Metrolinx shares photos, video of Ontario Line archeological dig at Moss Park

The province’s transit agency has released new photos and a video of an archeological dig done beneath downtown Toronto’s Moss Park in preparation for the construction of the new Ontario Line.

Metrolinx, which owns and operates the GO Transit, UP Express and PRESTO transit network, retained a team of eight archeologists who were tasked with unearthing old building foundations along the southern edge of Moss Park, which is bounded by Sherbourne Street to the east, Queen Street East to the south, Shuter Street to the north, and the Moss Park Armouries (Jarvis Street) to the west.

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The dig was done in three-parts, starting in 2021 and wrapping up last spring.

In the end, the excavations, measuring one to three metres deep, uncovered remnants of nineteenth-century row buildings along Queen Street East. Archaeologists also found basements of the former row housing as well as privies (outhouses), sheds, and other small artifacts.

The provincial transit agency said that all of the historical items found have now been catalogued and stored by the archeological team.

Smaller artifacts from the site, items that can be held in one's hand, are currently being kept offsite at a secure location by the licensed archaeologists who completed the assessments, Metrolinx told CP24.com in a written statement. These items will be transferred to a recognized archaeological repository following completion of the analysis and reporting process with the Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism.

Larger built features, like former structural foundations, etc., were excavated and extensively documented onsite to allow for their later analysis and interpretation during the reporting process, the agency noted.

Final Archeological Assessments are now in the process of being drafted and are expected to be ready later this year.

No further archeological excavations are planned for the eight-acre site at this time.

The Moss Park neighbourhood is located just outside the original 10-blocks that made up the Village or Town of York, which is present-day Toronto’s longest-standing and most-historic neighbourhood.

“While research is still in its early stages, we understand the row houses and businesses on this site existed from about 1870 until 1960 and many of the residents were of Irish, Scottish, or English backgrounds,” Ontario’s transit agency said, noting that the City of Toronto appropriated those buildings and demolished them in 1960 and returned the land to public parks.

“Researchers are still looking into the former businesses that existed at the site and along the block.”

The new 15 stop, 15.6-kilometre Ontario Line is slated to open in 2031. It will run from Exhibition Place, through downtown, and up to the Ontario Science Centre near Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue East.