How TTC subway stations got their atypical names

Toronto's subway stations have mostly simple and elegant names. Save for a small number of outliers, the formula is easy: take the name of the nearest major street and subtract the suffix "road," "street," or "avenue." In case of a conflict, add "West." The convention started with the Yonge line in the 1950s and has since been continued on the Scarborough RT and even the St. Clair streetcar.

In contrast, London Underground stations are mostly named for the surrounding neighbourhood or part of the city, though there are few streets, landmarks (some existing, some historical,) and pubs--Royal Oak, Elephant & Castle, Angel, Manor House, and Swiss Cottage--sprinkled in for good measure.

Now that Metrolinx is accepting feedback on the proposed names of Eglinton-Crosstown LRT stations, here's a look at how some of Toronto's atypical station names were conceived.

Museum
The glut of stations in the Avenue and Bloor area required the TTC to get creative with its names. Museum station first appeared in 1959 on a provisional TTC document before construction of the Bloor-Danforth and University lines had begun. At the time, Yorkville station was called Bellair (it was also briefly called Yorkville before the University line opened in 1963.) The Museum name, of course, refers to the nearby Royal Ontario Museum.

St. Andrew
Faced with the problem of having two stations on the same street within a very short distance, the TTC opted to name the stations on University line after former city electoral wards. At the time of its abolition in 1901, St. Andrew's Ward was bound by King and Queen streets in the north and south and Yonge and Dufferin streets in the east and west.

St. Patrick
There was a time when the TTC seriously considered changing the name of St. Patrick to Art Gallery, in reference to the nearby Art Gallery of Ontario. The name in use today is a nod the former St. Patrick's Ward, a division of the city bound by Bloor, Bathurst, University, and Queen. The mint green platform tile is a 70s-era reference to St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.

Osgoode
Osgoode station is named after Osgoode Hall, the historic law society building on the northeast corner of Queen and University that was named for William Osgoode, a prominent early judge and lawyer. It's an interesting choice given the trend of naming stations for city wards: St. John's Ward covered the area where Osgoode Hall stands today and would have been just as geographically relevant.

Old Mill
The Old Mill Tea Garden opened on the site of a former Humber River sawmill on Aug. 4, 1914, the same day Canada entered the First World War. Over the last 100 years, the Tudor-style complex has expanded to include a hotel, spa, and namesake subway station. Opened in 1968, the Old Mill station platform is the only one that's both underground and elevated at opposite ends.

Main Street
Main Street is the only station on the Toronto subway system to retain its suffix. The street was named when it was the principal thoroughfare of the town of East Toronto, a community once sufficiently distant from Toronto be completely independent. The town itself is long gone, but relics like the name of Main Street remain. The TTC keeps the suffix to avoid giving the impression it's the city's principal station.

Follow Chris Bateman on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

Image: Peter Crock (Museum), MrDanMofo (St. Patrick), Ben Roffelsen (Osgoode), Chris Luckhardt (St. Andrew), Chris Bateman (Old Mill)/blogTO Flickr pool, Matthew (Main Street)/Creative Commons.

by Chris Bateman via blogTO