British American oil tank fire, Keating Street, Globe and Mail, February 12, 1948
There is no reason to doubt that Engineer Keating selected the proper spot for the cut through the Ashbridge sand bar. The western jetty has not been completed, in fact it has scarcely been begun and not enough work has been done on it by Contractor Grant to aid in keeping the channel open, yet the channel is deeper today that it was when dredging was stopped last fall. The water flows through with quite a current and there is every reason for the belief that the problem of purifying the bay has at last been solved.” Toronto Star, Friday, April 13, 1894
1896 Ashbridges Bay, plan by Edward Henry Keating, City of Toronto Engineer
Below is a gallery with the reports of City Engineer Jennings, 1890 and E. H. Keating, on Ashbridge’s Bay Reclamation which eventually lead to Keating Cut or Keating Channel as it s also known, and the Toronto Harbor Commission’s creation of the Eastern Harbor Industrial District, now known as the Portlands.
1914 View looking southeast, showing Keating channel at left, 1914, TPLKeating St. looking east from Cherry St. Toronto, Ont. Nov. 13, 1917Conditions on Don River looking north from G.T.R. Bridge, Keating St. Toronto, Ont. Feb. 16, 1920Oil storage tanks, Keating Street, Port Lands. Toronto, Ontario, 1920sCherry St., looking s. from Keating Channel bridge, 1930Truck stalled by freight train, Keating Street – December 29, 1933British-American Oil refinery on north side of Keating Street and east of Cherry Street, November 6, 1934Looking northwest from the Keating ChannelKeating Channel, looking southeast from east of Cherry St., April 1935 by Allan Lloyd Peters Shell Oil Company — Keating Street – August 2, 1939Keating Street north side, east from bridge – July 2, 1947British American oil tank fire, Keating Street, Globe and Mail, February 12, 19481951 Keating Channel, looking northeastCherry Street, bridge over Keating Channel, showing freighter ‘Britamoil’. Toronto, Ont. James Victor Salmon, 1952, TPL1976 Keating Channel looking westEast end of Keating Channel, looking south-west – [between 1980 and 1998]1988-1990 Keating Channel at the interchange of the DVP and Gardiner ExpresswayAerial view of Gardiner Expressway and Keating Channel looking west
Below is a story of the City Engineer’s official photographer, Arthur Beales, and a history of the development of Toronto’s waterfront.
Here are some links to videos showing the work that is being done at the mouth of the Don:
Coast Toronto 
Leave a comment