Even More “Old” Streets of Toronto

This is the third article in a series explaining the origins and histories of “Old”-named streets in Toronto. Here is Part I and Part II. You will find an interactive map of the title image here.

Old Kingston Road

Year rerouted: 1922

Kingston Road once followed a “tortuous” route into the Highland Creek valley, also called the ‘West Hill Hollow’. After it passed through the village of West Hill at Morningside Avenue, it took “a sharp, twisting drop down the bank of the valley.” It then followed the floor of the valley in a straight line and crossed over the creek on “a small, concrete bridge.” Up the eastern side, the hill was straight, but with its heavy level of traffic in the summer and its steepness and low visibility, it made for a dangerous drive.

In early 1922, tenders called for a high-level bridge. Construction began with the expectation that the road would be ready the next year. Fortunately, the project was completed quickly and was ready in November 1922. The new route, located south of the old one, added 6,000 feet of new road.

Today, the old route – Old Kingston Road – passes several heritage structures and offers a neat, rural drive. It is a reminder of old Scarborough.

Old Forest Hill Road

Year “rerouted”: 1927

The present Forest Hill Road and Old Forest Hill Road have convoluted histories and geography, which involve the absorption, deletion, and renaming of other roads. The story of Old Forest Hill Road is unlike any of the other “Old” Streets as its changing from old to new (or new to old) did not seem to correct an inconvenience in geography.

In short, a 19th-century largely diagonal road ran through the Baldwin Estate north of St. Clair Avenue to Eglinton Avenue. In the early 20th century, a second road, which may or may not have been part of the old road, grew concurrently with it. While these were both Forest Hill Roads, in the 1920s, the ‘ancient’ road was formalized Old Forest Hill Road.

The Baldwin footpath of the 1800s was originally called the “Trespass Road” (albeit likely not officially). Later, John Wickson (or someone else of the time) named this Baldwin road as ‘Forest Hill’ as it led to his 1860 summer home (or possibly one of Wickson’s pasture) of the same name.

South of Killbarry Road, this road either followed the present Dunvegan Road or a street to the east which aligns to the present Forest Hill Road — or possibly followed both at different times. Whichever is the case, another Forest Hill Road developed south and east (and later north and east) of the older Forest Hill Road beginning in the first or second decade of the 1900s. This meant that, at one time, there were two unconnected Forest Hill Roads. To ease (or complicate) matters more, the older road was sometimes referred to as Forest Hill Road North.

In the 1920s, the matter was cleared as the street grid filled out, and the neighbourhood gained a formal identity. In 1923, the area was organized into the Village of Forest Hill, borrowing its name from the old Wickson home. Old Forest Hill Road began to gain more use, and by 1927, it was the official name for the old road.

North of Eglinton Avenue, Old Forest Hill Road later absorbed part of Whitmore Avenue east of the present Allen Road (the highway bisected the street and its eastern section joined with Old Forest Hill Road). Whitmore was previously Second Avenue. This area is known as Forest Hill North and has the oldest house in the region as a whole: the William Moore House.

Today, Old Forest Hill Road is a beautiful street with some of the most exclusive addresses in Toronto and Canada.

Note: A HUGE Thank You to Kiki M and her amazing resourcefulness and knowledge of Forest Hill . Follow her Toronto History offerings on Instagram and TikTok.

Old Gerrard Street

Year rerouted: 1930

Gerrard Street once ran an awkward course where it crossed Carlaw Avenue. The Canadian National Railway curled northeast through the intersection and made for an indirect east-west path. An eastbound traveler needed to jog southeast onto Carlaw under a 19th century rail subway and then northeast again on Gerrard before continuing straight east towards Pape Avenue.

In 1929, the plan was to straighten Gerrard under the CNR bridge. It would cost $312,000. The idea was as old as the beginning of the decade. In 1930, a second subway was built on Gerrard Street, which finally eliminated the need to jog through the intersection. In 1931, the original subway was also reconstructed to match the new one, giving us the imposing infrastructure we see today.

When the intersection was reconfigured, the old diagonal stretch of Gerrard remained. On old maps, the old jog largely went unlabelled, and in city directories, there was no distinction between the two Gerrards as the street numbering did not have to change when the subway was built. Although it never formally became “Old Gerrard Street,” there were some references to it in name.

