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Gc 971 . 302 T63 j v. 2 Jackes, Lyman B. Tales of north Toronto

Price 50 cents

The contents of this book are fully protected by Canadian copyright. All rights reserved.

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SIR GEORGE YONGE, the man whose name was given to Yonge Street.

He was Secretary for War in the British Gov- ernment when John Graves Simcoe was appointed first Governor of Upper Canada in 1792. Sir George and Governor Simcoe were great friends, and when Simcoe cut the road through the forest from York to Cooke's Bay at the south extremity of Lake Simcoe he gave the new road the name of Yonge Street in honor of his friend.

Before Niagara Falls

NORTH TORONTO is. geologically speaking, very different from the remainder of the city. Some eight or nine thousand years ago what is now North Toronto was the beach land of a great lake. The level of the water is clearly marked today in the ridge of land that runs across the city. Balmoral Avenue, Wells Hill and the ridge that runs down to Scarborough Bluffs are all remnants of the old northern shore line. Farther to the west the shore line extended up into the present Caledon country.

The Shoreline of an Ancient Lake

The hill that crosses the city just below St. Clair Avenue

is the shoreline of an ancient lake. It is known to modern

geologists as Lake Iroquois and was formed after the last

ice age some twenty thousand years ago.

The southern shore of this ancient lake is well marked in the heights at Queenston and in the so-called Hamilton mountain. On the high escarp- ment immediately to the south of Grimsby the author has picked up fossil remains of fresh-water creatures that once lived and swam in this ancient lake. Geologists have given the lake a name. On geological maps it is marked as Lake Iroquois. The outlet was not through the St. Lawrence valley, as is the case with Lake Ontario. The waters of Lake Iroquois reached the sea by way of the Hudson River valley. When what is now central and down-town Toronto were "all wet", and' the site of North

2 TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

Toronto was beautiful beach land, the St. Lawrence River valley was all choked up with great masses of ice that had been left as debris when the ice of the last Ice Age commenced its northward recession. How long ago did these conditions exist? A study of the geology of the Niagara River gives some clew and pi-ovides a partial answer. There is ample evidence to indicate that Niagara Falls commenced at Queenston. The power of the falling water to cut away the rO'Ck is fairly well known. It is a fairly average amount each year. If the rate of cutting has been more or less constant, it has required the passage of some eight and a half thousand years for Niagara Falls to cut its way to the present position. But the problem is not quite so simple of solution. Near the Whirlpood there is a stretch of river that is much narrower than the rest of the stream. The rock Is similar, but something has happened to reduce the flow of water and retard the cutting action. That is one of the unsolved mysteries of Niagara. This reduced action may have continued for five hundred years or for five thousand years. No one knows today. That element makes the guess of the age of old Lake Iroquois rather an uncertain quantity. But the fact remains that the hill on Bathurst Street, Avenue Road and Yonge Street, just to the south of what is now St. Clair Avenue, is a very inter- esting geological relic. Modern motorists do not regard it with much favor, especially on wet and slippery days.

What happened to this ancient lake? As the ice commenced to melt in the St. Lawrence Valley the water of Lake Iroquois gradually reached out and cleared a passage to the sea. This new channel reduced the level of the water. It gradually fell to a point where it was below the entrance to the Hudson Valley, and the St. Lawrence route continued as the only outlet to the sea. As the water of Lake Iroquois fell, the water of what is now Lake Erie commenced to spill over the escarpment at Queenston, and Niagara Falls was born. The waters of Lake Iroquois levelled off and the new level is the present Lake Ontario.

Where there any human beings here at that time? There is some evidence to suggest that there were. North Toronto, as far as the author is aware, has not produced any direct evidence in support of such a theory. The Don Valley has. Some years ago, the late Professor Coleman, one of the greatest geologists that the Empire has evolved, received a telephone call from one of the foremen at the Don Valley Brick Works. The call suggested that the professor leave his desk and hurry out to the yards.

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO 3

Something had come to light as a result of blasting. When Professor Cole- man arrived he was directed to the remains of a charcoal fire with remains of animal bones in the immediate vicinity. The blasting powder had lifted the overburden and exposed a bit of strata that had once been level ground. The remains of the fire and the meal that had been cooked upon it had come to view. The discovery was carefully removed and is now on display in the Royal Ontario Museum. Professor Coleman estimated that the fire had been used twenty thousand' years ago. Were these hunters from the Mound Builders or from some unknown tribe who preceded them? No one knows today. Only human beings can light a fire and cook a meal upon it. This interesting relic is mute evidence that human beings of some kind roamed about what is now North Toronto many thousands of years ago.

1

The Great Indian Village

rp^HE story of the great Indian settlement that was recorded in the first publication of Tales of North Toronto, caused a great deal of interest in local history. The author received numerous telephone calls asking for more information and some of the local schools requested personal visits to tell the children more about the subject.

In the first volume it was stated that the Minister of Education had ordered a report on the matter to be made by the Provincial Archivist of long ago — many persons have stated to the author that they have been unable to find that report in the Provincial Legislative Library.

The report was made on December 20, in the year 1887. It is signed by David Boyle and reads as follows:

As soon as the season was well enough advanced to make digging possible (April 30, 1887) I visited Lot 2, Con. 1. Township of York, within sight of Toronto, as many interesting relics had been picked up in this neighbourhood, it seemed a promising place in which to begin operations.

On the rear of this lot, which is part of the Jackes' estate, is a mound evidently of artificial formation, although the only indications that remain are distinctive soil and considerable

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

quantities of charcoal and ashes. The situation is high and dry, and the trees close to the mound are comparatively young.

The discoveries of two or three fragments of what appeared to be corn cobs suggested the probability of this earth-heap having been employed by the Indians as a cache or deposit for maize.

Indian Relics From North Toronto In Volume I of Tales of North Toronto, attention was called to the great Indian village that covered much of what is now North Toronto 300 years ago. These relics were unearthed during a recent excavation on Castlefield Avenue. The centrepiece is a tomahawk head of Iroquois manufacture. The arrowheads, the pipe bowl and the fragment of pottery are of Huron manufacture.

The whole of the surrounding country abounds in traces of various aboriginal manufacture — flint chips, broken pottery and bone implements — and the museum of the Institute contains many fine specimens from the same neighbourhood presented by

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO 5

Mr. B. Jackes of Toronto, Mr. J. Long of Lansing and Miss Marshall, teacher of the school section in which the property is situated.

David Boyle, Toronto, December 20, 1887. Annual Report, to the Minister of Education of the Canadian Institute Session 1886-7.

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The Outlines of North Toronto's Great Indian Settlement

The dotted line on this map gives the location of the great pallisade fence that enclosed the village. Ih has been esti- mated that as many as 30,000 persons lived here about the year 1645.

The Legislative Library in the Parliament Buildings at Toronto, also has another document that throws light on this great Indian story.

This document is a large map of New France (Canada) prepared for Lord Halifax, Minister of War in the British government in the year 1750. The map is large and! displays considerable detail. The section

6 TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

of the western portion of Lake Ontario shows the French fort "Fort Toronto" which was erected only one year prior to the preparation of the map. The site of Fort Toronto is marked by a stone cairn on the shores of Exhibition Park, near the southwest corner of the park. The map indicates a dotted area extending northward from a point east of Toronto and including all of what is now southwestern Ontario and the Georgian Bay ai'ea. The map states that the area thus enclosed has been overrun by the Iroquois Indians for more than a hundred years. The Iroquois wiped out the great Huron settlement at Fort Ste. Marie, near the present municipality of Midland, in the year 1649. Did they destroy the settlement in North Toronto on their way to or from that great slaughter?

Recently the author was presented with a number of relics from this great village. These relics had come to light during excavation for a basement on Castlefield Avenue, west of Avenue Road.

The collection consisted of two splendid flint arrow heads, a portion of a pipe, and a piece of decorated pottery. These were all of Huron Indian manufacture. Found near these relics was a splendid tomahawk blade of stone. The type of stone of this axe head is not native to this part of Canada. It is a common stone that is found in central New York State. The Iroquois came from what is now New York State. Does this indicate that the Iroquois attacked the great North Toronto Bettlement, and wiped it out sometime in the year 1648 or 1649? It is only from an intelligent study of such remains that these mysteries of history can be solved.

The first industry known to North Toronto was a plant for making soft soap from hardwood ashes. This plant operated at a point that is now the Yonge Street entrance to Glengrove Avenue. It commenced operation in the year 1799.

Many readers will recall a frame antique shop that stood on the west side of Yonge Street just to the north of the iron bridge that carries the C.N.R. tracks across Yonge Street. The old shop was demolished recently to make way for the T.T.C. subway. It was erected in 1832 by a retired navigator, who had sailed Lake Ontario for some years after coming to the town of York when he left ocean service.

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO 7

A Journey Up Yonge Street In The Days of Long Ago

IN a story of this nature it is difficult to set definite boundaries which make a sharp mark-off for the various episodes that are recorded. A century ago the incorporated City of Toronto was creeping northward toward what is now Bloor Street. Underneath the old Huntley Street bridge is the site of a millpond and brewery that was operated by a man named David Bloor. His millpond backed up through the Rosedale ravine to a point a little to the east of Yonge Street. The name of Bloor has become associated with the roadway that fronted his industrial establishment. It has since been officially given to it. A century ago, what is now Bloor Street was known as the First Concession North. Yonge Street, in those days, was a mud roadway that stopped at Cook's Bay, at the extreme south- ern end of Lake Simcoe. It was crossed every mile and a quarter by a crossroad that was given a number as a Concession. These Concession roads numbered northward from Queen Street, which was the First Con- cession line. Bloor Street was the Second, St. Clair Avenue was the Third, Eglinton Avenue was the Fouth, and Lawrence Avenue was the Fifth.

As Yonge Street wended its way northward there were various little communities along the way. Just to the north of Bloor Street was the Town of Yorkville. A space of open country was then encountered and the settlement of Deer Park came into view. More open space and the village of Davisville was entered. Then came the Town of Eglinton. The next settlement was around what is now Lawrence Avenue. More open space and the visitor came to the Village of Bedford Park, and to the north of that nestled the Village of York Mills.

These were all separate little municipalities. They had no political or other connections with the City of Toronto. Each was run by its own and distinct council, and almost all of them had its own little newspaper that recorded local news and gave a hint of what was going on in the outside world when such very sparse information was available. There w^ere no cable or radio news services in those days. There were a few miles of telegraph wires in Upper Canada, but no telephones. A telegraph line

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

stretched down from Toronto to Quebec, and news that was brought in by incoming ships was relayed when the telegraph operators got around to it. The news of some outstanding event that had occurred in England might, with good luck, reach Toronto some six or seven weeks later.

What was to be seen by the visitor as he wended his way over the bumpy mud road that was Yonge Street in the year 1851 There was a stage coach line that went as far as Richmond Hill. These coaches started north- ward from the famous Red Lion Hotel that stood on the east side of Yonge Street a few yards to the north of Bloor Street. Other coaches operated from the Red Lion, down through Toronto, and connected with the Market Place.

