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Local History Articles
North York historian Susan Goldenberg writes about ‘a sensational case that grabbed worldwide attention’ In 1927, while North York’s police department was in its early days, a sensational case occurred that grabbed worldwide attention. On January 2, Chief Roy Risebrough with constables Wilson and Smithson raided a house on Wilson Avenue where they found Mrs. Emma Heins lying dead on the bed and her common-law husband Arthur McCullough trying to hide illegal bootlegging equipment. What… Read more
Mansion still standing despite almost being demolished to pave the way for Bayview Avenue At the height of her career, bestselling Canadian author Mazo de la Roche lived in a mansion at the southwest corner of Bayview and Steeles that is still standing today, 80 years later. Her 16-novel soap-opera series about a nineteenth-century Ontario family, the Whiteoaks, and their home, Jalna, has sold over 11 million copies. Born Mazo Roche in 1879 in Newmarket,… Read more
“He bought a huge piece of land in 1827 along Sheppard for $3.50 an acre,” writes Susan Goldenberg William Duncan III (1801-1886) was a key figure in the development of the North York neighbourhood of Downsview. From Ireland, he bought a huge piece of land in 1827 along Sheppard between Dufferin and Keele for $3.50 an acre, naming it Dublin Farm. The small community at Sheppard and Dufferin that grew up around it was called… Read more
The Gladys Allison Building, since torn down, was home to North York’s first permanent library, writes Susan Goldenberg North York’s first permanent centrally located library building, opened Oct. 18, 1959, was called The Gladys Allison Building in honour of North York’s “First Lady of the Library.” Allison was the driving force behind the establishment of North York’s excellent public library system. It took her decades of unstinting effort. Born 1901, Gladys left school at 14… Read more
‘For a year he was the entire force,’ writes Susan Goldenberg When North York became independent from York Township in 1922, Roy Risebrough, a farmer and leader of the independence movement, was appointed chief of police at $30 a week (equal to $450 today). For a year he was the entire force. A second police officer was appointed in 1923, a third in 1926 and a fourth in 1928. Risebrough never carried a pistol and… Read more
‘A referendum was suggested but not held,’ writes Susan Goldenberg In the late 1960s “Yonge” almost replaced North York as the community’s name and North York briefly had bilingual English/French stop signs. As North York transitioned from rural to urban in the 1960s some people, including then mayor James Service, thought it should change its name so that it would no longer be seen as a northern outpost of Toronto. Service hired image consultant Chris… Read more
‘Winnie went with only $36,’ writes Susan Goldenberg Aug. 16 will mark the 68th anniversary of North Yorker Winnifred “Winnie” Roach Leuszler, 25, making history as the first Canadian to swim the English Channel. The London, England Daily Mail invited the world’s top 20 swimmers from 10 countries to compete, swimming from France to England. The Daily Mail sent a one-way plane ticket. Winnie went with only $36. Swimming the front crawl at 40 strokes… Read more
Popular landmark opened in 1860, demolished in 1954, writes Susan Goldenberg The North York Historical Society on July 20 will unveil its latest heritage plaque, this time for the O’Sullivan Hotel, a popular North York gathering place for nearly a century. Located at the northwest corner of Old Sheppard Avenue, a few blocks north of Sheppard, and Victoria Park Ave., the two-storey hotel was opened in 1860 by Ann O’Reilly and Patrick O’Sullivan, the year… Read more
Former childhood home turned into ‘the first office skyscraper in the area,’ writes Susan Godenberg Lester Bowles Pearson, Canada’s 14th prime minister (1963-1968) as well as a Nobel Peace Prize winner (1957), was born April 23, 1897, in the Newton Brook Wesleyan Methodist Church manse, 5642 Yonge St. Newton Brook, named after the church, was the northernmost part of North York, stretching up to Steeles from around Cummer/Drewry Avenue. Lester’s father, Edwin Arthur Pearson, was… Read more
Willow theatre sold in 1987, demolished and replaced with condos, offices North York’s first movie theatre – the Willow, opened June 18, 1948, at Yonge Street and Norton Avenue, between Sheppard and Finch avenues, in the Willowdale area – signified that the community was no longer a rural backwater. The theatre had a distinctive yellow tiled marquee trimmed in red, plus an attached tall vertical sign that said in yellow vertical letters on a red… Read more
