For the building in Rochester, New York

Rochester, New York

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

, see Temple Building (Rochester)

Temple Building (Rochester)

The Temple Building is the name of a high-rise building located in Rochester, New York. Standing at 218 feet , it is the eleventh tallest building in Rochester....

The Temple Building was one of the first skyscraper

Skyscraper

A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...

s built in the city of Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

. It was erected in 1896 to house the world headquarters of the Independent Order of Foresters, which was a friendly society

Friendly society

A friendly society is a mutual association for insurance, pensions or savings and loan-like purposes, or cooperative banking. It is a mutual organization or benefit society composed of a body of people who join together for a common financial or social purpose...

 that acted as both a fraternal order and an important financial institution. The IOF was then run by the energetic Oronhyatekha

Oronhyatekha

Oronhyatekha , , was a Mohawk physician, scholar, and a unique figure in the history of British colonialism...

 who commissioned the grand structure. It was designed by George W. Gouinlock.

The building was located at Richmond and Bay Street

Bay Street

Bay Street, originally known as Bear Street, is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Street in that role in the 1970s...

. Upon its completion it was Toronto's tallest building, a title it would hold until the Trader's Bank Building

Trader's Bank Building (Toronto)

Trader's Bank Building is one of the early skyscrapers in Toronto.Designed by Carrère and Hastings and begun in 1905 at 67 Yonge Street, standing at 15 storeys above Yonge and Colborne Streets, it was the tallest building in Toronto and the entire British Commonwealth until the CPR Building was...

was built in 1905. The building was demolished to make way for the Queen-Bay Centre which still stands on the site.