HISTORICAL WALKING TOUR OF Deer Park Joan C. Kinsella Ye Merrie Circle, at Reservoir Park, c.1875 T~ Toronto Public Library Published with the assistance of Marathon Realty Company Limited, Building Group. ~THON --- © Copyright 1996 Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Toronto Public Library Board Kinsella. Joan c. (Joan Claire) 281 Front Street East, Historical walking tour of Deer Park Toronto, Ontario Includes bibliographical references. M5A412 ISBN 0-920601-26-X Designed by: Derek Chung Tiam Fook 1. Deer Park (Toronto, OnL) - Guidebooks. 2. Walking - Ontario - Toronto - Guidebooks Printed and bound in Canada by: 3. Historic Buildings - Ontario - Toronto - Guidebooks Hignell Printing Limited, Winnipeg, Manitoba 4. Toronto (Ont.) - Buildings, structures, etc - Guidebooks. 5. Toronto (OnL) - Guidebooks. Cover Illustrations I. Toronto Public Ubrary Board. II. TItle. Rosehill Reservoir Park, 189-? FC3097.52.K56 1996 917.13'541 C96-9317476 Stereo by Underwood & Underwood, FI059.5.T68D45 1996 Published by Strohmeyer & Wyman MTL Tll753 St.Clair Avenue, looking east to Inglewood Drive, showing the new bridge under construction and the 1890 iron bridge, November 3, 1924 CTA Salmon 1924 Pictures - Codes AGO Art Gallery of Ontario AO Archives of Ontario CTA City of Toronto Archives DPSA Deer Park School Archives JCK Joan C. Kinsella MTL Metropolitan Toronto Library NAC National Archives of Canada TPLA Toronto Public Library Archives TTCA Toronto Transit Commission Archives ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Woodlawn. Brother Michael O'Reilly, ES.C. and Brother Donald Morgan ES.C. of De La This is the fifth booklet in the Toronto Public Salle College "Oaklands" were most helpful library Board's series of historical walking in providing information. linda Scott, tours of Toronto neighbourhoods and also Imperial Oil Archives, and Karen L. Tinsley, one of the Board's contributions to the Yonge Public Affairs, Imperial life, provided infor­ Street 1796 - 1996 bicentennial celebrations. mation on their head office buildings. Local history holds a fascination for those Richard Stromberg, Toronto Historical Board, who live in, are new to, or have nostalgia for made available the Board's files on local her­ a former neighbourhood. I am indebted to itage buildings. Lynda Moon, Northern the Toronto Public Library Board for fostering District library, Toronto Public Library, Alan an interest in and preserving this priceless Walker, Metropolitan Toronto library, history, through branch local history Glenda Williams, City of Toronto Archives, collections, and the publication of walking and Ken Wilson, United ChurchlVictoria tour booklets and local history handbooks. University Archives helped in locating infor­ My interest in local history was first mation. Carl W. Washer, president of awakened by Donald Jones' insightful articles Jackson-Lewis Company, also assisted in find· on "Historical Toronto", featured in the ing information on the United Church Toronto Star, and through his very popular House. and fascinating walking tours. Thanks also to Ray Corley for information Many sources were used in gathering on the railways and street railways, and for information, and for their assistance I would reading the manuscript and offering useful like to thank the staffs of the Archives of recommendations. I am also grateful to Lynn Ontario, City of Toronto Archives, City of Stanborough, Administrative Support Toronto Department of Public Works and the Toronto Public Library, for typing the manu­ Environment, Commemorative Services of script into the computer, and to Derek Ontario (Mount Pleasant Cemetery and St. Chung for the design of the booklet. I James' Cemetery), Metro Archives, appreciate the work of Simon Hristov, a Metropolitan Toronto Reference library cooperative education student from Western (Baldwin Room), Ontario Land Registry Technical School, Toronto, in collecting data. Office, Toronto Historical Board, and Toronto A special thanks to Marion Fowler, the noted Public library. The Deer Park Branch library author and a Deer Park resident, who led the local history collection was especially helpful. inaugural walk on Sunday, September 22, More information on Deer Park and the area 1996. may be found in my book, A Walking Tour of Acknowledgement and thanks is given to the Old Deer Park farm area (1984), and Marathon Realty Company limited for its Deer Park School: a centennial celebration support and generous donation which helped 1888 to 1988, by Conrad Heidenreich. to make this publication possible. (1988). I am deeply grateful to Barbara Myrvold, I am grateful to and thank all who so gen­ Toronto Public library, Local History erously shared research and information. Coordinator, for the help and guidance she Mitchell Cohen, Director of Planning and gave and for sharing with me, her vast Sales, Marathon Realty Company limited, knowledge