The Red Lion Hotel plays such an important part in the story of North Toronto that it is given a place of honor amongst the illustrations. A draw- ing of the Red Lion will be found on the two centre pages. This hotel was a few yards north of what is now Bloor Street. It did not take in the corner lot. Its

frontage extended ^ *'*^''

for some two hun- dred feet on Yonge Street. Construction was commenced in the year 1807, and during the imme- diate years that followed there were several ad- ditions made to the original build- ing. This gave the place a rambling appearance. The upper floor of the central portion was given over to a large ball room that was heated by an immense fire place. In the days of the Town of York and the early years of incorporated Toronto, this Red Lion ball room rivalled the hall in the St. Lawrence Market. This hall was used for purposes other than dancing, and this will be dealt with in another section of this book. A century ago the Red Lion was the gateway to what is now North Toronto,

The Home of Sir David MacPherson

A stately home at the north-east corner of

Yonge Street and MacPherson Avenue. About

the year 1900 this building became the first

home of St Andrew's College.

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

and the author will ask the reader to assume that he has boarded a stage coach In the yard of the Red Lion and has commenced a journey up Yonge Street a century ago. What would the visitor see?

As soon as the horse-drawn vehicle started north, the great brewery of George Severn would come into view. This great industrial establishment stood on the site now used by the Canada Tire Corporation, and the sloping runway that runs down from Yonge Street just to the north of Davenport Road was the actual roadway leading into the brewery. The millpond of Bloor's brewery came up to the eastern extremity of Severn's property. Severn did not depend upon water power to operate his grinding mills. A tall brick chimney gave evidence of early steam power.

__^_^__ The coach, on its

northward journey, then entered the Vill- age of Yorkville. On the east side of Yonge Street there is an ancient leather- working establish- ment with its store front unchanged in the century that has passed. On one or two of the streets running off Daven- port Road there may still be seen very ancient corner stores that once played an important part in the commercial life of this little village be- fore it was swallow- ed up by the expand- ing city to the south. As the visitors pass- ed through the

The Elms stood on the east side of Yonge Street where the Baker Advertising Company has now located. It was built by John Rose, who gave the name to Rosehill Avenue. It was purchased by Mr. Joseph Jackes and his son, Mr. E. H. Jackes, gave the name to Jackes Avenue when he opened the property through to the Reser- voir some years ago.

10

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

village he would notice on the left a dilapidated grave yard. The Yorkville fire hall now is located right in the centre of that once-forlorn spot. This was the Potters Field, the resting place of the homeless and the pennyless poor who had died in Toronto without the benefit of friends or relatives to see that their mortal remains were given a decent burial. It was in this field, and exactly under the site of the present Yorkville fire station, where the bodies of Lount and Matthews were placed after their untimely execu- tion in April of the year 1838.

A Famous Yonge Street Hotel

O'Halloran's Hotel on the south-east corner of St. Clair

Avenue and Yonge Street was a landmark of North Toronto

until it was demolished in 1923. It was originally operated

by a Mr. Sellers.

The coach proceeded northward. A short distance after leaving York- ville, the palatial country home of Sir David MacPherson comes into view. It stood on the north-east corner of what is now MacPherson Avenue and Yonge Street. The house was surrounded with well-kept lawns. It had a wind mill pump that gave a water system under pressure, and farm lands that belonged to the estate ran for a considerable distance eastward into

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

11

what is now Rosedale. It was in this old MacPherson homestead that St. Andrew's College commenced operations in the very early years of the present century. After a few years of very successful operation there, a new building was erected some distance to the east, in Rosedale. Expand- ing growth soon called for additional extensions, and the college was moved to its present site near Aurora. The second college building was torn down and the lands turned into park space. Farm lands extended on both sides of Yonge Street and the coach passed the Third Concession line (now St. Clair Avenue). On the north-west corner of St. Clair Avenue and Yonge Street there was a well-developed farm. Before the coach proceeded across the concession line it made a stop at O'Halloran's Hotel on the

The Building That Rose From the Ruins of the

Famous Montgomery's Tavern

When the Davisville Hotel was demolished, this structure

was erected over the foundations of Montgomery's Tavern

that had been burned by government troops during the

Mackenzie Rebellion of December, 1837. .

12

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

south-west corner of St. Clair and Yonge Street. Here there was full accommodation for man and beast. The mile and a quarter journey from the Red Lion had been made over bumpy, muddy roads, with steep hills to be negotiated, and a rest at O'Halloran's was quite in order. As the visitor refreshed himself he could look out through the north windows of the establishment and see something that few, if any, farmers in the district could boast of: a herd of tame deer that would come down to the corner of the farm property to be fed by visitors as the coach was making ready for its continued trip to the north. This herd of tame deer became so famous that they gave the name to the district. Ever since it has been known as Deer Park.

il^.jm

The Davisville Post Office in 1900

The Davis family, from which Davisville was named, were

pioneers in North Toronto. One branch of the family ran

this general store and Post Office at the north-east corner

of Davisville and Yonge.

On the northeast corner of St. Clair Avenue and Yonge Street there was a curious sight for many years. In 1910 the Dominion Bank demolished the old stone structure that had been the Head Office at King and Yonge Street, for many years. The demolition was made to clear the way for the modern structure that is now seen at King and Yonge.

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO 13

The bank executives entertained an idea of reconstructing the old stone building, in part at least, at St. Clair and Yonge.

For some years the massive stone figures and other huge blocks of stone were stored on the lot. When it came time to erect the branch building the architects advised against the scheme. The present modern branch was erected and the old stone work carted away.

The author has often heard his father, the late Price Jackes, recall an incident in connection with the ancient tavern at St. Clair and Yonge.

When my father was a boy he lived at Castlefield, a stately old home that stood on the west side ol^ Yonge Street, a short distance north of Eglinton Avenue.

The young men of the family, after they had graduated from the local school, were sent to Upper Canada College; then located on King Street West just where the Royal Alexandra Theatre is located today. The time of this episode is in the early sixties of the last century — a time when the Civil War was raging in the United States.

At that time there was a line of horse-drawn cars that went north on Yonge Stree as far as Bloor. The young lads from Castlefield were required to walk down as far as Bloor and then take the horse car down to King Street. Sometimes on market days some obliging farmer, returning from market, would give them a lift northward from Bloor Street.

It was on one of these rides that they drew up before the old hotel and the farmer told the boys he was going inside to get a snack to eat to hold his appetite until he arrived home to his dinner.

It was a cool autumn afternoon and the boys went in to keep warm while the farmer 'consumed his "snack".

To the amazement of the boys from Castlefield the farmer sat down to a table and ate an entire roasted duck. That was just a snack to hold him until dinner time.

The coach proceeds, and not far above St. Clair Avenue a country road leads off from Yonge Street. This road runs in a north-westerly direction and at its junction with Yonge Street a little frame church has been erected. This site today is used by the Toronto Trans- portation Commission for its Lawton loop. Christ's Church, the little frame church referred to, was painted red, and it made a vivid contrast with the dense foliage that surrounded it. There were farm lands where Mount

14

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

EXTRAORDINARY !

The Municipal Machinery of North Toronto has Stopped !

Pleasant Cemetary is now fenced in, and when these farm lands were passed the visitor on the north-bound stage coach entered the Village of Davisville. The post office and general store were on the east side of Yonge Street, and on the south-east corner of Davisville Avenue and Yonge Street stood the Davisville Hotel. It was a two-storey brick structure with

a verandah on the west and north sides, with ample stab- ling accommodation at the south end. Just to the north of the Davisville Post Office, about where the Imperial Bank stands today, the Davis- ville Pottery Works were located. This was one of the busiest industrial sites on Yonge Street of a century ago. There was a great open- air tank in which the clay was mixed, and a great wooden paddle was suspend- ed over it. This paddle was turned by the efforts of a horse which walked around and around the tank. In the rear of the property three great firing kilns had been erected, and in these the sewer pipes and the flower pots and other forms of pot- tery were fired and made ready for commerce. The east side of Yonge Street, at Davis- ville. was a large market garden, and one of the first greenhouses to be erected in North Toronto was on this property. There was a few

YOU ARE INVITED TO COME AND BRING

25c. worth of Oil and a. Flail

TO THRESH OUT THE

Sewerage and other Questions

AT THE

Ratepayers' Association Meeting

Saturday Eve.. Oct. 9th

AT THE TOWN HALL

As tliore are 50 extru chairs ordered (or tlie hall all are welcome.

Kxcraitiye Committee ueet at 7 30.

D. D REID.

PRESIDENT.

An Old Handbill of 1909

This handbill was distributed in North

Toronto in October, 1909. The meeting

took place in the old Town Hall, north-west

corner of Montgomery and Yonge.

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

15

straggling houses and the Methodist Church between Davisville and Eglinton Avenue. At Eglinton Avenue, where the sheds of the Toronto Transporta- tion Commission are now located, there was a market garden. The north- west corner was occupied by Hull's butcher shop, and across the road on the north-east corner was the Little Palace, a grocei-y and general store. At Montgomery Avenue and Yonge Street two important buildings reared their heads. On the south-west corner stood Oulcott's Hotel that had been built, in part, on the foundations of the famous Montgomery's Tavern. Across the road on the north-west corner of Yonge and Montgomery, the

North Toronto's Town Hall

This building has been replaced by No, 12 Police Station, The original corner stone, bearing date 1882, has been incorporated in the new structure. The metal-clad shed was the first North Toronto fire station, and the barn in the rear was used as a storage shed for the Works Department.

Town Hall was located. This structure contained the municipal offices of the Town of Eglinton, the police office, the fire station, and in the rear there was a metal-clad shed for the storage of other municipal equipment. The first fire engine consisted of a one-horse, two-wheeled rig that carried a few hundred feet of fire hose.

On the west side of Yonge, a short distance above the Town Hall, stood the stately structure of Castlefield. The story of Castlefield has been fully covered in Volume One of the Tales of North Toronto. There is reproduced here one of the ten dollar notes issued by William Lyon Mackenzie to finance the rebellion of 1837. This note is made payable to James Hervey

16

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

Price, who had built Castlefield, and at the time of the rebellion was the City Clerk of the then infant City of Toronto. These notes are now very rare. Following the failure of the fight at Montgomery's Tavern, persons who held these notes were quick to burn them so that they could not be used as evidence against them. Mr. Price backed Mackenzie with a great

The Ellis Homestead in Bedford Park

deal of money and as a consequence he was obliged to sell Castlefield in 1842. It was purchased by Franklin Jackes, who resided there for ten years until his death in April, of 1852. Franklin Jackes was the first Warden of York County and held that office during 1850-51 and part of 1852. Continuing up Yonge Street the next structure of importance to come into view was the Methodist Church opposite Glengrove Avenue. Glengrove Avenue was a driveway leading into Glen Castle, a great, rambling structure of stone that stood just to the east of the present John Ross Robertson School. It had been built by the Ainsley family and was not demolished until 1925. On the south side of the pine-lined driveway that is now Glen- grove Avenue, a Mr. King Dodds erected a race track in the year 1887. It was back about three hundred yards from Yonge Street. It was not a financial su'ccess and was closed after two years of operation.

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

17

Between Glengrove Avenue and Lawrence Avenue, Yonge Street wended its way through rolling hills. On the south-east corner of Lawrence and Yonge there was a large farm operated by Mr. Frank Lawrence. On the south-west corner there was a rag carpet works operated by David Bell. On the north-west corner stood the general store of Mr. George Lawrence.