‘The extension helped transform North York from mainly rural to urban,’ writes Susan Goldenberg March 30 marks two very significant milestones for when the subway finally came to North York. On March 30, 1973 the North Yonge subway extension to York Mills opened, and on March 30, 1974 the Sheppard and Finch stations followed — on the 20th anniversary of the opening of the original line from Union Station to Eglinton. The extension helped transform… Read more
‘Yorkdale was regarded as a shopping wonder,’ writes Susan Goldenberg On Wednesday February 26, 1964, Yorkdale Shopping Centre, the world’s largest enclosed shopping mall of its time, opened in North York, attracting a huge crowd of 100,000 people. “It was like the Friday before Christmas,” the Toronto Star wrote. The official opening was at noon. The reigning Miss Canada cut an 18-inch wide ribbon before an invited audience of 100 VIPs who subsequently had a… Read more
Longest lasting log cabin in area survived 141 years, was demolished in 1956, writes Susan Goldenberg Next time you grumble about electrical, heating or plumbing problems, reflect on the hard life of North York’s pioneers in much of the 1800s. Land was cleared and log-cabin homes built by “bees” — co-operative gatherings of neighbours. Logs were notched to fit together at the corners, with cracks filled with wedge-shaped pieces of wood plastered with clay. The… Read more
See Rare Photos of an NYHS Special Event from 50 Years Ago Bill Chambers was a reporter/photographer at the old Willowdale Enterprise newspaper, just before Doug Dempsey sold his stake to the Mirror newspaper. In 1968, Mr. Chambers was on an Enterprise photo assignment covering Patricia Hart’s book signing of her Pioneering in North York: A History of the Borough, during a North York Historical Society meeting at the old Gladys Allison Library building (5126… Read more
Pardoned for treason, David Gibson rebuilt his home which ‘still stands today, 170 years later,’ writes Susan Goldenberg There are two good reasons to visit Gibson House, North York’s best known historic site, at Park Home and Yonge Street across from the North York Civic Centre, in December. One, the enjoyable Christmastime festivities. Two, Dec. 7 marks the 181st anniversary of when the original house, built by prosperous land surveyor David Gibson, was burned down… Read more
‘He retired in 1954, then became a successful businessperson and philanthropist,’ writes Susan Goldenberg North Yorker Herb Carnegie was a trailblazer, the first black hockey star, in the 1940s into the early 1950s. Yet, he never made it into the National Hockey League because of his skin colour. The NHL was all-white. Born in 1919 to Jamaican immigrants, “Herbie” started playing hockey on North York’s frozen ponds at eight. At 18 he joined the junior… Read more
Susan Goldenberg details life on the homefront during wartime Most North Yorkers during the Second World War were of English descent and strongly supported England. “They believed that England was always in the right, that it must be saved, that Canada should be at war because England was in trouble,” former North Yorker Allan Westwood said. He grew up in North York in the 1940s. “War Savings Bonds sales were huge in North York, out… Read more
‘In Ontario 81 people were killed, 35 of them on one street alone,’ says Susan Goldenberg On October 15, 1954 Hurricane Hazel, the most famous and worst hurricane in Canadian history, roared through Toronto, leaving death and destruction in its wake. One of the witnesses was then-North Yorker Brian Weller who shared his recollections for this article. “As a four year old I clearly recall standing at the master bedroom of our home at 22… Read more
‘A mile north of Leslie and Sheppard they found an abandoned barn far back from the road and moved in,’ writes Susan Goldenberg Something all Canada wanted to know for eight nerve-racking days in September 1952 – where was the Boyd Gang, Canada’s most notorious cop killers, bank robbers and prison escapees? Surprisingly, hiding in a remote part of North York. On Sept. 16, 1952, North York police were catapulted into national attention and acclaim… Read more