In 2002, its northern opening where the two Gerrards crossed was closed to through traffic. Today, the former jog creates navigational issues for motorists who turn too early onto Gerrard and end up in a residential neighbourhood instead of the “main” Gerrard Street.

Old Burnhamthorpe Road

Year rerouted: 1970

The old Concession II was the root of the present Burhamthorpe Road. According to the Etobicoke Historical Society:

“In 1846, it [Concession II] became the Etobicoke and Mono Sixth Line Plank Road, a toll road that began at Dundas Street where Burnhamthorpe Crescent is today, and ran west on Burnhamthorpe Road, then north on Mercer Road (now Elmcrest Road) and west on Base Line East (now Eglinton Avenue West.)”

Etobicoke Historical Society

Burhamthorpe ran northeast from the Etobicoke-Mississauga townline and then dropped southeast before continuing straight east to the Village of Islington at Dundas Street. The route possibly followed old property lines and roads.

By 1970, Burhamthorpe Road was realigned via a new road which offered more direct route between Etobicoke Creek and Renforth Road. The older section was renamed Old Burnhamthorpe Road.

Today, Old Burhamthorpe Road blends into the surrounding post-war neighborhood. The 1820 Mercer House stands at 72 Old Burhamthorpe as a reminder of the route’s former history.

The Curious Evolution of Riverdale Avenue, Toronto

Riverdale Avenue is located in the namesake neighbourhood of Riverdale, an area in the east end of the old city of Toronto. Found a short distance north of Gerrard Street East, the street runs about a kilometre between Broadview Avenue and Kiswick Street (between Pape Avenue and Jones Street). Riverdale Avenue is layered in its development with lost and gained extensions, buried waterways, and disappearing transit lines.

Origins

Riverdale Avenue was historically located on lot 14, a 200-acre parcel granted by John Graves Simcoe to John Cox in 1796. It was situated roughly between Broadview Avenue to just west of Logan Avenue, south of Danforth Avenue to the lake. The John Cox cottage, built before 1807 and currently the oldest home in Toronto still used as a residence, sits on the property.

By 1815, the lot passed on to William Smith, which was then subdivided to his heirs in 1839. The 1860 Tremaine’s Map shows the property attributed to Thomas S. Smith. By 1878, the Illustrated Atlas of York County shows the property was divided further: the bottom two-thirds went to B. Langley (possibly for the namesake street currently on the street) and a road with smaller lots. The atlas shows the community around the lots was Don Mount and a post office was located at today’s Queen and Broadview.

In the 1884 Goad’s Map, the street in 1878 had a name: Smith. It is also labelled as Plan 373. The street stopped at the lot line, roughly two thirds to Logan Avenue. Also in 1884, Don Mount, now going by Riverside, and the lands east to Greenwood Avenue were annexed by the City of Toronto.

By the 1890s, Smith Street was extended into Lot 13. Between Logan Avenue and Carlaw Avenue, only the north side of the street was built as the south side constituted part of the William Harris Estate. The property also had a part of Holly Brook, also known as Heward Creek, running through it, which may or may not have impacted its later development.

Smith was also interrupted at Carlaw by another section of the Harris Property. A house now with a street address of 450 Pape Avenue was built on the lot in 1902, now known as the William Harris/Cranfield House. On the other end of the property at Pape, Smith Street continued in a separate section until MacDonald Street, now Kiswick Street.

The Lost Riverdale Avenue

In August 1887, the Board of Works recommended the opening of new street, free of cost to the city opposite Smith Street on the other side of Broadview Avenue; this was the first Riverdale Avenue.

The new street was proposed to run “…from Broadview Avenue to a connection with a street leading westerly through Riverdale Park to a new 50 feet street on the east side of the new line of the Don River, giving a connection with Winchester street at the bridge…”. In September, the motion to open the street was passed. It was surveyed with lots and appeared on maps in the 1880s and 90s. The 1895 City of Toronto Directory shows “a lane”, possibly referring to Riverdale Avenue, listed under 380 Broadview Avenue. The address also hosted six residents, Riverside Park (seemingly used interchangibly with Riverdale Park), Isolation Hospital, and Vacant Lots.