Lawrence Avenue and Yonge Street in 1895

George Lawrence kept a general store where the

Dominion Bank branch is now located.

On the west side of Yonge, a bit above Lawrence, there was a structure that still stands and operates. It is the grocery and hardware store of the Atkinson Brothers. This is the oldest continuing business in North Toronto and is a clear demonstration of what goodwill can do against the onslaught of the chain stores. On the north-west corner of Bedford Park Avenue and Yonge Street was the stately home of Mr. W. G. Ellis, and a little to the north of that was located the Bedford Park Hotel. A portion of this structure still stands, but the front has been modernized into stores.

The next place of importance on the northward journey was York Mills. Another hotel was located there and also a grist mill. The story of this mill is of sufficient importance that a separate section of this book has been devoted to it.

18 TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

The Mill At York Mills

GOVERNOR John Graves Simcoe, when he moved the capital of Upper Canada from Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake) to York, in the year 1793, gave very serious thought to the establishment of water power mills in the vicinity of his new settlement. The first of these mills to arise was the one whose ghostly walls still rise beside the Humber near Bloor Street. It was originally a saw mill but was later taken over by the Gamble family, enlarged and turned into a grist mill. Within a few years there were upwards of a dozen mills operating on the Don and Humber rivers. Some of these had been started with government aid and the others had been built and financed privately.

It was in the year 1807 — the same year in which work was started on the Red Lion Hotel, that an asute settler saw the water power possibil- ities in the valley that is now known as Hogg's Hollow. It is true that there was no waterfall on the Don at that point but a high cliff to the north and several acres of flat land across the stream indicated that the water could be held back to create a large mill pond with considerable potential.

The great earthwork, which crosses the meadow below the modern motor highway, was thrown up and across the actual Don a dam of heavy logs was constructed. The northern face of these logs was anchored into the clay bank which still discloses its great bare scar to the visitor.

From the southeast corner of the mill pond a sluice was cut. This was the mill race and brought the water from the pond to the mill. This old mill race is still to be seen and the path beside it, enclosed in cedar trees, is the famous lover's walk of York Mills today.

The map is meant to make all this clear. The actual site of the mill is still marked by a small pile of rubble, beside the stream and almost below the viaduct.

The original mills, as built by Hoggs, was a frame and log structure. It was a grist mill for the most part, though there was a power driven saw for cutting logs into boards. The reader must realize that during the first half of the last century there were stands of splendid timber to be found in many parts of what is now North Toronto.

After some fifty years of operation it was found that the surplus water

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

19

that spilled over the dam was eating into the clay bank and endangering the anchorage of the wooden portion of the dam. Over several years, frantic efforts were made to give the dam a stronger hold on the clay. But at last the stored up water, strengthened by spring floods, was too much.

The Mill at York Mills

This was the last of many mills on this site. The first mill

was erected in 1807. This brick structure, destroyed by fire

some twenty-five years ago, was used by the widow of a

former Anglican bishop as a summer home.

The entire wooden portion of the dam was washed away and when the flood of water had rushed down the Don all that was left of this great work was the earthen portion of the dam and the floor of the former mill pond a sea of mud.

20

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

A study of the situation convinced the owners that the replacement of the washed-out dam was not practical. They decided on a bold move.

The surrounding country was plentifully supplied with wood. Why not drive the mill with steam power and generate the steam from wood fires?

Such a bold scheme as this required that much of the mill be rebuilt. While much of the original wooden structure was being replaced with stone and brick; a steam engine and boiler was being constructed in an Iron works at the southeast corner of Adelaide and Yonge Streets.

How The York Mills Mill Worked This map shows the water power that oper- ated the mill. The earthwork that formed the millpond is intact, and the raceway may be traced through the trees. The mill was almost below the viaduct that crosses the river.

This shop had built the first locomotives for the Northern Railway, the first steam line to opearte in and out of Toronto. They built the steam engine and boiler for the mill at York Mills. After a strenuous journey up the mud road, that was then Yonge Street, the engine was installed and the former mill pond turned into a potato patch. This was one of the earliest applications of steam power to industry in Canada.

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO 21

But time inarched on, and as the years past there was less and less wheat grown on the farms bordering Yonge Street to the north of the mill. After almost a century of operation the property was sold and the mill converted to a summer home for a well-known Toronto citizen.

The author took a picture of this mill in the summer of 1923. The only reminder of its former greatness was the great square chimney that arose on the north side.

One winter day, not long after the picture referred to was made, the old mill was gutted by fire and in the passing years its brick walls and the chimney have collapsed.

However, time has not dwelt so unkindly with the earthwork and the mill race and the visitor has no difficulty in seeing how an old time water mill worked.

The Beginning of Confederation

NORTH Toronto has some relics that played a part in the very com- mencement of Canadian Confederation. These relics can be seen on the south side of St. Clair Avenue, a short distance west of Spadina Avenue. This is the story .

A few months after the close of the War of 1812-15 one of the finest houses the Town of York had seen was erected at the southeast corner of Queen and John Streets. Shortly after the completion of this house it was purchased by Sir John Beverley Robinson and became known as "Beverley House". It was the centre of fashion for the Town of York and the infant City of Toronto.

Lord Durham, who was appointed Governor after the term of office of Sir Francis Bond Head had expired, did not remain long In this country. He returned to England, presented his famous report on the rebellion of 1837, and then retired into private life.

He was followed in the governorship by Lord Sydenham; and that gentleman took up his official residence in Beverley House.

The illustration of Beverley House shows two massive chimneys, one at either end of the main structure. These were the outlets for gigantic and elaborate fireplaces. The one on the west was in the great ballroom

22

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

located on the ground floor and the one on the east was in the state dining room.

Lord Sydenham had his desk, and the desks of his secretaries, near the fireplace on the west as depicted on the righthand side of the illustration.

An Old House Moves North

Beverley House that stood for 100 years at the corner of Queen and John Streets was demolished in 1915. A new house was built by the owners on the south side of St. Clair Avenue, just west of Spadina. Much of the old material was incorporated in the new house, including the two great fireplaces. In 1840, Lord Sydenham sat before the great fireplace on the west and drew up the Act of Union, which was passed in 1841 and united Upper and Lower Canada. This was the first step toward Canadian Confederation. The St. Clair building is now used as a school by the Ursuline nuns.

The year was 1840, the conditions of the country were unsettled following the recent political turmoil. Lord Sydenham arrived at the conclusion that much good might result if the English speaking people of Upper Canada and the French speaking people of Lower Canada

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO 23

could be brought closer together. Out of these contemplations he drew up the Act of Union which was passed in 1841 and made the two provinces the "United Canadas". He drew up the Act while seated in front of the massive fireplace.

In 1915 the Robinson family sold the property to the governing board of the Methodist Church. The old building that had stood for a hundred years was demolished to make room for the new Methodist Book Room (now the United Church headquarters).

But this demolition of the old building was no ordinary wrecking job. The Robinson family had decided, in as far as was possible, to reconstruct Beverley House on its new location on St. Clair Avenue.

The original front door, much of the interior woodwork and the two massive fireplaces were carefully removed and incorporated into the new building. The new Beverley House was larger than the original structure. The design was similar and as much as possible of the original materials were used after the architects had certified to its fitness.

The Robinson family have turned the St. Clair Avenue building over to the Ursuline Nuns for educational purposes. As the pupils look upon that big fireplace, it would be interesting to learn if any of them realize that they are standing at the birthplace of Canadian Confederation.

Some of the early pioneers of North Toronto erected their buildings with sun baked blocks of clay. One of the last of these buildings was demolished on the east side of Yonge Street, just north of Sherwood Avenue, in 1932. The one story building had stood on the site for more than a hundred years.

It will be a surprise to many readers to learn that mining was once an active industry in North Toronto. A century ago there were deposits of pottery clay on Eglinton Avenue where that roadway dips down to Don Valley. From these pits, which became quite deep, the Davisville Pottery works received its clay. The walls of these pits have since collapsed and the bridle path that leads down to the Don goes right through where the clay was mined a century ago.

24 TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

The Schools of North Toronto

THE first school to be erected in what is now North Toronto was located on the site now used by the Consumers Gas Company as a

show room at St. Clements and Yonge. It was a log structure and was opened in the year 1842. The one room was divided partially in two by a low partition which did not reach to the front of the room. This partition, however, did serve as a means of keeping the girls and boys apart but allowed the teacher to keep a sharp eye on both classes. There was a further division of the pupils in each of these two main sections. Pupils of different ages were divided into "classes' in the two divisions.

One teacher was employed and it is evident that in the very early days this teacher was a man. His salary was at the rate of fifteen dollars a month. This school is referred to in the report on the Indian remains, made by David Boyle, 1886-7. He states that the school teacher, at that period, was a Miss Marshall and that she had been very active in gathering and collecting specimens of the remains of the great Indian village that was located to the rear of this school. It is too bad that her collection was not given proper care. It, like many other collecitons of these Indian relics, have vanished. There was a great collection of speci- mens that were exhibited in the hallway of Castlefield for many years. In the years that have passed this great collection has been broken up and vanished.

The log school was replaced by a brick structure that was erected in the late 1880's of the last century. This brick school is still standing, at the time of writing. It is now the Orange Hall that is located immediately in the rear of the Capitol Theatre. This building was also the birthplace of many of the great churches which now adorn North Toronto. It ceased to be a public school shortly after the public school building was erected on Davisville Avenue, just to the east of Yonge Street. The Davisville school was the first proper school building that North Toronto had seen. Pupils came to it from as far north as Lawrence Avenue. Old photographs of this structure show that the exterior has been little changed in the past sixty years. The interior has been modernized, in as far as it is possible, to keep pace with the growing trends of education.

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO 25

The next school in the north end was the Deer Park School and as the present century got under way some of the schools in the vicinity of Egllnton Avenue were erected. The first High School was the present North Toronto Collegiate Institute but the present structure is the outcome of a very small commencement in one or two rooms. The Northern Vocational School was the next centre for advanced education and it was followed by the Lawrence Park, Collegiate. This last named structure has seen several additions made to it since it was opened and at the present time very extensive additions are contemplated for this centre of the community.

Within recent months the section near St. Clair and Bathurst has seen great schools arise. These are under the direction of the Roman Catholic Church.

The schools in Bedford Park and Leaside came as a direct result of the growing population. They were built at a time when school design was more or less standardized and are in strange contrast to the great school that has been erected near thq corner of Wilson Avenue and Avenue Road. This is the Amour Heights Memorial School and is one of the most modern educational structures to be seen north of Bloor Street.

The large house on Sheldrake Blvd., which is now the Preventorium, was, some fifty years ago, the home of Miss Booth. She followed her famous father as the head of the Salvation Army.

Many persons now residing in North Toronto are unaware that in the year 1912 the late mayor, H. C. Hocken, was approached by a group of North Toronto citizens, asking his interest in a proposed subway that was to give rapid transit to Toronto, on a single fare. This scheme reached the planning stage.

The large house on Blythewood Avenue, directly behind the Hyland Motors faced Yonge Street for many years. A new foundation was constructed on Blythewood and the house was moved back. There were also many houses moved to new foundations when Duplex Avenue was cut through.

