View source for Osgoode Hall

{{Short description|Building in Toronto}}
{{For|the law school|Osgoode Hall Law School}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}

{{Infobox building
| name             = Osgoode Hall
| image            = Historic building in downtown Toronto on an early snowy morning. Ontario courthouse. (25129051345).jpg
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| image_alt        = <!-- or | alt = -->
| image_caption    = Osgoode Hall was designed in a late-Palladian style.
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| former_names     = 
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| etymology        = 
| status           = complete
| building_type    = [[Office building]] and [[courthouse]]
| architectural_style = [[Palladian architecture#North American Palladian architecture|Palladian]], [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]]
| address          = 130 [[Queen Street, Toronto|Queen Street]] West
| location_city    = [[Toronto]], Ontario
| location_country = Canada
| coordinates      = {{coord|43|39|08|N|79|23|08|W|region:CA-ON_scale:2500|display=inline,title}}
| current_tenants  = {{ubl|
* [[Law Society of Ontario]];
* [[Court of Appeal for Ontario|Ontario Court of Appeal]];
* [[Ontario Superior Court of Justice]]}}
| namesake         = [[William Osgoode]]
| start_date       = 1829
| completion_date  = 1832
| renovation_date  = 
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| owner            = {{ubl| 
* [[Law Society of Ontario]] &
* [[Government of Ontario]]
}}
| size             = 
| floor_count      = 3
| floor_area       = 
| grounds_area     = {{convert|6|acre|ha}}
| architect        = [[John Ewart (architect)|John Ewart]] and [[William Warren Baldwin]]
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| rooms            = <!-- or | unit_count          = -->
| website          = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| public_transit   = {{rint|toronto|1}} [[Osgoode station]]
| embedded         = {{designation list|embed=yes|designation1=Canada|designation1_date=1979|designation2=Ontario|designation2_date=1990}}
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}}

'''Osgoode Hall''' is a landmark building in [[downtown Toronto]], Ontario, Canada. The original {{frac|2|1|2}}-storey building was started in 1829 and finished in 1832 from a design by [[John Ewart (architect)|John Ewart]] and [[William Warren Baldwin]]. The structure is named for [[William Osgoode]],<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aNowAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Wd8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=7069%2C5933544 | title=Courageous settlers first located in Carleton back in 1818 | work=Ottawa Citizen | date=Apr 28, 1953 | access-date=2 December 2015 | pages=A20}}</ref> the first [[Chief Justice of Upper Canada]] (now the [[Canadian province|province]] of Ontario).<ref>http://www.heritagefdn.on.ca/userfiles/HTML/nts_1_6190_1.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320231229/http://www.heritagefdn.on.ca/userfiles/HTML/nts_1_6190_1.html |date=2012-03-20 }} Ontario Heritage Trust Osgoode Hall</ref>

It originally served to house the regulatory body for lawyers in Ontario along with its law school, formally established as [[Osgoode Hall Law School]] in 1889, which was the only recognized professional law school for the province at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.osgoode.yorku.ca/about/history/|title=History}}</ref> The original building was constructed between 1829 and 1832 in the late Georgian [[Palladian architecture|Palladian]] and [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] styles. It currently houses the [[Court of Appeal for Ontario|Ontario Court of Appeal]], the Divisional Court of the [[Ontario Superior Court of Justice|Superior Court of Justice]], the offices of the [[Law Society of Ontario]] and the Great Library of [[Law Society of Ontario|the Law Society]].

==History==
[[File:Toronto OsgoodeHall 1856.jpg|thumb|left|Osgoode Hall in 1856; the building was expanded from 1855 to 1857.]]
The {{convert|6|acre|ha|adj=on}} site at the corner of Lot Street ([[Queen Street West]] today) and College Avenue ([[University Avenue (Toronto)|University Avenue]] today) was acquired by the Law Society in 1828.<ref name = "ridell">William Renwick Ridell, [http://www.erudit.org/revue/ram/1922/v1/n1/300007ar.pdf "Osgoode Hall"], Report of the Annual Meeting, Canadian Historical Association, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1922.</ref> At the time, the location was on the northwest edge of the city, which has since grown around the building. It was originally bounded on its north side by Osgoode Street, and on its east side by a street that would eventually be known as Chestnut Street. The former no longer exists, and the latter now stops at Armoury Street, as [[Nathan Phillips Square]] now lies to the east. The [[portico]] of Osgoode Hall's east wing was built at the head of Toronto's York Street to serve as a [[terminating vista]], though it is now obscured by trees planted on the building's lawn. Osgoode Hall, together from which the Osgoode Hall Law School (affiliated as a professional school at [[York University]]), received its name in honour of William Osgoode, which was lent in turn to the adjacent [[Osgoode (TTC)|Osgoode subway station]].

Between [[Rebellions of 1837|the rebellions taking place in 1837-8]] until 1843, the hall was used as troop [[barracks]].<ref name = "ridell"/> When the Law Society regained possession in 1844, an expansion was designed by [[Henry Bowyer Lane]]; the West Wing and Library were built, with two domes (later removed) over the library to connect the two wings.<ref name = "ridell"/> In 1846, the Law Society entered into an agreement with the government to house the province's [[Superior Court]] at the hall.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Osgoode Hall {{!}} Law Society of Ontario |url=https://lso.ca/about-lso/osgoode-hall-and-ontario-legal-heritage/osgoode-hall |access-date=2025-06-29 |website=lso.ca}}</ref> Today, the building is jointly owned by the Law Society and the [[Government of Ontario]].