In 1903, a by-law was inexplicably passed to close the street. Interestingly, in April 1904, Riverdale residents complained “bitterly of the odors” in Riverdale Park from the burning of garbage in the park’s dump “on the extension of Smith Street”. It is unclear if this was Riverdale Avenue, but the street did not appear on maps for much longer after 1903. Riverdale Park was a garbage dump from around the turn on the century to the 1920s; green pipes found today on the property are exhaust tubes for methane.

A New Riverdale Avenue

In the first decade of the 1900s, ‘Riverdale’ came into common use to refer to the neighbourhood. Riverdale Park itself was used since the late 1870s and the park was officially opened 1880, so the neighbourhood was seemingly named after the park, rather than the more obvious reverse. In 1905, Smith Street from Broadview Avenue to Carlaw Avenue was renamed to Riverdale Avenue, taking over the name of the closed street it was once connected to. East of Pape, the road was still Smith Street. A confused rider of the streetcar on Broadview wrote to The Star in 1906 asking about the renaming as some trolley drivers still referred to the street as Smith, while other drivers used the new name. The newspaper set the record straight: west of the intervening Harris property, the street was Riverdale; east of it was Smith Street.

By 1913, the south side of Riverdale between Logan and Pape, part of the Harris Estate, was subdivided under plan 445E. The move allowed for the extensions of Langley Avenue, Victor Avenue, and Simpson Avenue across to Carlaw. The circumstances surrounding this development are unclear, but the branch of Heward Creek/Holly Brook which ran diagonally through the lot stopped appearing on Toronto maps around this time according to Lost Rivers Toronto. Leslieville Creek, which ran through Smith Street, was also potentially buried in the 1910s.

In 1922, Riverdale Avenue was finally extended into the remaining Harris Estate east of Carlaw. The property was subdivided into lots under Plan 587E; some of it became the yard for Pape Avenue School. It was also one of the few remaining tracts left in Riverdale as most of the district by then had been subdivided and redeveloped. Growth in North Riverdale was aided by the opening of The Prince Edward Viaduct in 1918.

The extension was instrumental in Toronto’s transit expansion: it provided a key east-west link for a streetcar line on Pape and Carlaw in an growing, under-served part of the city. Langley Avenue was considered in the role in during World War I, but the idea was rejected by residents as it passed by the school; it even got as far as putting up trolley poles before the plan was nixed. The Globe reported in December 1922 that even with the line, development had yet to come to street. Even though water and sewer lines were passed on the street, there were no sidewalks and only pavement for the tracks. In effect, the corridor was a streetcar right of way. This sparse development would be rectified in short time as the 1924 Goad’s Map shows a very built-on Riverdale Avenue.

The tram line was eventually absorbed into the Harbord car and followed a winding route through Toronto’s west, central, and east areas. The line closed in 1966 and its tracks were removed. Finally, Riverdale Avenue was completed with the disconnected section of Smith Street from Pape to Kiswick being absorbed by and renamed to Riverdale around 1926. Ahead of its renaming, The Daily Star provided some funny commentary.

Toronto Daily Star, April 28, 1924. Source: Toronto Star Archives

The Three Riverdale Avenues

Today, Riverdale Avenue can be thought of in three sections based on their histories and geographies: Broadview-Carlaw, Carlaw-Pape, and Pape-Kiswick. Each have distinct visual differences and vibes which point to their layered development.

The western and oldest part of the street between Broadview and Carlaw is narrow, accommodating only eastbound, local traffic. Trees hang over the road in several spots making for a quaint stroll. It boasts houses mostly dating from the 1880s to the 1910s with oldest homes located on its north side near Broadview — the old Lot 14 — including two heritage homes: 1885 William Jefferies House and 1890-91 John Vick House. The south side between Logan and Carlaw as the ‘youngest’ with mostly 1910s constructions.

Riverdale between Carlaw and Pape makes up the avenue’s ‘newest’ and busiest section. The houses lining the street are semi-detached bungalows built in the 1920s. Whereas Broadview-Carlaw is a local road, this central section is more of a through street with four lanes at its widest to accommodate parking, heavier traffic, and public transit, such as the Pape bus and its predecessor Harbord streetcar. Travellers coming from Broadview or Logan might note how Riverdale ‘opens up’ at Carlaw with its larger road surface and fewer trees. They would also see how this middle section is slightly misaligned with the rest of the avenue because of its width.