‘Expenditures were frugal; at one school, $2.50 on repairs for the year,’ writes Susan Goldenberg With the fall school season approaching, it’s a good time to look back at education in North York in its early days. In 1801 the community’s first two schools were opened, one in Newtonbrook and the other in Willowdale, both centrally located. They were simple log structures, built within the road allowance because parents worried that if they were built… Read more
‘Residents hauled ashes to fill potholes,’ writes Susan Goldenberg What is now North York has been around a very long time. In the early 1920s proof was found that animal life in North York dated back thousands of years when a farmer digging in a pit on his land discovered a six-foot tusk that an archaeologist estimated was between 10,000 and 25,000 years old. North York has a strong First Nations legacy. Between 1400 and… Read more
For more than two years, between 1976 and 1978, the fate of the onetime home in North York of Mazo de la Riche, author of the bestselling Jalna books about nineteenth-century Ontario, was fought over by preservationists versus developers. The struggle was as melodramatic in its way as the soap opera plot of her Jalna books. At issue was whether the 17-room fieldstone and stucco house would be razed to make way for a housing… Read more
On November 27, 1962, an important part of North York history was destroyed, when a three-alarm fire swept through the 150-year-old Milne Homestead, a showpiece of the Metro Parks’ Edward Gardens (now the Toronto Botanical Gardens). After being alerted at 1.55 a.m., firefighters from five stations rushed to the scene. They fought to control the fire in a struggle that lasted until 7.00 a.m., but were unsuccessful. Fortunately, nobody was injured. According to The Enterprise newspaper, the blaze may have started… Read more
Thomas Mercer The Thomas Mercer family drove from Pennsylvania in 1794 in a wagon with a cow tethered behind, and when requesting land Mercer was offered one hundred acres in exchange for his wagon. Cornelius Anderson Cornelius Anderson, with his family of nine children, settled in York Mills around the time the Mercers did. During the War of 1812 he lost a horse pressed into service by the government and many years later he received… Read more
William McDougall was born to Daniel McDougall and Hannah Matthews on January 25, 1822 He was raised on his grandfather John McDougall’s farm, lot 4, con.1 west of Yonge which his father acquired in 1826. (The property ran from Yonge to Bathurst and comprised the present-day streets of Glenview, Glengrove and Glencairn.) Among the events which the young McDougall witnessed was the burning of Montgomery’s Tavern during the Rebellion of 1837. Following his studies at… Read more
The Hogg family played an influential role in the early days of North York. James Hogg emigrated from Scotland and bought Thomas Arnold’s Mills and farm in 1824. Gradually he extended his holdings and renamed his property York Mills. In 1851, his sons were old enough to take over the property. John and William opened a subdivision called Hogg’s Hollow, and James, the youngest son, became a miller. John Hogg owned extensive property on both… Read more
John Taylor, Senior, a Methodist (1773-1868), his wife, Margaret Hawthorne, and seven children emigrated from Uttoxeter, County of Staffordshire, England, in 1821, settling initially in Cherry Valley, near Albany, New York. In 1825 they moved to Vaughan Township in Upper Canada and pioneered there for about nine years before coming to the forks of the Don River. In 1839, three sons, John, Thomas and George, purchased land from Samuel Sinclair (1797-1852), except for a portion… Read more
North York’s first newspaper was founded November 11, 1926 in Willowdale. Called The Enterprise, it was established by Robert Rankin, a printer, and Thomas Osbourne, a linotype operator. They thought the market was ripe for a community paper, as North York transitioned from a rural community to an urban one. The four-page weekly paper was first produced, in what used to be a store, just north of Yonge and Sheppard. The paper was given the… Read more
The bicentennial is just one year away for St. John’s York Mills Anglican Church, the oldest church in North York and the second oldest in Toronto. The oldest is St. James Cathedral, which is a parish church as well as a cathedral. St. James, at King and Church Streets in downtown Toronto, was started in 1807. St. John’s, located on Don Ridge Drive in the York Mills-Old Yonge Street district, was started in 1816. Before… Read more
