Before Liberty Village became known for condos, cafés, and Lamport Stadium, the site at 1155 King Street West housed the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women — an institution created in 1880 to confine women considered “undesirable” by Victorian society.
Women could be sent there for reasons ranging from sex work and substance use to interracial relationships, unmarried pregnancy, or behaviour deemed “uncontrollable.” Many were incarcerated for years under harsh conditions marked by overcrowding, punishment, and disease.
The reformatory closed in 1969, leaving behind a difficult and often overlooked chapter in Toronto’s social history.