In the theme of Riverside’s Month of Love, we’ll be celebrating this East End family of entrepreneurs and the automotive history in Riverside as the Hutchinson family, one of the builders of the east end, preserves their family namesake stone.
Join us Friday Feb 12th at 2pm to Celebrate the transfer of the Hutchinson Stone to the family at 77 East Don Roadway
Interior of the William James Hutchinson Building automotive
Jos Diening always felt at home in Toronto’s east-end, partly because his family has a rich history in the neighbourhood. His great grandfather, William James Hutchinson, was an entrepreneur and businessman who grew his first automobile venture from a backyard shop to a thriving business.
In 1908 and through the early 1900s, Hutchinson worked on the shop floor at 79 East Donway when the building was Conboy Carriage Works, a factory for making wooden horse-drawn carriages. Hutchinson was a master wood craftsman.
An inside look at Conboy Carriage Company’s Shop Floor, 1910
In 1918, foreseeing the demise of carriages and the transition to automobiles, Hutchinson decided to start his own car repair business. He left Conboy Carriage Works and set-up a backyard shop on Roxton Road in Toronto.
William James Hutchinson’s backyard shop on Roxton Road eventually grew into a thriving business
By 1948 his business had expanded into not just car repairs but also retrofitting trucks into tanker trucks, as well as all sorts of other mechanical specializations. It was then that he bought back the very building where he used to work at Queen Street East and the Don Valley Parkway. Hutchinson commemorated the purchase by installing a 1300lb stone in the front, declaring it the “William James Hutchinson Building.”
Image of the Hutchinson building in its hay day
When Streetcar announced plans for Riverside Square in late 2014, Diening reached out to them asking that we help preserve the stone for him and his family. “For me, the stone has always been a symbol of our family’s great entrepreneurial spirit” says Diening. Streetcar is pleased to announce that they are working with Diening and the rest of the Hutchinson family to safely remove the stone. “My family greatly appreciates the effort that Streetcar is putting into salvaging our family sign” Diening says.
When asked about their engagement of Deining and commitment to preserving the historical legacy of the Hutchinson Stone, Streetcar shared, “We believe vibrant neighbourhoods come from not only planning for the future, but also from preserving the past. We’re proud to be working with the Hutchinson family to preserve this piece of history.”
Stay tuned for part two of the Hutchinson Stone story, coming February 16th.