- The much anticipated Toronto Grey and Bruce Railway reached Bolton late in 1870. The tracks from Weston were laid the entire distance in less than a year and passenger service started in June1871
- Around 1872, local farmer Edmund Shore saw the need for a hotel for train passengers and built the ‘Toronto Hotel’ on Shore Street, adjacent to the new TG&B railway station
- The hotel was often referred to as the Station Hotel
- The 1873/74 Peel Directory lists Shore as the proprietor and Perkins Bull recorded the existence of Edmund Shore’s 1873-4 tavern license
- The Toronto Hotel had several subsequent owners with John Weir, and later James Large, as Innkeeper: John Dennis 1879-1881, William Curliss, Edmund Shore’s brother-in-law who operated the Masonic Arms Hotel 1881-1884, merchant John Switzer 1884-1890, James Wilson 1890-1908.
And the building?
- After the CPR built a new station ~750m further west in 1906, the hotel closed its doors. Later, the building was used by James Wilson for the storage of wood and fuel. It was dismantled in 1942
- The original Toronto Grey & Bruce railway track bed is now Ellwood Drive
