Toronto’s First Post Office exhibition at the Market gallery

Over Any Distance Imaginable: The Royal Mail from York will be presented through the market gallery program, from October 25, 2008 to March 1, 2009. This exhibition, courtesy of Toronto’s First Post Office, offers insight into a tumultuous period of our history, the 1830s, and one in which letters were the only form of long-distance communication.

Over Any Distance Imaginable evokes a city undergoing exponential growth due to immigration from the old world, and a population experiencing both hope and doubt in the new one.  It also chronicles an episode of armed revolution, when the new world rebelled against the old, that eventually precipitated the formation of this country we call Canada.

Toronto’s First Post Office is the custodian of an unparalleled collection of artefacts relating to early 19^th century communication.  Writing and post-office paraphernalia and the letters that passed back and forth over the counter manned by Postmaster James Scott Howard tell the stories of Toronto’s early citizens and of how their words were transported around the world – over rough water and even rougher roads – or lost along the way.  Mr. Howard’s own rise and abrupt fall in the postal service during the 1837 rebellion is also examined.

The Market gallery is a program of the culture division of the City of Toronto and presents changing exhibitions dedicated to Toronto’s art, culture, history and offers educational programs for school groups and adults. Located in Toronto’s oldest neighbourhood, the main gallery occupies the 19^th century city council chamber which is all that remains from the city hall that stood on this site from 1845 -1899.  The gallery offers educational programs for school groups and adults.

Admission is free. The Market gallery is located on the second floor of the South St. Lawrence Market, 95 Front St. E. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 12 noon to 4 p.m.

Toronto’s First Post Office, operated by the Town of York Historical Society, is a post office as well as a museum.  It is located at 260 Adelaide Street East and is open Monday to Friday 9-4 and Saturdays and Sundays 10-4.  As in 1834, Toronto’s First Post Office is the only full-service post office in the city operating seven days a week.