From 1855 to 1857, the building was refurbished and enlarged again, according to a design by the firm Cumberland and Storm, to accommodate courts with the original 1829 building becoming the east wing.  From 1880 to 1891, the building was again expanded twice in order to accommodate its law school.

The building was designated a [[National Historic Sites of Canada|National Historic Site of Canada]] in 1979,<ref>{{DFHD|549|Osgoode Hall|22 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{CRHP|4258|Osgoode Hall|22 August 2012}}</ref> and by the City of Toronto under the ''[[Ontario Heritage Act]]'' in 1990.<ref>[http://secure.toronto.ca/HeritagePreservation/details.do?folderRsn=2438792&propertyRsn=218293 130 Queen Street West], Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties</ref>

==Design==
[[File:WLM-CA-2018-Toronto-Osgoode Hall-9336.jpg|thumb|Great Library was designed by Cumberland and Storm]]
[[File:Iron Gates-Osgoode Hall National Historic Site of Canada-Toronto-Ontario-HPC4258-20221201.jpg|thumb|The iron gates of Osgoode Hall]]
[[File:Osgoode Hall stairs for the members 2023.jpg|thumb|Stairs for the members]]
Despite the expansions, the hall presents a unified design in the late [[Palladian architecture|Palladian]] style. The iron fence surrounding the lawns of Osgoode Hall has become a landmark in itself.  Its distinctive iron gates are narrow and restrictive; it is a long-standing myth that they were designed to keep [[livestock]] out of the grounds of the hall. Despite this, an incident in the 1950s occurred in which students unsuccessfully attempted to pass a cow through one of the gates.<ref>[http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/explore/online/osgoode/execution.aspx The Execution]. ''Osgoode Hall Turns 175 - Documenting a Landmark''.  Archives of Ontario.  Retrieved 2019-01-29.</ref> The gates were likely due to Victorian architectural fashion, rather than wandering cattle.<ref>[http://www.lostrivers.ca/points/osgoode.htm Osgoode Hall].  ''Lost Rivers''.  Retrieved 2008-03-06.</ref><ref>Law, Susan.  [http://www.osgoodehall.com/fence.html "Osgoode Hall Fence"]. ''Osgoode Hall'' (website). (Accessed 21 June 2007).</ref>

Two [[library|libraries]] are housed within Osgoode Hall: the Great Library of the [[Law Society of Ontario]] and a smaller library for judges. The Great Library was designed by Cumberland and Storm (1857–1860) and features an ornate [[plaster]] ceiling, [[Flooring#Resilient flooring|cork]] floors, an [[Stairs#Spiral and helical stairs|iron spiral staircase]] and [[etched glass]] windows. A War Memorial by [[Frances Loring]] (1887–1968), sculpted in 1928, was added to the Great Library in honour of Ontario lawyers and law students who were killed during the [[First World War]]. Behind the Great Library (and accessible through it) is the American Room, designed by Burke and Horwood in 1895, a more intimate room with a [[spiral staircase]]. The [[Toronto Courthouse]] at 361 University Avenue, directly to the north, is accessible through a connecting [[tunnel]].

<gallery>
Sculpture inside Osgoode Hall 2023.jpg|Sculpture inside the hall
WLM-CA-2018-Toronto-Osgoode Hall-9357.jpg|Osgoode Hall Dining Room
One of Osgoode Hall Rooms.jpg|Hall Rooms
Interior view, Osgoode Hall - Toronto, Canada - DSC00471.jpg|Hall lobby
Osgoode Hall Level 2 Courtroom Interior 2023.jpg|Level 2 Courtroom 
WLM-CA-2018-Toronto-Osgoode Hall-9329.jpg|American Room
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[List of oldest buildings and structures in Toronto]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Osgoode Hall}}
* [https://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/on-line-exhibits/osgoode/index.aspx Osgoode Hall Turns 175 - Documenting a Landmark] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027172650/http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/on-line-exhibits/osgoode/index.aspx |date=2012-10-27 }} Web exhibit at the Archives of Ontario
*[http://www.osgoodehall.com/ Susan Law's personal Osgoode Hall] main site
*[http://www.lsuc.on.ca/audio-tours/ Audio Tours of Osgoode Hall] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510200408/http://www.lsuc.on.ca/audio-tours/ |date=2013-05-10 }} from the Law Society of Upper Canada website.
*[http://www.lsuc.on.ca/about/about_visual_en.jsp Visual Tour of Osgoode Hall] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041013002955/http://www.lsuc.on.ca/about/about_visual_en.jsp |date=2004-10-13 }} from the Law Society of Upper Canada website.
*{{CRHP|4258|Osgoode Hall National Historic Site of Canada}}
*[http://www.museumsontario.ca/museum/Osgoode-Hall--The-Law-Society Information on Osgoode Hall tours and other heritage programs] on the Discover Ontario Museums website.

{{Toronto landmarks}}
{{Ontario parks}}
{{NHSC}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1832]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Toronto]]
[[Category:Courthouses in Canada]]
[[Category:Neoclassical architecture in Canada]]
[[Category:Terminating vistas in Canada]]
[[Category:Palladian Revival architecture in Canada]]
[[Category:Osgoode Hall Law School]]
[[Category:Court of Appeal for Ontario]]
[[Category:National Historic Sites in Ontario]]
[[Category:City of Toronto Heritage Properties]]
[[Category:1832 establishments in Upper Canada]]