and expertise. kindly provided a history of the old North Toronto Station. Robert D. Mikel, Toronto Joan c. Kinsella, Historical Board, gave material on the Heath July 1996 family of Deer Park. Guy L. Saunders graciously shared the history of his home, 3 Yonge Street looking north from St.Clair Avenue, 1912 DEER PARK: AN OVERVIEW HISTORY Canada in 1791, he saw the need for a mil· itary and colonization road north from Lake Boundaries Ontario to Lake Simcoe and beyond, made imperative once the Town of York (Toronto) eer Park is a Toronto neighbourhood was established as the provincial capital in Dflanking Yonge Street from the 1793. The deputy provincial surveyor, Canadian Pacific Railway tracks in the south Augustus Jones, began to survey the road on to the old Toronto Belt Line Railway Bridge February 26, 1794. With the help of the sol· at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in the north. diers of the Queen's Rangers, the road was St. Clair Avenue between the Rosedale opened to Holland Landing in 1796. Ravine (Vale of Avoca) and the Nordheimer Simcoe called the road Yonge Street in Ravine is the main east·west artery.! honour of his friend, Sir George Yonge, then Traversing Deer Park is the Davenport the Secretary of State for War in the British Ridge, as the escarpment south of St. Clair Parliament. Generally, Yonge Street fol· Avenue is sometimes known. It was once lowed a straight north·south line, but occa· the steep shoreline of a much larger ancient sionally the road builders had to deviate its glacial lake, Lake Iroquois. This predecessor course around natural barriers, as historian of Lake Ontario was formed after the last ice Henry Scadding described in 1873: age began its northern recession thousands of years ago. The hill divides Deer Park in Just after Deer Park, to avoid a long two, the upper plain north of St. Clair and ravine which lay in the line of the the lower plain south of Summerhill direct route northward, the road Avenue. In earlier times, the grade of this swerved to the left and then steep hill, particularly around Summerhill, descended, passing over an embank· presented an obstacle to those who had tol ment. .. the apex of the long triangle climb it or drive on it with horse and (known as the Gore Lot) of no man's wagon. land that for a great while lay deso· late between the original and subse· Land surveys and building Yonge Street quent lines of Yonge Street. 2 When John Graves Simcoe was appointed During the surveying, lots were laid out the first lieutenant·governor of Upper on either side of Yonge Street, all rectangu· 4 lar and 200 acres each. In the Deer Park tion records by that name from 1802 until area, the lots on the west side of Yonge the mid·1850s. "A Plan of the Town of Street ran parallel to it from one concession Drummondville," an undated map at the road to the next. The Second Concession Registry Office, showed three north·south Road is now Bloor Street, the Third streets (King, Queen, and Old Yonge Street), Concession Road is St. Clair Avenue, and two east· west streets (William and John), the Fourth Concession Road is Eglinton and four of the 36 lots occupied. Avenue. Each lot had a frontage of one and The intersection of Yonge Street and the a quarter miles on Yonge Street and a quar· Third Concession Road began its commer· ter·mile on the concession road. It was the cial development in the 1830s with a feed opposite on the east side of Yonge Street. store operated by John Dew, a local entre· The lots followed the concession roads. The preneur. There were also a few market gar· frontage on Yonge Street was a quarter· mile dens and some industries. In 1836, Dew and ran east one and a quarter miles to a built a grist mill, a distillery and a saw mill road allowance, present·day Bayview in the ravine. He dammed the creek origi· Avenue. nating from a pure water spring south of the However it would be some time before present Mount Pleasant Cemetery, to create these lots were occupied, because of the a large mill pond and generate enough deplorable condition of Yonge Street. On water power to operate his mills. Dew sold June 10, 1801, one official reported, "that his whiskey to the hotels along Yonge Street from the Town of York to the three· mile at eight cents a quart. Michael Whitmore post [south of St. Clair Avenue], the road is also operated a sawmill in the area. cut, and that as yet the greater part of the Transportation along Yonge Street gradu­ said distance is not passable for any carriage ally improved, along with the condition of whatever on account of logs which lie in the the road. In 1828, stage coach service was street. "3 established between York and Holland Later Yonge Street was much improved Landing. Charles Thompson, the squire at through financial contributions from the Summer Hill, ran stage coaches on Yonge North West Company who decided to aban· Street in the 1830s and ' 40s.