Queen's Park, Toronto
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Queen's Park is an urban park in the Downtown area of Toronto, Ontario. 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. By metonymy, the news media and the public frequently refer to the Government of Ontario as Queen's Park.
[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 following India's independence. The main north-south path runs between the statue and the war memorial of the 48th Highlanders at the park's northern tip.
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
The University of Toronto occupies most of the land surounding 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 and the McLaughlin Planetarium buildings do not bound the park, but are nearby to the north.
The Ontario Legislature |
Statue of George Brown |
Statue of Sir Oliver Mowat |
Statue of Sir James Pliny Whitney |
[edit] Transport
The park is enclosed by Queen's Park Circle, along which traffic flows counter-clockwise. It forms the transition between two major thoroughfares in Toronto, University Avenue and Avenue Road.
Access through public transit is provided by the Queen's Park and Museum subway stations on the Yonge-University-Spadina line, the 5 Avenue Road and 94 Wellesley routes of the Toronto bus system, and the 506 Carlton route of the Toronto streetcar system.
[edit] External links
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