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

William Lyon Mackenzie

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

played a very important part in the history of North Toronto. To properly set forth this story it is necessary to consider his place in the story of Toronto generally. His name is closely connected with the rebellion of December, 1837; and he has to some extent gone down upon the pages of history as "the little rebel". It is not the in- tention of the author, at this time, to delve into the political issues of long gone years. I think it is safe to suppose that during the years that have pass- ed since he was so active on the scene of present day North To- ronto that his admirers have grown in number while his de- tractors have diminished. Recent years have seen a monument erected to his memory on the lawn to the west side of the Parliament Buildings, in Toronto. His first printing shop, at Queenston, has been restored by the orders of the Ontario Government and his last home, on Bond Street, in Toronto, has been turned into a civic shrine. He must have left a lasting imprint on his generation. His ideals were of a high order but his methods may have been at fault. There can be little doubt, however, that from his faulty methods great and beneficial fruits ripened. He was born in the small settlement of Springfield, not far from the city of Dundee, in Scotland, on March 12th, 1795. As he grew into boyhood he was sent to the local parish school and about the age of fifteen years he was given a clerk's post in a Dundee shop at a very meagre stipend.

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO 27

Fifteen years of age would bring the story to the year 1810. Unknown to the young clerk, at that time, there was a British general, by the name of Sir Isaac Brock, in the far away land of Upper Canada, who was telling his fellow citizens to get ready for an impending war. The war came in the summer of the year 1812 and continued until the end of the year 1814. During those two years the British newspapers carried some small accounts of the events that were taking place in Canada. It is true that the struggle with Napoleon filled most of the news. But the struggle that was taking place in Upper and Lower Canada did not go unrecorded in the British newspapers.

These accounts of events in the far away land of Upper Canada aroused the interest of the young clerk and he commenced to carefully hoard his meagre earnings toward the cost of journeying there. In the year 1819, he had gathered sufficient funds to pay for a passage from Glasgow and arrived in the town of York, Upper Canada, in the spring of 1820. There is very little record of what he did in the little settlement that was to grow into the city of Toronto during his first two years here. Within two years he had gathered sufficient resources to enable him to go into partnership with a Mr. Leslie. On the north side of King Street, two doors west of Frederick Street, in a brand new building, one of the first brick buildings to be erected at York, they opened a combined drug and book store. Mr. Leslie and his sons looked after the drug interests and William Lyon Mackenzie ran the book store end of the venture. This was the first drug store in Toronto and one of the very early ones of Canada. The reader is aware of the trend of some modern drug stores to offer for sale. Items that do not appear, at first hand, to be directly connected with the drug trade. This is by no means a modern innovation. In a printed poster, announcing the opening of this combined drug and book store venture; the fact is proudly displayed that the firm dealt in books, stationery, drugs, hardware, cutlery, jewellery, toys, carpenters' tools, nails, groceries, confectionery, dye stuffs, paint and other items. It is quite evident, therefore, that the "department store atmosphere" that overhangs so many modern drug stores is another one of the "inventions" that must be recorded to the credit of William Lyon Mackenzie.

This venture prospered but it must not be supposed that there was much resemblance to this pioneer drug store and a modern establishment.

28

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

The building was of two and a half storeys but there was no modern shop front to the store. A flight of steps led up to the central doorway and two ordinary, shuttered, windows were displays on either side of the front door. Across the front of the building a sign had been painted. It read: Leslie & Sons & Mackenzie.

In December of 1822, the firm opened a branch store in Dundas and Mr. Mackenzie went there to conduct the business. The following year, 1823, the Leslies bought out the interests of Mr. Mackenzie for the sum of £625. With this capital he moved to Queenston and opened a general store. Again good luck was with him for within a few months he received an offer to sell this business at a figure which represented a clear profit.

Montgomery's Tavern

Erected in 1830, it stood on the site now used by the North

Toronto Post Office. It was burned to the ground by government

troops on December 7, 1837.

Mackenzie accepted the offer and then decided to visualize an idea that had been taking shape since his first book store venture in the town of York. In a nearby stone building he set up a printing press and commenced to engage, not only in general job printing, but in editing and publishing

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

a paper that was destined to spread his fame, in the years

the first editions of the Colonial Advocate; stir up all the political animosity and to that were to follow.

Some years ago this original stone building, at Queenston, became badly delapidated. A little granite shaft had been planted in the adjoining

^

Mackenzie's Home During the Stormy Days of 1837

When Mackenzie became the first Mayor of Toronto in 1834, He bought himself a home on the west side of York Street, between Queen and Richmond Streets. This was a new and fashionable district that was then opening up. He lived here during the stormy days of 1837.

soil and the face of the shaft told the visitor that this ruin was the first printing plant of William Lyon Mackenzie. In recent years the Queen Victoria Niagara Falls Park Commission have restored the building, and it is kept open during the summer season as a tourist attraction. As far as has been possible the interior has been restored to resemble an ancient

30

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

printing shop. However, the iron press that is displayed there is not the press that was used by Mackenzie. Sometime during the closing years of the last century the original press used by William Lyon Mackenzie fell into the hands of the late John Ross Robertson and tvas displayed for some time in one of the Melinda Street windows of the Telegram. Later, Mr. Robertson presented it to the Normal School Museum, in Toronto, and it was on display there until the building was taken over, early in the Second World War, for the training of technical air force men. Many years ago

Mackenzie's First Printing Shop in Toronto When Mackenzie moved his printing shop from Queenston to York in 1825, he set up home and shop in this log struc- ture on the north-west corner of Front and Frederick Streets, It was this place that was attacked by the mob who threw his type into the bay.

the author photographed this old press. It was made of wood for the most part. Iti was probably built about the year 1800 and Mackenzie secured it from the United States in 1824, when he opened his shop at Queenston. The iron press now displayed at Queenston, and reputed to be the press of Wm. Lyon Mackenzie was manufactured about the year 1850. There is a duplicate of it on display in the hallway of the Graphic Arts

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO 31

section of the Ryerson Institute of Technology, in Toronto, at the present time. The original press that was in the Normal School Museum was supposed to have been handed over to the Royal Ontario Museum. The author has been unable to trace its location from that source.

Mr. Mackenzie soon discovered that Queenston was not an advantagious point for the publication of a newspaper. The mail that was carried by stage coach and ship, from Queenston, was very tardy in reaching other portions of Upper Canada. After a few months of publication at Queenston; he packed his press, type and personal belongings on board ship and sailed for the town of York. At the north west corner of F'rederick and I, Front Streets he found a one storey dwelling house that was empty at the time. This became his combined dwelling and printing shop and it had two great advantages over the Queenston site. The mail service, into and out of the town of York, was superior to the service offered from Queenston; and he was right on the tail of the "Family Compact" that he commenced to loathe. The seat of government was right in the town of York and he was able to print "news" in his paper at a much earlier date than waiting for second hand reports to reach him at Queenston. By the early weeks of 1825 his little printing plant at York was completed and he con- tinued the publication of the Colonial Advocate which had been disrupted by reason of the move from Queenston. The fame of the paper grew apace. It spread up through what is now North Toronto and York County. It went east and it went west and over into the Niagara peninsula. Mackenzie's editorials became bolder and bolder and, as they increased in directness, the ire of the Family Compact rose. On the evening of June 8th, 1826, while Mackenzie was out of town, a crowd of young bloods broke into his home and printing shop. They upset the press and dumped his type into piles which were carried across Front Street and thrown into the bay. At that time there was no Esplanade. Front Street was exactly what its name implied. It was the front street. The Esplanade was not built until the time of the Civil War in the United States. It was built to the design of Sandford Fleming, the man who had designed Canada's first postage stamp in 1851, as a means of giving the growing steam railway systems a proper entrance and exit into the growing city. A small portion of the dumped type was recovered after the fury of the mob had spent itself. The rest lies under several feet of mud that was thrown on top of it when the Esplanade was built.

32

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

THE

FAMOUS FE

THE GATEWAY T<

This famous hostelry stood on the east side of Yonge Street a h for the stage coaches that connected with the numerous muDip; commenced in 1807 and numerous additions were made during a great ball room and this room was the political headquarte Compact candidate on numerous elections preceding the arnd

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

RED LION HOTEL

ONORTH TORONTO

Iv yards to the north of Bloor Street. It was the starting point jDipalities up Yonge Street. Construction on this building was 3 following thirteen years. The upper central portion contained ei of William Lyon Mackenzie when he defeated the Family mil revolt at Montgomery's Tavern. Building demolished in 1888.

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TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

Unknown to the mob that attacked his printing plant; there were several of Mackenzie's friends who witnessed the unlawful attack. They quietly made note of who was present and what certain parties did during the fracas. A few weeks later Mackenzie won a court action against certain parties and was awarded damages to the extent of £700. This money was used to refurnish the plant and to extend the circulation of

$10 • Mk:

\WPM\M

.\ %^\.

da^oL. No

.M9

M

^o«m1 SiUii, "U^tt) (comnAol, ^.uJU 21, K^X ^ to! J^vrve-i MiyinKy ^-rVUt^, ^^^.tJ^ dii: oxAiW, oil lIU (iiiUy

Ezaminal by flu Comflrollrr.

ttairman pre. tern. Ex, Cnm.

Paper Money of Long Ago

This note is dated December 27, 1837, and was made out at Navy Island. This was almost three weeks after the battle on north Yonge Street. It suggests that many of Mackenzie's backers in Toronto had not lost faith in the rebellion idea.

the paper. By the year 1828 the fame of Mackenzie and what he w^as fighting for had reacted to such an extent, with much of the populace, that Mackenzie was asked to stand for election to the legisalture as one of the members for York County. It is at this point in the story where he enters North Toronto. His political headquarters was the Red Lion Hotel. In an earlier portion of this booklet, in the section that describes a trip up Yonge Street a century ago, mention has been made of this famous building. It stood on the east side of Yonge Street, just north of Bloor Street. The exact site is now used by Woolworth's and the row of modern stores that extends up to Britnell's book shop.

In the years 1797 and 1798 the Crown made large grants of land in the vicinity of what is now Bloor and Yonge and St. Clair and Yonge. In

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO 35

1798 Daniel Tiers was granted two hundred acres tliat spread along Avhat is now Bloor Street East and up along the east side of Yonge Street. In the year 1807 he erected the central portion of the Red Lion Hotel and during the years that followed he made additions to the south and the north of the original central structure. Business, at first, could not have been very brisk. In 1808, one year after he had put up the first portion of the Red Lion, he offered the hotel and the two hundred acres of land for sale. The price asked for the land and building was four hundred dollars. He almost got a "sucker" down in the town of York to buy it. Friends of the would be purchaser warned him of the great risk he was taking in investing in this land aw^ay out that might never amount to anything and the deal fell through. Tiers kept his land and the hotel and the would be purchaser kept his money. A short time prior to the outbreak of the War of 1812 the government placed a toll gate outside the Red Lion and it, by reason of this, became the starting point for the stage coaches that operated up and down Yonge Street.

