edit] See also

• Monarchy in Ontario

• Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ontario
• Parliament Hill, London
• Government Hill, Hong Kong

[edit] External links

• Location of Queen's Park with links to other web pages related to the area

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