2205 Sheppard Avenue East (new development) Ann O’Reilly married Patrick O’Sullivan, and in 1860 they opened a hotel on her father’s property, on the north-west corner of Victoria Park and Sheppard, near the proposed street. Patrick died the following year and his wife carried on the business. Their son, Michael, opened the O’Sullivan’s Corners Post Office in the hotel and became its first postmaster in 1892. Dinner at O’Sullivan’s Hotel was very popular until the… Read more
The recent brave attempt by five women to swim Lake Ontario length-wise by relay, brings back memories of a Willowdale woman, Winnifred “Winnie” Roach Leuszler, who was the first Canadian to swim the English Channel, doing so August 16, 1951. The Daily Mail of London, England, had invited the top 20 swimmers from around the world to compete in a cross-channel swim from France to England. The conditions were daunting – the temperature was only… Read more
Goulding Avenue, west of Yonge Street between Steeles Avenue West and Drewry Avenue, and nearby Goulding Park and Goulding Community Centre, are named for the Thomas Goulding family. The family owned land in the area in the 1800s. Thomas was the first to purchase property. He had served in the Peninsular War as a veterinary surgeon and was able to practice over a wide area in Upper Canada. One son, Robert, purchased adjoining property. William,… Read more
February 2019 Update: The rare and exceptional golden lion sculpture, belonging to the North York Historical Society and on long-term loan to Toronto Public Library at the North York Central Library branch, is currently off view as the library completes renovations. If you’ve been on the sixth floor Canadiana department at the North York Central Library you will have seen a life-size golden lion in a glass case near the elevator. You probably wondered how… Read more
In 1960, long time North York resident, Harold Gray, collected and recounted anecdotes about early North York life. These stories are in the North York Historical Society’s scrapbooks which are currently being integrated into the North York Central Library’s Canadiana Department. Grinding for Tolls: In his grandfather’s time there was not much money around and a lot of the grinding was done by toll; that is, the miller charged a certain number of pounds (currency)… Read more
Downsview derives its name from prominent Downsview early settler John Perkins Bull’s farm, Downs View. The Perkins home was the location for many civic activities. After his marriage in 1844, John opened his house for religious services. As a Justice of the Peace for over thirty-five years, he was known as “Squire Bull” and court was held in his house and the jail was in the cellar. Later, Bull built a courtroom on the southwest… Read more
Stong College, at York University, is named in honour of the loyalist family, whose land provided a significant portion of the university, and of nearby Black Creek Pioneer Village. The college provides courses in liberal arts, health services and creative writing, in what the university describes, as the “enriched pioneer spirit” of the Stongs. The Stong family came to Upper Canada from Pennsylvania as part of the loyalist migration from the U.S., following the American… Read more
A thirteen-year-old girl, in acts of derring-do, helped the government side win in the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion. Cornelia de Grassi was the daughter of Phillipe de Grassi (shown in picture), descendant of a noble Italian family, who settled in what is now the Don Mills-Lawrence Avenue East area, on a 200-acre grant in 1831. He was a supporter of the government side in Upper Canada and wrote in his diary, “After a fire (in… Read more
The David Gibson House is located at 5172 Yonge Street (Ward 23 Willowdale). It is a designated heritage site under by-law 27975 passed by North York City Council on December 15, 1980. The Gibson House Museum in North York is a red brick Georgian Revival farmhouse located on land that was acquired by the Gibson family in 1829. David and Elizabeth Gibson lived in a wood frame house on the site until they were forced… Read more
The Schoolhouse is located at 1091 Finch Avenue East, (Ward 33, Don Valley East). It is a designated heritage site under by-law 27974 passed the North York City Council on December 15, 1980. Zion Schoolhouse has been owned by the City of Toronto since amalgamation of the City’s heritage museums in 2000, and is now managed and operated by the Toronto’s Cultural Services. The schoolhouse was built in 1869 by the citizens of the farming… Read more