When it became known to the Family Compact that Mackenzie was standing for election in York County, to the Upper Canada legislature, they girded their loins and decided to try and prevent his election. They did not like his ideas on reform. This election took place in the year 1828. The Red Lion Hotel was the polling place and when the votes were counted it was found that Mackenzie had been elected by a very large majority.

With this public backing he stepped up the tempo of his editorials in his newspaper. During 1831 his editorials had become so pointed that the Compact members of the legislature declared that he had committed a libel against the house and ordered the Sergeant to expell him from the legislative meetings and declared his seat open.

A second election was carried out and Mackenzie stood for election again to the vacant seat. An account of this election, written at the time, states that upwards of five thousand people milled about the Red Lion Hotel on that eventful day. The Family Compact were somewhat abashed to learn that the followers of Mackenzie, in York County, had swept him to a second victory. When he took his seat in the legislature, following this second victory, he was ordered to be expelled again. This election pro- cedure followed again and again and during the next two years he was expelled and re-elected a total of five times. In each of these elections the central polling place was the famous Red Lion and at this passage of

36

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

time it seems strange that the Compact could not realize that a large section of the voters were supporters of the reform programme. The voter at that time were not "riff raff", as has so often been charged, by those who would defend the Compact. The voters were solid citizens, all land owners.

Mackenzie had married in 1822, shortly after the business venture of the drug and book store had indicated that it was to develop into a profitable investment. His growing printing business had left him cramped, together with his increasing family, in the one storey log structure at Front and Frederick Streets. During all the election excitement he had found time to remove to larger quarters and he had opened a combined printing business and book store at 173 King Street (east) near the present

St. Lawrence Market. At first he lived above the book store here but by 1833 the expanding business forced him out. A new and some- what fashionable district was open- ing up in the town of York in those days; and Mackenzie took over a modest brick house on the west side of York Street, between Richmond and Queen Streets.

Early in the year 1834, the legislative passed a bill that would enable the citizens of the town of York to incorporate under a city charter. On the 6th day of March, 1834, the Town of York became the City of Toronto. In the elections that had preceded the incorporation William Lyon Mackenzie had been elected an alderman. There were two types of civic representatives. There were aldermen and councilmen. Carefully preserved in the vaults of the present day City Clerk in the City Hall, are the minutes of that first civic council. On page one it is recorded that Franklin Jackes (a grandfather of the author) stood up and moved that William Lyon Mackenzie be elected by the Council at Mayor. This motion

The First Coat of Arms

of Toronto

In 18 3 4 Mackenzie ordered

wood blocks to be made from

this design.

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO 37

was seconded and carried. That is how Toronto got its first Mayor. The next step was to raise some cash. There was in Toronto of that day a stone bank building, which still stands at the time of writing, on the north east corner of Frederick and Duke Streets. In 1834, it was the head office of the Bank of Upper Canada. The council approached this bank with the object of securing a loan. Again the Family Compact showed its hand and advised the bank to have nothing to do with the brand new city so long as it was under the direction of Mackenzie, as mayor.

At that time, in Toronto, there was another smaller bank known as the Farmers' Joint Stock Bank. The council approached this bank and was informed they could have the money if each individual member of the Council would sign a note to guarantee its repayment. This was done and the bank advanced a loan to the city of ten thousand Spanish dollars.

In 1834, the Town Hall of York and the first City Hall of Toronto was a small frame structure that stood on the south side of King Street where the St. Lawrence Market stands today. The lower portion of the building was given over to market space and butchers' stalls and the upper floor contained the hall and the business offices. Market Street ran southward from King to the immediate west of the first Town Hall. On the west side of Market Street, about the year 1833, a man by the name of John Sleigh built a three and half storey brick hotel and opened for business under the name of "John Sleigh's Hotel."

One warm afternoon, in the spring of 1834, Mackenzie stepped into this hotel to refresh himself before starting the long walk home to northern York Street. He was surprised to see a gathering of men about a stooped figure on the floor of the bar room. This man had a piece of chalk in his hand and was drawing various objects as asked for by the crowd. The man had talent and Mackenzie called him to one side and asked him if he would prepare a design for a civic coat of arms for the new City of Toronto. A piece of sheet metal and some paints and brushes were secured for the wandering artist and he commenced to work. The design was painted on the metal sheet and from it Mackenzie had a wood block made. He also commissioned the artist to paint the picture of the crest on the back of the chair which he used in the council chamber. This chair and crest has been preserved and may be seen today in the Mackenzie Museum on Bond Street.

38 TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

In 1834, John Sleigh changed the name of his hotel to the City Arms Hotel. The original sheet metal plate, upon which the wandering artist had painted the civic arms, hung for many years on the wall of the bar room. At the time of writing, 1951, this structure was standing and was used as a wholesale fruit warehouse. The north aspect displays an ancient gateway that formerly led to the coach yards. This addition to the hotel was added later and over the doorway is displayed the wording "John Sleigh, 1840". Sometime in the 1860's, Sleigh gave up the management of this hotel and moved with his daughter to Yorkville. Many years ago I made enquiries concerning the metal plate that contained the origin of Toronto's civic crest and was informed that it had been taken to Yorkville, during the moving, and had been stored in the attic. After many years it had been tossed out in the garbage.

During 1834, Mackenzie had devoted his time to civic matters and the publishing of his newspaper. In 1835 the voters of York County asked him to stand once more for election to the legislature and once again, at a polling held in the Red Lion, he was declared the victor. It was during the early part of the year 1837 that the idea of a resort to arms, as a means of carrying out his reform programme, first crystalized in his mind. Discussions with several of his supporters convinced him that the idea was sound.

The suggestion has been made that it was merely the "riff-raff" of the Upper Canada population that were behind Mackenzie in his desperate bid for responsible government.. In Toronto one of his main backers was John Doel, who lived in a large frame house on the northwet corner of Adelaide and Bay Streets. Doel was a brewer, in the rear of his house he had erected his extensive brewing vats. Under these vats, during the dark autumn evenings of 1837, several meetings were held where the aspects of the forthcoming armed rising were discussed and planned.

Up Yonge Street, just where the Newmarket Road turns to the right, stood the dwelling and blacksmith shop of Samuel Lount. He had been there for many years and was a highly respected member of the com- munity Down toward the village of Pickering there was a prosperous farmer by the name of Peter Matthews. He had been a captain in the armies of General Brock, during the War of 1812. There was James Hervey Price, who lived at Castlefield, in Eglinton, and who was the City

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

39

in? ^ vn "

t.2V"^ W' «...

I r^ r-i t lis « " 4: '^ f i ^j

Clerk of Toronto. There was Col Gibson and Franklin Jackes who lived on the west side of Yonge Street, just a little bit to the south of the present Glengrove Avenue. There were many more: but one more name must be re- called. That is John Mont- gomery, owner of the famous Montgomery's Tavern that stood on the site now used by the North Toronto Post Office. At the time of the rebellion, Montgomery did not operate the tavern. He had leased it to a man named Llngfoot; and was living in retirement on the north side of what is now Montgomery Avenue. The best answer to the riff-raff suggestions come from a statement that was made by Mackenzie himself, in writing, after he had en- tered the United States, fol- lowing his flight from the battle on Yonge Street. He was given a horse and saddle by one of the farm hands at Castlefield and between his departure from Castlefield to his crossing of the Niagara

River he was seen and aided by more than two thousand persons. Despite the fact that there was a standing reward for his capture of £1,000 no one betrayed him or gave the Compact authorities a hint of his whereabouts during that hectic journey from North Toronto to Niagara. That sounds like

The City Arms Hotel This structure, west side of Market Street, across from the first City Hall, is the rep- uted place where an old soldier drew the first city arms for Mackenzie. The original was painted on a thin sheet of metal and hung for many years over the bar of this hotel.

40 TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

a lot of real folks who were either definitely with him or interested in his fight for responsible government.

At this late date it is not possible to ascertain with any degree of accuracy the number of men who gathered at Montgomery's Tavern during the first week of December, 1837. I have examined all the various accounts of this gathering that I have seen; and have come to the con- clusion that at no time the force exceeded eight hundred men. I am of the opinion that not more than two hundred men marched down Yonge Street to meet the militia coming up from the city under the command of Col. MacNab. I do not think that there were more than two hundred muskets available for the entire assembly. I think that a force of about four hundred men remained behind at the tavern and that they were armed only with axes and pikes.

It is not generally known that William Lyon Mackenzie printed his own money to finance the uprising. This was in the form of promissary notes in the denomination of ten Spanish dollars each. These were made out in the name of the Provisional Government of Upper Canada and were exchanged for hard cash. These notes are now very rare. Following the failure of the affair at Montgomery's, those that had. them destroyed them as soon as they reached home, so that they could not be used as evidence against them if they fell into the hands of government searchers. The exact amount of money that was raised by means of these notes is not now known. The lists showing to whom payment was due were destroyed by fire on the Sunday morning following the clash of arms. I have seen one or two specimens numbered in the eight hundreds and that would indicate that the war fund was something between eight and ten thousand Spanish dollars or a total of about £12,000.

What happened after the flight of Mackenzie? The government troops sought to take as many prisoners as possible and within the days that followed the gaol at King and Toronto Streets was packed with prisoners. Montgomery's Tavern was put to the torch. Col. Gibson's home w-as burned and there was much burning and pillage throughout York County. The home of Mackenzie, on York Street Avas searched and searched again. On the Sunday morning following the armed clash; the mother-in-law of Mackenzie appealed to the authorities for a respite of these searchings during the hours of Divine service. This was granted and she used the

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

41

precious time to destroy the lists of Mackenzie's supporters. By this act of hravery she removed the wrath of Francis Bond Head from hundreds of homes that might otherwise have felt his fury.

A full report of the uprising was forwarded to the Colonial Office In

England. It was sent by the government and it may have been biased. In the few years that had preceeded the uprising Mackenzie had presented the British government with several addresses setting forth his views of the state of affairs in Upper Canada. In some manner the Compact always managed to get in a counter address. When news of the armed uprising reached London the British govern- ment decided that the time had come to make an impar- tial investigation of the mat- ter. They appointed John George Lambton, the Earl of Durham, to proceed to Upper Canada as Governor in place of Sir Francis Bond Head. He arrived in Canada during the early summer of 1838. He was in Toronto one day only, July 17th, 1838. He was not in the country very long and without being recalled or resigning returned to Eng- land and presented the now famous Durham Report to the British government. He had many private conferences with British cabinet ministers

bit

If

Mackenzie's Last Home In Toronto

In 1849, twelve years after the Rebellion, Queen Victoria signed a bill which granted a full pardon to all who had taken part in the Rebellion. Mackenzie returned to Toronto and his friends and admirers bought him this house on the west side of Bond Street, just south of what is now Dundas Street. While he lived here, his friends in Parliament forced through a bill granting him full back pay for the many times he had been elected to Parliament during the stormy days preceding 1837.

42 TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

and was also called before Queen Victoria to state what he had seen. The result of his visit and report was the Act of Union of 1841, which united the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada into the United Canadas. There were many other changes which were no tto the liking' of the Family Compact and in 1849 an Amnesty Bill was passed which restored all rights of citizenship to those who had taken up arms in 1837. It was under the protection of this Bill that William Lyon Mackenzie returned to Toronto and his friends bought him a home on Bond Street. His friends also succeeded, despite the violent opposition of the remnants of the Compact, to have him voted by the legislature the monies due him for his election to the legislature during the stormy days of the five elections that he won in York County. In 1851, two years after his return to Toronto he stood for election as member for Haldimand County and was elected.

