There's few more obvious ways to track the growth of a city than by charting the transformation of its skyline.

Perhaps this is especially the case with a city like Toronto, where developments have seemed to come in major stages, whether this be the rise of the Royal York Hotel in the late 1920s, the Toronto Dominion Centre in the late 60s, or the addition of the CN Tower in the mid-70s.

The photos below speak mostly for themselves in this capacity. Toronto now boasts one of the most impressive skylines in the world, but if you go back to the outset of the 1960s, there's nary a modern building in sight. We are a thoroughly contemporary city in this capacity.

Behold, the transformation of the Toronto skyline from 1880 to today.

Late 1880s

Photo via the Toronto Archives.

1914

Photo via the Toronto Archives.

1919

Photo via the Toronto Archives.

1920s

Photo via the Toronto Archives.

1930s

Photo via the Toronto Archives.

1940

Photo via the Toronto Archives.

1957

Photo via the Toronto Archives.

1964

Photo via the Toronto Archives.

1967

Photo via the Toronto Archives.

1974

Photo by mdintenfass.

1981

Photo Mike Dunham-Wilkie.

1990

Photo via the Toronto Archives.

2001

Photo by Phillip Dines.

2007

Photo by josche.

2010

Photo by steve colwill.

2016

Photo by Nicoli OZ Mathews.

2022

Photo by Marcanadian