Advertisements for the Masco Electric Company appear as early as 1950 in Toronto newspapers. On 5 July 1951 Masco published an advertisement in the Globe and Mail announcing their move to 54 Duke Street. Their first appearance in a city directory is 1953, and their last is in 1963. The 1964 Toronto City Directory lists the site as vacant.
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The 1903 Goad Fire Insurance Map depicts the large structures that make up the Duke Street Fensom facilities (but not the house facing the street).
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This advertisement for the Fensom Elevator Works on Duke Street appears in the 1883 Toronto City Directory.
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The Honourable James Gordon is listed for the first time in the 1850-1 City Directory. He is described as occupying the house that formerly belonged to Sir William Campbell. It is possible that he moved in before this time, but there are no city directories for the years between 1847 and 1849. The last year that Gordon appears in the house is 1853, according to city tax records. The 1856 directory does not list Gordon.
Gordon was a merchant and political figure, born in Inverness, Scotland in 1786. He moved to Amherstburg before 1809, where he built the still-standing Gordon House. While in Amherstburg he served as a lieutenant in the 1st Essex Regiment and likely saw action in the War of 1812. Between 1820 and 1828 Gordon served on the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada for Kent County. He was a founding member in 1835 of the Upper Canada Clergy Society.
While in York Gordon was a trustee and on the Board of Directors of the Life, Fire and Marine Assurance Companies and Agencies. He served in this capacity with his neighbour Thomas D Harris (who also requested for the street to be macadamized), and other local notables, including Proudfoot and Helliwell.
He was also the Vice President of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. John Ross Robertson’s Landmarks of Toronto claims that both Gordon and his daughter were generous donors to St. James Cathedral.
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According to an 1834 assessment roll for the Town of York reprinted in John Ross Robertson’s Landmarks of Toronto, Lady Campbell’s Duke Street property included:
3 town lots
2 framed structures under 2 stories-1 Brick 2 story structure with 2 fireplaces
4 additional fireplaces
2 horses above the age of 3
1 “milch” cow
1 close carriage, 4 wheels, “kept for pleasure”
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