Shortly after his return to Toronto he did what could be done to pay some last and proper respects to the bodies of Lount and Matthews who had been executed in Toronto, in April of 1838. After the execution their bodies had been placed in the Potters Field. The exact site of their burial was under the site of the Yorkville Avenue Fire Station. One dark night in 1849 Mackenzie and some of his friends removed the bodies of the two patriots to the Necropolis Cemetery and had a decent head stone erected to mark the site. Mackenzie died at his home on Bond Street, August 28th, 1861.

Samuel Lount was the eldest son of the late Gabriel Lount, an English- man, who emigrated to Pennsylvania in the middle of the Eighteenth century, and of Philadelphia Hughes, his wife, a Quakeress. He emigrated to Upper Canada and settled near Newmarket in 1811. In 1834 he repre- sented the County of Simcoe in the Upper Canada Legislature and served for two years. In 1836 he became a candidate again and was defeated by corrupt practices used by his political opponents. A petition of 8,000 people asked for a reprieve which was refused.

Peter Matthews was the son of Peter Matthews, Sr., a United Empire Loyalist who fought on the British side in the Revolutionary War, and at its close settled with his wife and family in the townsite of Pickering in the (then) County of York. Peter Matthews, the son, belonged to Brock's volunteers during the war of 1812 to 1815 and fought in various battles in

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

43

Upper Canada of that war. He was known and respected as an honest and prosperous farmer.

John Montgomery was one of a group sent to Fort Henry, at Kingston, to await transportation. They dug under the walls of the prison fort and escaped to the United States.

A Great Pioneer of North Toronto

James Hervey Price was one of the leading pioneers of North Toronto. He came to the Town of York just ten years after the close of the War of 1812-15. When he arrived, the town was just rebuilding after the devasta- tion resulting from two enemy attacks during that conflict. He opened one of the first law offices in what is now Toronto. He made numerous journeys into the country surrounding York and came to the conclusion, even at that early date, that the ulti- mate growth would be toward the north. He secured two large tracts of land: one of these included what is now the north side of Eglinton Avenue, between Yonge Street and Avenue Road; the other was a large tract of land that ran through from Yonge Street to Bathurst Street, It was on this lot that he built Castle- field in 1830. He was appointed City Clerk when Toronto was incorpor- porated in March, 1834. He loaned large sums of money to William Lyon Mackenzie, and as a consequence was obliged to sell Castlefield to Franklin Jackes in 1842. Price Street, running east from Yonge just below the C.P.R. crossing, is named after him.

His coachman was John Montgomery, and Mr. Price gave him a plot of ground on Yonge Street, upon which John Montgomery erected the famous Montgomery's Tavern.

James Hervey Price

44 TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

Transportation

IN a growing community, transportation plays a very important part. In an earlier portion of this book attention has been drawn to the stage

coach that ran up Yonge Street from the Red Lion Hotel to Richmond Hill. In the year 1884, the Metropolitan Railway Company commenced to make use of the franchise that had been granted to it. Tracks were laid "between the steam lines of the Canadian Pacific Railway, where they cross Yonge Street a little to the south of Summerhill Avenue, to the Eglinton Town Hall at the corner of Yonge Street and Montgomery Avenue. Horse- drawn cars were operated on this track by the Metropolitan Railway Company for seven years. In the year 1891 the tracks were electrified and extended to Glengrove Avenue. This was the first electrified railway in the vicinity of Toronto, and as far as my researches have indicated, the first electric railway to be operated in Canada. The first electric cars did not make an appearance on the tracks of the old Toronto Street Railway Company until the year 1893. The first of their lines to be electrified was the Church Street line.

During the seven years in which the Metropolitan was running its horse- drawn cars up and down north Yonge Street, there was another ambitious transportation scheme in the making. This was the Toronto Steam Belt Line Railway that had been granted a charter In the year 1889. As there are some remnants of this old line still visible in North Toronto, the story of this great undertaking will be outlined here.

The directors and promoters of the line prepared some very dazzling and attractive posters and other literature to induce the working man to turn his back on his home in Toronto, amid the dirt and grime of the city, and take up his residence in the open country where fresh air abounded and taxes were almost as nothing, and where the home-grown vegetables and hen fruit would cut his living costs to a point where he could put almost his entire wages in the savings bank. In addition to all these bene- fits the directors of the Steam Belt Line Railway offered to transport him quickly and cheaply from his abode in the pleasant countryside to his place of employment in the city. The original plans called for a line of track that would run east and west from the old Union Station on Front Street and encircle the city by way of the Humber and Don Valleys and join

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

45

these two valleys by a line that rambled across the north end, reaching as far as Eglinton Avenue at one point.

When the promoters of the line received their charter they went out in the city to sell stock in the enterprise, and quite a bit of stock was sold and

The Steam Belt Line Railway The stations were: (1) Union Station; (2) Church Street; (3) Berkeley Street; (4) Don; (5) Winchester Street; (6) Rose- dale; (7) Moore Park; (8) Merton Street; (9) Upper Canada College; (10) Eglinton; (11) Davenport; (12) Spadina Avenue; (13) Swansea; (14) St. Clair.

paid for. But history was repeating itself in a somewhat reverse manner. Many readers of this story will recall the effort that was made a few years

46 TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

ago to raise money for a North Toronto Community Centre, and how it appeared that some of its money was used up in "promotional expenses", and when the remaining cash was counted there was not enough left to build the hall. The promoters of the old Steam Belt Line Railway appear to have been able to present some rather healthy bills for "promotional expenses", and when the time came to build the line there was not enough money left. But in their case a good angel stepped into the picture. The Grand Trunk Railway offered to take over all the assets of the Toronto Steam Belt Line Railway, build and complete the line and operate it. The original stock in the Steam Belt Line Railway was exchanged for Grand Trunk Railway paper which did not reimburse the original investors, and considerable money was lost in the transaction.

However, the Grand Trunk did build and complete the line. The only important changes made in the original plans were that instead of one loop they built two. One loop was known as the western or Humber loop, and the other was known as the eastern or Don Valley loop. A spur line joined them together some distance to the north of St. Clair Avenue and it was possible for trains to operate from one loop to the other.

As soon as it became known that the Grand Trunk Railway had taken over the prospect there was a great activity in real estate at various points along the line. What is now known as Moore Park was laid out in lots, and much of what is now Forest Hill Village was surveyed and staked out. The important suburb of Swansea owes it beginning to this real estate fever that swept across the confines of suburban Toronto.

The line commenced business in the summer of the year 1892 under the full control of the Grand Trunk Railway. The eastern loop employed the main line of the Grand Trunk between the Union Station and the Don. The line then ran northward beside the Don to Winchester Street. It then struck off to the north-west, using a natural ravine for most of the right of way. It came through Mount Pleasant Cemetery and continued westward along the south side of Merton Street and was carried across Yonge Street on a bridge. The original Yonge Street bridge, like all other bridges on the old Belt Line Railway, was made of timbers. This has been replaced by the iron bridge that now crosses Yonge Street. From Yonge Street the line continued in a northwesterly direction until it ran under the Fourth Con- cession line (Eglinton Avenue), in the vicinity of what is now Spadina Road.

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

47

The line then extended westward for some distance and curved southward to join into the main line of the old Great Northern Railway at Davenport Station. From there the Belt Line continued to the Union Station.

The Western loop left the Union Station on the tracks of the Toronto Hamilton and Buffalo Railway as far as what is now Swansea. New tracks were laid northward through a ravine that ran to the east of the Humber

Yonge and Castlefield in 1910 The Metropolitan car is coming north on the mud road. The structure on the right is the first movie in North Toronto. It was the York-Eglinton, and had a mud floor and kitchen chairs. The admission was five cents. It is now the Capitol Theatre.

River. This western loop curved to the east some distance above the Third Concession line (St. Clair Avenue), and came over to join the main northern line of the Grand Trunk, running into Parkdale and the Union Station. There was a spur line that connected the two loops together north of St. Clair Avenue.

48 TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

The Toronto Belt Line Steam Railway continued to operate until the year 1894. From a revenue standpoint it was a failure. The exodus that had been planned did not materialize and many real estate speculators w^ere trying frantically to unload the lots that had been bought or optioned.

On the eastern loop there were numerous stations at which the working man could board the trains. There were stations at Church Street, Berkeley Street, the Don, Winchester Street, Rosedale, Moore Park, Yonge Street, Upper Canada College, Eglinton, Davenport, Parkdale, and Spadina Avenue. The Yonge Street station stood on the site now used by the Milnes Coal Company, and the Moore Park station stood beside the trackless right of way just to the south of Moore Avenue. It was not demolished until 1945 and had been used for dwelling purposes for some time prior to its demo- lition.

In the year 1921 a local engineering firm was given the task of making a full report on the conditions of the right of way of the old Toronto Steam Belt Line Railway. The last passenger trains to operate on this line tooted their way from station to station in the late summer of 1894. Twenty-seven years had elapsed between that date and the making of the engineering report in 1921. Twenty-seven years of neglect can lay heavy havoc on an undertaking of this nature. The report states that on the Humber loop there were a few sections of the track then in place. The wooden bridges had decayed to a point where they were unsafe. Some sections of the line had reverted to the municipality in default of taxes, and in some places the owners of adjoining property had extended their fences across the right of way. The line from Davenport Station to Mount Pleasant Avenue was still in operation and was used for the transport of coal, wood and other heavy freight. The old wooden bridge crossing Yonge Street, at Merton Street, had been replaced by a steel structure. Between Mount Pleasant Road and Winchester Street the dilapidated condition of the line was a repeat of con- ditions that had been found on the Humber loop. At the time of writing (1951), the author found one of the massive timber bridges that once span- ned this old steam line. This bridge crosses the right of way about one hundred yards south of Moore Avenue. It has long since been condemned, but an examination of its massive timbers give some representation of the engineering skill expended on the line by the Grand Trunk Railway. When the Grand Trunk was taken over by the Canadian goverment and formed

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO 49

one of the lines that now make up the Canadian National Railways; what remained intact of the old Steam Belt Line became part and parcel of the Can- adian National System. That is why they still operate the line, as a freight spur, that crosses Yonge Street at Mount Pleasant Cemetery. In more recent years a portion of the western loop right of way was used by the Toronto and Guelph Electric Radial Railway to give entrance to West Toronto. That line is now nothing but a right of way. Over the past few years several suggestions have been made for the use of the old right of way between Moore Avenue and Winchester Street for a motor highway. It would certainly be a scenic route and might withdraw traffic from the overcrowded streets that must be used at present in driving from North Toronto to the eastern sections of the city.

The Beginning Of Leaside

LEASIDE and Forest Hill Village, although both separate municipalities from a history standpoint, may be considered as part of the area covered by this book.

Forest Hill Village had its birth in the great real estate boom that developed as a result of the projection of the steam Belt Line Railway, some sixty years ago. Moore Park is another section of North Toronto which owes its start to the same transportation scheme.

