Walk Liberty | Location 5

Welcome to Walk Liberty!

Walk Liberty is an interactive, online portal that showcases the rich history, public spaces, and dynamic and eclectic businesses of Liberty Village. Get outside, explore the neighbourhood and support your local businesses. 

This is one of ten stops along a walking tour of Liberty Village. 

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📍King St W | Atlantic Ave

King Street and Atlantic Avenue is Liberty Village’s northern gateway. To the south and to the west are restored brick-and-beam factory buildings, now the home of creative businesses, and many shops and restaurants. One block away, where Lamport Stadium now stands, was once a notorious prison that ironically, helped to give Liberty Village its name.

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Atlantic Avenue is Liberty Village’s main north-south street. Here, at King Street, frequent streetcar and bus service will get you downtown, to the subway, or to many of Toronto’s other vibrant neighbourhoods. Close by, you will find variety of shops, restaurants, and services to meet your needs and cravings. Atlantic Avenue leads to Exhibition GO Station, with easy access to the CNE grounds, BMO Field, and Ontario Place. 

The King Street Subway, to the east, was built in 1888 to solve a major traffic problem, where King Street crossed several railway lines and yard tracks. The elimination of this dangerous crossing allowed streetcar service to continue westward from Dovercourt Road, serving Liberty Village and south Parkdale and was the one of the first of many underpasses built along Toronto’s rail corridors to eliminate such dangers. The Subway allowed for new electric streetcar service to reach Liberty Village in 1894, extending west to Roncesvalles Avenue and south to the Exhibition Grounds at the end of Dufferin Street. Another streetcar route, Dovercourt, terminated at nearby King and Shaw Streets. The streetcars helped bringing workers to the front doors of Liberty Village factories.

A planned  new transit station, King-Liberty,  will provide new connections from Liberty Village via the GO Kitchener Line to Pearson Airport, Brampton, Guelph, and the Kitchener-Waterloo tech hub.

Next to this signpost are two examples of Liberty Village’s public art initiatives. Emerging   by Liberty Village resident Michael Golland   reflects Liberty Village’s transformation from its past and the human spirit of those who live and work here.  Milieu by artist P Fortune, is one of a series of 14 artists’ benches commissioned by the Liberty Village BIA in 2019. Milieu features Liberty Village’s street grid and highlights the famous Inglis billboard, which stood by the Gardiner Expressway until 2014. 

Learn more about the Inglis Billboard at Stop 1: East Liberty Street and Strachan Avenue

Continue your tour…

Location 6 King and Dufferin Streets – 500 metres west (1209 King Street West)

Location 4 Hanna and Snooker Streets – 175 metres south-east (51 Hanna Avenue)

Looking east on King Street to the subway
City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 376, File 2, Item 17

Mercer Reformatory, 1893

Support Local. Check out these nearby businesses!

Cafes and Restaurants

Booster Juice 128 Atlantic Avenue

Burger Drop 116 Atlantic Avenue

Craft Brasserie 107 Atlantic Avenue

Evelyn’s Crackers 125 Jefferson Avenue

Fat Bastard Burrito 126 Atlantic Avenue

Freshii 85 Hanna Avenue

In Japan 124 Atlantic Avenue

Sushi &Bowl 120 Atlantic Avenue

Liberty Eats 129 Jefferson Avenue

Liberty Shawarma 114 Atlantic Avenue

Mad Batter Bakers 135 Jefferson Avenue

Mildred’s Temple Kitchen 85 Hanna Avenue

Naomi Restaurant 112 Atlantic Avenue

6ix Triangles 127 Jefferson Avenue

Provisions 109 Jefferson Avenue

ULTRAMEN 134 Atlantic Avenue

Shops

Knoll 109 Atlantic Avenue

Organic Garage 42 Hanna Avenue

Popeyes Supplements 118 Atlantic Avenue

West Elm 109 Atlantic Avenue

Services

B Suite Salon 132 Atlantic Avenue

Goodlife Fitness 85 Hanna Avenue

Helen Tansey Photography 123 Jefferson Avenue

King Liberty Health Centre 131 Jefferson Avenue

Parss Courier 101 Jefferson Avenue

Pack of Paws 105 Jefferson Avenue

Smooth Wax Bar 110 Atlantic Avenue

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