Meridian Hall (better known to old folks as O'Keefe Centre) was Toronto's top performing arts and concert venue. It opened with the premiere of the broadway show - Camelot. It was also the site of scandalous Hollywood relationships, Soviet defections, and rock n' roll riots. Learn more about this Toronto landmark in this week's episode of Muddy York, Toronto's #1 history podcast.

You can follow Muddy York on Twitter: ⁠⁠Toronto_History⁠⁠ and Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/muddyyorkhistory/⁠

Music:

The Westerflies - Dover 

Aaron Kenny - Gaeity in The Golden Age 

Aaron Kenny - Curious Kitten

Aaron Kenny - Cocktail Hour

The Westerflies - The Light Within 

Dan Lebowitz - Override Drive 

St. Lawrence Market has been a city hall, a jailhouse, a music hall and a great place to get a peameal bacon sandwich. National Geographic ranked it as one of the top 10 food markets in the world. Learn more about this landmark on Muddy York, Toronto's #1 history podcast.

You can follow Muddy York on Twitter: ⁠⁠Toronto_History⁠⁠ and Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/muddyyorkhistory/⁠

Music from this episode:

The Westerflies - Dover

The Westerflies - The Light Within

The Westerflies - When The Ash Settles

The Westerflies - Hard Times Come Again

Aaron Kenney - English Country Garden

Aaron Kenney - Geity in the Golden Age 

The Great Fire of 1849 destroyed 10-15 acres of central Toronto, including earlier versions of St. Lawrence Market and St. James Cathedral. This wasn't just a good fire, it was a great fire. Learn more about it on Muddy York, Toronto's #1 history podcast.

You can follow Muddy York on Twitter: ⁠⁠Toronto_History⁠⁠ and Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/muddyyorkhistory/⁠

Music from this episode:

The Dover - Westerflies 

Zacharia - Argonne

Cooper Cannell - How Far We've Come

Dan Lebowitz - Twilight Train

The CNE begins in three days. This week on Muddy York, learn about its weird and wonderful history including butter sculpting, car polo, the Mayors Bathtub Derby and an Alice Cooper riot.

You can follow Muddy York on Twitter: ⁠⁠Toronto_History⁠⁠ and Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/muddyyorkhistory/⁠

Music from this episode:

The Dover - Westerflies

Metal Race - Josh Kirsch Media_Right Productions

Motorbike - TrackTribe

Greaser - TrackTribe

Sing Swing Badabing - Doug Maxwell_right productions

1940's Slow Dance - Doug Maxwell_right productions

Jesses Carnival Waltz - The Great North Sound Society

With Shot and Shell - The United States Marine Band

Mysterious Carnival - Sir Clubworth

Gaiety in the Golden Age - Aaron Kenny

Before the Blue Jays played their first game in the snow, the Maple Leafs were Toronto's top professional baseball team. They won 11 International League titles and 13 Hall of Famers would play for the team. Learn more about them this week on Muddy York.

You can follow Muddy York on Twitter: ⁠⁠Toronto_History⁠⁠ and Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/muddyyorkhistory/⁠

Music from this Episode:

Dover - The Westerflies

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

This episode is about the great mansion on Davenport Hill and the man who built it. Casa Loma is one of the most distinctive buildings in Toronto, but there's more to this story. It helped to launch swing music and it once housed a top-secret lab. Learn more about it on this week's episode of Muddy York.

You can follow Muddy York on Twitter: ⁠⁠Toronto_History⁠⁠ and Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/muddyyorkhistory/⁠

Music from this Episode:

Dover - The Westerflies

Doug Maxwell Productions  - Rag Time Time 

Doug Maxwell Productions - Honky Tonkin'

Zacharia Hickman  - Argonne

Thornton and Lucie Blackburn were born as slaves in Kentucky. They would escape, make their way to Canada, establish the legal precedent that led to the Underground Railroad and create the very first cab in the history of Toronto. Learn about their story this week on Muddy York.

I've Got a Home in Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad by Karolyn Smardz Frost is a good read if you're interested in learning more about the Blackburns.

In honour of the mayoral election, Muddy York's very first episode will be about the very first election ever held in Toronto way back in the year 1800. Four men would stand for the honour of representing the people of York. This story has riots, bribery and duels to the death. Who says that politics is boring?

If you like our show, please consider subscribing or giving the Muddy York podcast a five-star review.

Muddy York is the first podcast dedicated to the history of Toronto. Staring on June 20th, we will be posting new episodes on the first and third Tuesday of every month. In the meantime, here is a short introduction to your charming hosts and a short story about how Toronto got its Muddy York nickname.