St. Clair West in Pictures A history of the communities of Carlton, Davenport, Earlscourt, and Oakwood Third Edition Revised and Expanded 1 Nancy Byers and Barbara Myrvold St Clair district west of Dufferin Street, 1890. Charles E. Goad, Atlas of the city of Toronto and vicinity, plate 40 and plate 41(section) Digitally merged. TRL 912.7135 G57.11 BR fo St. Clair West in Pictures A history of the communities of Carlton, Davenport, Earlscourt, and Oakwood Nancy Byers and Barbara Myrvold Third Edition Revised and Expanded Local History Handbook No. 8 a Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Back: Key to Abbreviations in Picture Credits and Notes Publication G. A. Reid. The Family, 1925/6. Interior murals, Dufferin/St. Clair Branch, Toronto Public Library. Adam Adam, G. Mercer. Toronto, Old and New. Byers, Nancy, 1924- Restored by Restorart Inc., 2004-7. Toronto: Mail Printing, 1891; Coles, 1974. St. Clair West in pictures : a history of the AO Archives of Ontario communities of Canton, Davenport, Earlscourt and Dufferin/St. Clair Branch is home to interior AO/Horwood Archives ofOntario. J. C. B. and Oakwood / Nancy Byers and Barbara Myrvold. -- 3rd murals painted between 1925 and 1932 by George E. C. Horwood Collection ed. rev. and expanded A. Reid (1860-1947), principal of the Ontario ATA Archdiocese of Toronto Archives College of Art, and two of Reid’s former students. CTA City of Toronto Archives (Local history handbook ; no. 8) Reid depicted “various aspects of community Careless Careless, J. M. S. Toronto to 1918. Includes bibliographical references and index. life.” His panel representing ‘The Family’ was Toronto: J. Lorimer, 1984. ISBN 978-0-920601-62-4 painted over the fireplace on the east side of the Cauz Cauz, Louis F. The Plate: A Royal Tradition. north wing of the building, and, Reid noted in a Toronto: Deneau Publishers, The Ontario 1. St. Clair West (Toronto, Ont.)--History-- 1926 circular, “in this position fittingly typifies Jockey Club, 1984. Pictorial works. 2. St. Clair West (Toronto, Ont.)-- the centre and foundation of the community. The Corley/Highlands R. F. Corley Collection. Toronto Belt Land History. 3. Toronto (Ont.)--History--Pictorial works. group of six figures is placed in a garden as Corporation. The Highlands of Toronto, 4. Toronto (Ont.)--History. I. Myrvold, Barbara II. signifying the culture of the soil for sustenance Illustrated. [Toronto, 1891.] Toronto Public Library III. Title. IV. Series. and the love of beauty.” Crang Crang, Jethro K. History of one branch of Lorna Claire (b. 1906) decorated the the Crang family tree in England and Canada, FC3097.52.B94 2008 971.3'541 entrance hallway with images of Canada’s First 1793 1977. J. K. Crang, 1977? C2008-905624-8 Nations and national emblems. Doris McCarthy Durnford Durnford, Hugh and Baechler, Glen. Cars of (b. 1910) painted scenes from fairy tales in the Canada. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1973 children’s club room on the south side of the LAC Library and Archives Canada building, using borders of leaves and other OJA Ontario Jewish Archives Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2008 Toronto Public Library natural elements. RPA Region of Peel Archives Board The murals were painted over in Robertson’s Robertson’s Landmarks of Toronto. 6 vols. First and second editions designed by City of Toronto 1964, but the community ‘discovered’ them when Toronto: J. Ross Robertson, 1894-1914. Corporate Communications (99-365). Third edition a picture and a description were included in Ross Ross, Margery, ed. Robert Ross, Friend of revisions designed by Wee Studios, Toronto St. Clair West in Pictures, first published in 1997. Friends. London: Cape, 1952. Led by the Regal Heights Residents’ Association, Spadunk Bull, William Perkins. Spadunk or from funds were raised to restore ‘The Family’ in 2004. Paganism to Davenport United. Toronto: Printed and bound in Canada by Friesens Toronto Public Library restored other murals as Perkins Bull Foundation, George J. McLeod Ltd.,1935 part of a branch renovation completed in 2008. Toronto Toronto; Canada’s Queen City. Toronto: Restorart Inc., a Toronto company operated by Industrial Publishing Company, 1912 Laszlo Cser, did the restoration. Doris McCarthy’s Toronto 1 Toronto: An Illustrated Tour Through its Highways murals now decorate KidsStop, an interactive and Byways. Edited and arranged by Rodney Cover early literacy centre, and the Reid murals are in Bowden-Smart and Frank J. Beech. Toronto: Front: the adult area. Unfortunately, Lorna Claire’s work Canadian Gravure Co., [193-] Children at a playground outside of Earlscourt was damaged beyond repair and restoration was TDSB Toronto District School Board. Museum and Branch, Toronto Public Library, 24 August 1914. not possible. For more images and information Archives Department. Detail of CTA Subseries 32, Item 302 about the murals, see pages 109-11. TPLA Toronto Public Library Archives See page 65 for more information about