University Club of Toronto

left: Club being built and today; right, Fitzgerald Room

The University Club of Toronto was founded by with the aim of establishing a luncheon club for university graduates. To this day it serves that role well and members enjoy a peaceful place in downtown Toronto to take a break, work out, eat lunch or dinner or even spend the night in comfortable rooms.

The originators of the University Club were G.F. McFarland, H.L.Hoyles and A.C.Snively, who convened the first luncheon on October 12, 1906. They met in an upper room over what was then Davey's Hotel at the southwest corner of King and Bay Streets. The group met every Friday for luncheon. New member admissions caused the meeting places to change, first to a private room at the St. Charles restaurant at the corner of Yonge and Colborne Streets, and then to two rooms at 36 1/2 King Street East. In the meantime, another group of university graduates had been meeting for similar purposes. On April 23, 1909, the two groups amalgamated, and the Club was formally incorporated.

Later in 1909, the Club moved to Nos. 14-16 King Street East, where its own kitchen and dining room were established, and then in 1911 to new premises at 82 King Street West, where two squash racquet courts were constructed during 1913. In December 1929, the Club entered its present home at 380 University Avenue. Full dining facilities, fourteen bedrooms and three squash courts were made an integral part of the design. The clubhouse has since been declared a Heritage Building by the Province of Ontario.