With Leaside, the story is different. When the trains were running around the Belt Line, what is now the splendid municipality of Leaside was mostly farm land, and remained so for some years after the old Belt Line became a memory and a set of rusty tracks.

There were three land marks of early Leaside. One of these was a roadhouse on Bayview Avenue. This was a white stucco structure that stood on the west side of the road and which vanished about 1926.

Where Bayview Avenue runs north from Rosedale, and just across from the new school which has been erected, there stands an ancient house of red brick. This house is a duplicate of a similar house that stood on the north west corner of St. Clair Avenue and Yonge Street. Both houses were built from the same set of plans.

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TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

What may be considered to be the actual beginning of Leaside is the old Jones homestead on Bayview Avenue, The farm, of which this ancient building was the farm house, extended for many acres. The Jones house was purchased and modernized by the Hon. Dr. Herbert Bruce.

The first factories of Leaside commenced to arise on what is now the north end of Laird drive. One of the first large factories to oper- ate was that of the Durant Motor Car Com- pany. One of the pio- neers of the district was William MacLean, who published the Toronto world for many years. For years he advocated the erection of the great bridge that crosses the Don between Leaside and the Danforth Avenue. The battle waged by the Toronto! World for the construction of this bridge was bitterly opposed by some of the other Toronto papers. William MacLean was cartooned and lampooned as the man with the "Big Eyes". Tmie has disclosed the fact that this bridge was one of the best municipal invest- ments made in the Toronto area in many years. It "made" Leaside and during World War II its industrial potential grew apace.

Since the war many of the war time industries have been converted to peace time channels. It must not be overlooked, however, that the Dominion government keeps a small pilot plant operating in Leaside. Thxs plant is ready to expand upon a moment's notice should international conditions suddenly turn for the worse.

But let us hope that the crowds of citizens who enjoy shopping in the splendid shops of Leaside may long enjoy seeing the district expand without the necessity of great and sprawling plants again turning out the equipment for war.

The old Jones homestead on Bayview Avenue as it appeared a century ago. This house was purchased and modernized by the Hon. Dr. Herbert Bruce.

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO 51

North Toronto Churches

WHEN the War of 1812-15 came to a close there were many veterans to whom an appreciative government gave land grants in many parts of what is now North Toronto. Many of these veterans were from Great Britain and some had been treated in a generous manner by the Earl of Eglinton before they set sail across the stormy Atlantic. The Earl, out of his private purse, had seen that his men were supplied with many items that were not included in the regulation military kit. As a token of esteem towards their patron, these new veteran land owners decided to give the name of their benefactor to the district. From 1816 on- ward it became known as Eglinton. In later years this name applied, not to the entire district, but to a certain portion of North Toronto which now bears that name.

In 1316 there was one church in this portion of Upper Canada. That was the log structure that had been erected at the corner of Church and King Streets in 1803, and has since grown into the stately St. James' Cathedral.

These new comers to the north gave much thought to church matters, but there was one great difficulty.

In the very early legislation of Upper Canada, Governor Simcoe had set aside a great many tracts of land that were meant to form the basis for the financial support of a Protestant clergy. The words "Protestant Clergy" are used in the bill, but by the year 1816 the Anglican Church had exercised a monopoly on their administration. There were many of these clergy reserves up and down Yonge Street. One of the last to be disposed of was the lot where the Glebe Manor apartments now stand.

When the new veteran land owners suggested to the Anglican bishop, in the town of York, that there was room for a church in this new district, he did not wish to disturb these clergy reserves. He did, however, give some aid and shortly after these veterans had commenced to clear their ground a little frame church was erected at York Mills. It was given the name of St. Johns'. For many years there were no churches between this one and St. James' on King Street.

The frame church of St. John served its purpose for some sixteen years when it was replaced by the present structure. This church is well

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worth a Sunday afternoon visit. The old fittings are intact and there is no structure in North Toronto which can compare with this as an example of early North Toronto pioneering.

It is not to be supposed that all these new settlers had leanings toward the Anglican Church. There were many missionaries of the Methodist

The Original Christ Church It stood just where the Lawton loop of the T.T.C. is now located just to the north of St. Clair Avenue. This church was put on sleds and pulled over to form the beginning of Grace Church. It was then taken down to Danforth Avenue and Main Street vicinity where it is still in use.

faith that visited the district. In fair weather meetings were held outdoors and when this was not possible the farm house with the largest kitchen was used for services.

By the year 1830 the Methodist following in what is now North Toronto had expanded to an extent where it was decided to erect a church. A

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

53

lot was secured on the east side of Yonge Street opposite what is now Glengrove Avenue and a modest structure erected upon it.

A second Methodist Church soon arose in the town of Davisville. A portion of this structure still stands although much of its original front has been sheared off to permit the widening of Yonge Street.

North Toronto's First Methodist Church Eglinton Methodist Church was erected in 1830 and stood where the Hydro sub-station is located across from Glengrove Avenue. In 1925 it became the Eglinton United Church, and the new structure on Sheldrake Boulevard was erected.

Then the Anglicans stepped into the church picture once again. A short distance north of St. Clair Avenue, a winding road came down and joined with Yonge Street, at this junction a frame church was erected which was a landmark of North Toronto for many years. It was given the name of Christ Church.

When the Toronto Transportation Commission were extending their rails up Yonge Street in 1922, they decided that the site of this frame church would make an ideal loop.

In the meantime the congregation of Christ Church had far outgrown the original frame structure and work was progressing on the splendid stone structure nearby.

The original frame Christ Church was not demolished. An Anglican Church on Elm Street, in central Toronto had been sold. This was known

54 TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

as Grace Church and as many of the former congregation had moved northward it was decided to use the purchase money for the erection of a new and modern structure. They had secured a lot in Forest Hill village, and they had the money to proceed. Time is required to build a stately church; and to hold the congregation together and to make a definite start, it was decided to make a bold "move". The old frame Christ Church was lifted from its foundations and powerful sleds inserted under it. Many horses were harnessed and at the first fall of snow the procession started down Yonge Street and along St. Clair Avenue. This original Christ Church, moved to the new location was the first church home of Grace Church on the Hill. In the new ediface there is a brass plate which states His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught stood below this plate as he laid the corner stone for the new structure.

But the original frame church that had centered the founding of two great congregations in North Toronto, was not finished with its pioneer work. As soon as Grace Church on the Hill was ready for service the sleds were again inserted under the old red frame church and it was sledded down to the vicinity of Danforth and Main Streets where it is still used for service.

The Baptist congregation of North Toronto present a story that is somewhat different from that of thei other congregations. While many of the Baptist Churches, in this section of the city, have had to struggle up to their present important position, there is one North Toronto Baptist Church which emerged without much of the pioneering effort that forms the story of the others.

For many years there was a large Baptist Church on Bloor Street West at the corner of St. Vincent Street. You will not find that street there now for it was swallowed up in the great street extention of the early 1920's that cut the present Bay Street through the city from Queen to Bloor. This extension drew the eyes of big business to the property of the Bloor Street Baptist Church. It was sold and arrangements were made with the late Mr. Elias Rogers to erect a new and imposing church on his property in Deer Park. The great church that stands there today is York Minister Baptist Church

On the other side of the story, showing something of the faith and struggle of the early settlers in North Toronto, Castlefield Avenue Baptist

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

55

Church is a splendid example. They did not have well filled money bags, resulting from the sale of other property, behind them when the acorn was planted that has since grown into the church on Castlefield Avenue.

The start of Castlefield Baptist Church was made in Davisville, in 1887, when Mrs. George Clarke gathered in a few children and com-

.I'.r-^^m^^''''' '

Castlefield Avenue Baptist Church This church has been enlarged twice since the original structure on the left was started almost forty years ago. This church is typical of many in North Toronto that have grown and expanded from a small beginning. During their growth several of these struggling churches were able to extend aid to other small congregations that were starting up in Bedford Park and other sections of the north end.

menced a Sunday school. A demand was created for organized services and the Town Hall at Montgomery and Yonge was rented for Sunday services. The corporation charged the congregation sixty cents rent per Sunday. After a year of service there, with students from McMaster University as preachers, the congregation took over a frame building

56 TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

at the corner of Castlefield and Yonge Streets. This was known as the Yonge Street Baptist Church.

The early 1890's of the last century were an era of hard times and the little congregation was forced to close the doors and revert to the Town Hall for services. Some of the land surrounding the frame church was sold and this money used to re-open the frame church and to install an organ. In 1911 a plot of land was purchased in the rear of Castlefield, the stately old structure that had given the district its name. Work was commenced on a new church building and the original structure has since been enlarged twice.

Until recent months there were a number of stately elm trees to be seen just to the east of Castlefield Avenue Church. Those elm trees once formed the border of the driveway that led up to Castlefield from Yonge Street.

I wonder how many of the present congregation of the church realize that as they worship in the church they are sitting directly above the rear of old Castlefield were a group of government troops seeking William Lyon Mackenzie after the battle of December 7, 1837, were stopped in their search by an Irish cook armed with a hefty rolling pin. She had hidden Mackenzie in a large cradle in the kitchen of Castlefield and dared the soldiers to "wake" the baby. That night Mackenzie was given horse and saddle from Castlefield and started his flight to Navy Island.

The story of the Presbyterian Church in North Toronto has a com- mencement not unlike the story just related. In 1879 the Presbyterian mission rented the old frame school building on the site of the Consumers Gas show rooms.

After 10 years service here with considerable aid from a Presbyterian Church near Yonge and St. Clair, it was decided to organize a congrega- tion in North Toronto. Worship was held in the Town Hall and the old Y.M.C.A. hall (now the Orange Hall). In 1898 the Eglinton Presbyterian Church bought this property for $1,500. In 1899, the first year of worship in the hall, it was reported that the total receipts from the congregation were $548.93.

The annual receipts of St. George's United Church (which grew out of this early Presbyterian effort) are in the neighbourhood of $100,000.

In March of 1909, the Eglinton Presbyterian Church, having sold

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57

the Orange Hall, opened their new church at St. Clements and Yonge Streets. This is now the branch Public Library.

In 1921 work was started on a new church building on Lytton Boulevard. In 1925 the majority of the congregation voted in favour of joining the United Church.

There were groups in the congregation who were not in favour of this amalgamation and many of these minority groups withdrew and gave their support to those who wanted the Presbyterian Church to continue. These groups held services for some time in the Capitol Theatre and then centred their energies on the erection of the charming building on Glenview Avenue near Yonge Street.

While the Anglicans were the first denomination to organize church services in North Toronto, there can be little doubt that priests of the Church of Rome conducted services here before the first Anglican Church was built at York Mills. "

In another section of this book the story of transportation has been told but there is one phase of transportation that has been held back to appear here This is the batteaux route of the great North West Fur Company, with head quarters at Fort William.

In the early days of the last cen- tury the supplies for the head office were sailed up from Montreal to York. They were then placed on batteaux and floated up the Don River to York Mills. From that point scores of husky boatmen carried the supplies, by pack sack, to Holland Landing, where they were loaded into the great canoes for transporation to Fort William. There can be little doubt that this route was often used by mis- sionaries of the Church of Rome and that services were held en- route amongst these voyageurs. While the Anglican congregations of Christ Church and St. John's at York Mills were growing, the members of the church in the town of

The First St. Clement's Church This brick structure, built in the early 1880's at a cost of $3,500.00, was the commencement of the

stately St. Clement's of today.