this TPLAN Toronto Public Library. Annette Branch picture. TPLDU Toronto Public Library. Dufferin/St. Clair Branch Back inside: TPLNYCL Toronto Public Library. North York Central St. Clair district east of Dufferin Street, 1890. Library. Canadiana Department Front inside: Charles E. Goad, Atlas of the city of Toronto and TRL Toronto Reference Library. Special St Clair district west of Dufferin Street, 1890. vicinity, plate 35. Collections Department Charles E. Goad. Atlas of the city of Toronto and TRL 912.7135 G57.11 BR fo TRL/JRR Toronto Reference Library. Special Collections vicinity. Plate 40 and plate 41(section) Department/ J. Ross Robertson Collection Digitally merged. TRL 912.7135 G57.11 BR fo WTJHS West Toronto Junction Historical Society b Contents Preface . 2 Part I: Development of the St. Clair West Area Introduction . 4 Early History and Settlements to 1860 . 6 New Economic Directions, 1860 to 1900 . 21 Earlscourt and Other Communities Emerge, 1900 to 1910 . 43 Annexations to Toronto, 1909 to 1920 . 58 Boom, Depression and War, 1920 to 1945 . 84 Transformation, 1945 to 2008 . 90 Part II: Highlights The Bull Family . 98 George Cooper and His Family . 100 Earlscourt: The Estate of John Ross and Edward Henry Foster . 103 Prospect Cemetery . 106 Earlscourt - Dufferin/St. Clair Library . 108 Earlscourt Park . 111 Toronto’s Third Little Italy . 113 Garrison Creek . 120 Streetcars on St. Clair . .122 Appendix: Origin of Local Street Names . 134 Endnotes . 144 Bibliography . 148 Index . 150 1 Preface to the Third Edition This is the third edition of St. Clair West in Pictures, and, like its predecessors, was pub- lished by the Toronto Public Library Board in response to requests from local residents. The book began in the 1990s as “Earlscourt in Pictures” and focused on the area around Dufferin/St. Clair Branch of the Toronto Public Library. Earlscourt was a small, unin- corporated community in the first decades of the 20th century. Its boundaries were rough- ly the City of Toronto limits to the north, the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks to the south, Dufferin Street on the east, and the Grand Trunk Railway (now the Canadian National Railway) tracks to the west. However, Earlscourt’s roots went back into the 19th century, and its history flowed east and west of Earlscourt's boundaries. Many of the district’s earliest settlers were asso- ciated with Carlton and Davenport, two small villages west of Earlscourt, established in the 1850s. These communities were the real beginnings of urban development in this part of Toronto. There was also the community of Oakwood, an early 20th-century subdivision along St. Clair east of Earlscourt. People in the York Township districts of North Earlscourt, Fairbank, Silverthorn, and Rowntree used St. Clair Avenue for shopping and transit. St. Clair West in Pictures reflects the enlarged area, bounded roughly by Winona Drive on the east, Old Weston Road on the west, the CPR tracks on the south, and Toronto’s pre-1998 limits on the north. Part I follows the chronological development of the area from the time of Aboriginal portage routes and encampments to the present day. Part II high- lights outstanding personalities, institutions, landmarks, and groups. First published in 1997, St. Clair West in Pictures was a critical and popular success and quickly sold out, necessitating a second edition in 1999. We are gratified that the book has been so well received and has contributed to an awakened appreciation for St. Clair West’s rich heritage. It has served as a catalyst for such projects as the mural restoration at the Dufferin/St. Clair Library, and an information source for several community studies, for example, many of the 50 interpretive panels placed at streetcar stops on St. Clair’s new dedicated right-of-way. The third edition, like the second, is ‘revised and enlarged’ with considerable new content and images. Todd Bennett of Wee Studios did an admirable job of incorporating this new material into the third edition and designing attractive new covers. 2 We are grateful to many Toronto Public Library staff that helped with the third edition. Particular recognition is due to Joanne Bar, who prepared the index, and Laurie Ruscica and Teresa Stangl-Walker for their assistance with a myriad of tasks. We appreciate the support of managers Phyllis Malette, Cheryl Skovronek, Cynthia Toniolo, and Dufferin/St. Clair Branch Head Caroline Ingvaldsen. Staff and volunteers at several other organizations provided information for the third edition, including City of Toronto Archives, West Toronto Historical Society and the Toronto Transit Commission (Mike DeToma and Diego Sinagoga). Thanks also to David Raymont, who shared his research on the Earlscourt paintings of Lawren Harris and a photograph of a house in Fairbank. We are especially grateful to three local residents who been involved with the book from the beginning, and who gave financial and editorial support for the third edition.