58 TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

Eglinton commenced to think of a church of their own. In 1888 services were held in the Orange Hall — where so many of the local churches had been organized.

Beside the main doorway. Duplex Avenue, of St. Clements Church there is a stone with the date 1891 cut deeply into it. That is the corner- stone of the first St. Clement's Church that grew out of the preliminary services held for three years in the Orange Hall in the rear of the present Capital Theatre. The first church was of red brick and stood on the southern portion of the lot. A comparison of building costs in 1952 as compared with 1891 are of interest. It cost $3,500 to build the first St. Clement's Church in 1891 That sum today would hardly pay for a four-roomed shack. The present St. Clement's Church was erected in 1925 at a cost of $130,000. Since 1925 additions have been made and plans have been completed for very extensive expansion.

However, the Xhurch of Rome, as established congregations, were late in organizing in North Toronto. In the early years of the present century the Rev. Father Player, C.S.B., did a great deal of missionary work in the district just to the North of Eglinton Avenue. In 1906 he saw his( labours blossom into fruit with the erection of St. Monica's Church on the north side of Broadway Avenue.

Within twenty years of the establishment of this church, the Roman Catholic population of North Toronto had increased to a point where additional points of service were necessary. In 1926 the Blessed Sacrament Church was erected on the west side of Yonge Street, overlooking Lawrence Park. Also about that time the Roman Catholic Church secured the large house and grounds that had been the home of R. J. Fleming, the genial general manager of the old Toronto Street Railway Co. The old Fleming house ,at the time of writing (1952) is still intact but extensive educational buildings have been erected on the rear of the property.

These house the Holy Rosary School and St. Michaels' College High School. The Ursuline Nuns also operate a school on St. Clair Avenue, but as this is one of the most historic buildings in North Toronto, a special section of this book has been devoted to it under the heading "The Beginnings of Canadian Confederation".

For many years several of the Jewish congregations of Toronto have used the western sections of St. Clements Avenue for burial purposes. It is, however, only within recent years that they have erected

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59

places of worship in the north end. Some very fine structures have arisen on Bathurst Street. As the author looks on these new and inspiring structures the question has often arisen in his mind concerning the great temple built by King Solomon, in Jerusalem, some three thou- sand years ago.

I have often wondered how many of the worshippers in these new Synagogues realize that a fragment of Solomon's temple is still in existence.

It is a fragment from one of the elaborately carved pillar heads. It is overlaid with gold and was discovered in Babylon (Mesopotamia) by a British archeological party some years ago. This interesting fragment has been inserted in the basement masonry of St. Paul's Cathedral, in London.

Its exact location is at the bottom of the circular stairway that leads down to the crypt. An engraved brass plate is also inserted in the stone- work. The plate reads:

"The only known fragment of the great temple erected in Jerusalem by King Solomon."

The plate, in smaller type, then sets out the information as above. The temple of Solomon was destroyed by Nebuchadnezar after serving the Jewish people for some 400 years. Much of the loot was carried away to Babylon.

Early Fire Engine

The gleaming, motor-driven fire engines which now roar through the streets of North Toronto had, like many other things, a very humble begin- ning. North Toronto's first fire engine was housed in a metal shed that stood on Montgomery Avenue, just behind the Eglinton Town Hall. It consisted of a two-wheeled cart, with a seat for two men, and was drawn by one horse. The cart carried about 200 feet of hose. When this fire engine operated there were a few

hydrants on Yonge Street supplied ., .. ^ ^ , ^- . .-■ ,- .

. ^^ . ^ . ^ , North Toronto's Frrst Fire Engine

from a water tower at Roselawn and ^ ^as housed in the metal shed Avenue Road. behind the Town Hall.

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Municipal Services

In 1895 a great artesian spring that spilled its waters near what is now the corner of Roselawn and Avenue Road was selected as the site of the first water works in North Toronto.

A large storage tank was erected and a steam pump installed to raise the water from the spring to the tank. A separate engine and dynamo were also housed in the shed and this current was used to light a few arc

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO 61

lamps on a small section of Yonge Street. Shortly after this early electric service commenced to operate a fire damaged the dynamo and it was necessary to construct temporary power lines to a plant that was supplying the Fairbank district, some distance to the west.

An election poster, which was circulated in the late months of 1907, gives a vivid picture of municipal matters in North Toronto at that time.

The question of water supply is uppermost. The artesian spring on Roselawn Avenue is not able to give proper supply to the growing community. The poster states that the candidate, seeking re-election for municipal office, has succeeded during 1907 in having a proper engineering office installed in the Town Hall. The poster states that the gigantic sum of five hundred dollars has been expended on this office and that it is complete with draughting tables, filing cabinets, desks and all other neces- sary furniture.

The engineer at that time was the late E. A. James and he was giving much thought to the linking up of a number of wells on the east of the J. R. Strathy property. He proposed that the water from these numerous sources be gathered in a central tank and then pumped, by steam, over to Yonge Street. The estimated cost of this scheme was placed at $135,000.

The candidate, seeking re-election, in his poster is all for drawing a water supply from Lemonville at a cost of $300,000. He paints a vivid picture of this supply which he describes as "pure and never failing". This candidate is also out for turning "darkness into light". He proposes that the electric current supply be supplemented so that the householders may have electric light in their homes.

He also swings his axe at the condition of the roads, including Yonge Street. He calls the roads "quagmires" and proposed drastic action (short of paving) to end this abuse. He is also very much "let-up" over the fact that high school students are obliged to attend classes in what he describes as "one or two unsatisfactory class rooms". He promises, if elected, to see that a proper high school is erected.

And in due time it all came to pass. The North Toronto High School was erected. Water Services, not from Lemonville, but from Lake Ontario, flowed into the area.

The streets were paved and the Toronto Hydro-Electric System was extended to end the household darkness.

62

TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

North Toronto Real Estate

THERE are few sections of Toronto which have seen real estate values increase in a greater proportion than has been the case in North Toronto. Reference has been made, in an earlier section, of how the owner of the Red Lion Hotel, with 200 acres of land, on the north east corner of Bloor and Yonge Streets, was unable to sell the lot

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TALES OF NORTH TORONTO 63

and building for $400 in 1807. At the present time this property is worth several million dollars.

There were no streets running east and west of " Yonge between Eglinton and Lawrence Avenues. The property was all held in large blocks. Map shows the land owners just after the middle of the last century.

On the map is shown the location of Castlefield and the Jackes estate which ran from Yonge to Bathurst Street. On this property there are now St. Clements, Briar Hill, Castlefield and Craighurst Avenues. In 1883 this block of land and the great house known as Castlefield were sold for $16,000. The value of that land today is in excess of fifteen millions. During the low curve of the depression of the 1930's there were many houses in the "good" sections offered for as little as $6,000. Those same houses today, renovated and oil heated, are selling for prices between fifteen and twenty four thousand.

A WINDY YARN

During the battle of Montgomery's farm December 7, 1837, when the government troops engaged the forces of William Lyon Mackenzies, the conflict was witnessed by a farm hand from Castlefield. His name was John McCillucuddy, and he stood well back, and to the west side of the conflict. John had never seen a cannon fired. The government troops had a small field piece and during the fight this small gun was fired a few times. This left a lasting impression on John and in after years he told and retold the story and with each recaption the details became more vivid.

When Franklin Jackes took over Castlefield from J. H. Price, in 1842, John stayed on as one of the farm hands. By this time, five years after the conflict, his version of the fired cannon had developed to a point where he declared that he was standing over near Bathurst Street and the wind created by the cannon ball going up Yonge Street, blew him off his feet. Old John died soon after the story had developed to that length. Had he lived it is interenting to speculate as to what dire depths the cannon ball story might have developed.

This is a publication of the Canadian Historical Press, 159 Albertus Avenue, Toronto 12, Ontario.

64 TALES OF NORTH TORONTO

APPRECIATION

The following North Toronto firms have aided in the research and illustrations for this book:

THE DOMINION BANK and its 10 branches in the area covered in this book.

TRULL FUNERAL HOMES, 2704 Yonge Street.

PARKES, McVITTIE & SHAW, General Insurance, 2436 Yonge Street.

BELYEA BROTHERS, LTD., and Alderman Roy Belyea.

BELSIZE JEWELLERS, 1977 Yonge Street.

MILWIN RADIO & APPLIANCES, 3145 Yonge Street. All types of radio and electrical household appliances.

S. R. CARDISH, FURS, 2605 Yonge Street.

EMPIRE WALL PAPERS, LTD., 2512^^ Yonge Street.

HYLAND MOTORS, LTD., 2673 Yonge Street.

RUTTLE & RUTTLE, Real Estate Dealers in North Toronto for 30 years.

CONFEDERATION LIFE ASSOCIATION, R. N. Bray, Manager, 28 Eglinton Avenue West.

THE CAPITOL THEATRE, North Toronto's First.

THE EVANGALINE SHOPS, Women's Wear and Accessories.

POLLACK SHOES, LTD., and their numerous stores in the area covered in this book.

ROSS KNOWLES & CO., complete investment service, 330 Bay Street, Toronto.

MILNES COAL CO., on the Old Belt Line.

HONEY DEW COFFEE SHOPS, numerous stores in the area described.

FRAN RESTAUEANT and DINING ROOM, For good eating in North Toronto, 21 St. Clair Avenue West; Yonge and Egllnton.

WM. MITCHELL, 2 hardware stores, Fairlawn and Yonge and 2425 Yonge Street.

F. C. BURROUGHES FURNITURE CO., 529 Bayview Avenue.

YONGE AJ^D ST CLAIR BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL

ASSOCIATION. PETE WOODS, 2500 Yonge Street, men's furnishings.

J. ATKINSON & SONS, 3164 Yonge Street, North Toronto's oldest grocers.

S. BASSIN, oldest tailoring establishment in North Toronto.

PARKERS DYE WORKS & CLEANERS, 791 Yonge Street, Established 1876.

CONTROLLER LOUIS SHANNON, Q.C., 357 Bay Street

R. B. RICE & SONS LTD., 2069 Yonge Street.

EARLE ELLIOTT FUNERAL HOMES, 2287 Yonge Street.

EGLINTON THEATRE, 400 Eglinton West.

5 I.D-A. Druggists in North Toronto:

LILLICO PHARMACY, 2619 Yonge Street.

LAWRENCE PARK PHARMACY, Yonge at Lawrence.

J. M. MERRICK, Avenue Road and Fairlawn.

FOREST HILL PHARMACY, 521 Eglinton West.

YOUNG'S DRUG STORE, 265 Eglinton West

PIGOTT MOTORS (CANADA) LTD., Buick, Pontiac, GMC Trucks, 2424 Yonge Street.

LITTLE PIE SHOP, Wedding and birthday cakes, choice pastry, 2568 Yonge Street

SAMPSON MATTHEWS LTD., 1189 Yonge Street.

WELSH LUMBER CO. LTD., 2219 Yonge Street.

«^^ 80 McCallum Press Ltd., 1601 Queen Street East

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