Finally, from Pape to Kiswick, the street mixes the qualities of the other two sections. It offers two-way traffic like the Carlaw-Pape section to the west, but is narrow like Broadview to Carlaw. The residences themselves are mostly Edwardian detached and semi-detached homes from the 1910s and 1920s, offering a middle ground in age in the three sections.

Works Consulted

“The Harbord Streetcar (Deceased)” Transit Toronto. https://transittoronto.ca/streetcar/4118.shtml.

Heritage Property Research and Evaluation Report – Toronto. https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2015/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-80237.pdf.

Leslieville Historical Society. “19th Century East End Villages: Donmount, Riverside, Leslieville, Norway.” Leslieville Historical Society, 13 Nov. 2017, https://leslievillehistory.com/2017/11/13/19th-century-east-end-villages-donmount-riverside-leslieville-norway/.

Lost Rivers of Toronto Map, https://www.lostrivers.ca/disappearing.html.

Marshall, Sean. “Hallam Street and the Harbord Streetcar.” Sean Marshall, 4 Feb. 2017, https://seanmarshall.ca/2017/02/03/hallam-street-and-the-harbord-streetcar/.

Muir, Elizabeth Gillan. Riverdale: East of the Don. Dundurn, 2014.

“Riverdale Heritage Conservation District Plan Phase 1.” Toronto. https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2008/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-14121.pdf.

ward14bikes. “Lost Rivers of East Toronto Mark Possible Canals on the Port Lands; Connect the City to the Lake.” Ward 14 Bikes, 8 Dec. 2019, https://ward14bikes.home.blog/2015/04/14/lost-rivers-of-east-toronto-mark-possible-canals-on-the-port-lands-connect-the-city-to-the-lake/.

Wilson, John. “The Lost Rivers Project: The Case of Holly Brook” Geohistory-Géohistoire Canada, 20 Mar. 2017, http://geohist.ca/2017/03/lost-rivers-holly-brook/.

Scenes From 1965

Lately, I’ve been using the City of Toronto Archives’ collection of aerial photographs to supplement my blog posts. I think they are an excellent way to unpack a story and show the physical changes in Toronto’s built environment. I have become quite fond of the 1965 aerials in particular, because beyond how pivotal a year 1965 was for Toronto, the images themselves are very crisp and great to look at.

While the whole city is interesting to look at, the east end and Leslieville have a certain fascination to me in particular. In 1965, the area was still very much a factory town.

All photos courtesy of the City of Toronto Archives

Consumers Gas 1965 — Consumers Gas Station B

Carlaw Logan 1965 — Carlaw Avenue & Logan Avenue

Dunlop Tires and Riverdale Station 1965 — Dunlop Tires (now the site of Jimmy Simpson Park) & Riverdale Station

The archives’ aerial photographs are also neat in that sometimes they include markings or writings on them. I’ve seen streets and buildings labelled, and also planned subdivisions and street extensions. The 1965 aerials take this a bit further in drawing out two possible routes of the Scarborough Expressway, which began planning in 1957 and was scrapped in 1974.

Leslieville East — The route on the right was approved in 1968, but never built. I’m not sure if the left path was ever in serious consideration because while both involve serious neighbourhood destruction, the western route is much more dramatic in terms of expropriation.

Scarborough Expressway 1 — From Lake Shore & Leslie, the two routes curve on either side of the sewage treatment plant, west of Greenwood Racetrack.

Scarborough Expressway 2 — Both routes have parclos at Dundas. The western route runs over Ashdale and Craven (although much more than these streets would have suffered), while the eastern runs over the Small’s Pond (buried) and Creek east of Coxwell

Scarborough Expressway 3 — North of Upper & Lower Gerrards, the paths seemingly have mini-routes within them (this might be scribbles too). They converge at the CNR tracks.

Scarborough Expressway 4 — The routes parclo at Woodbine and run over the CNR right of way into Scarborough, meeting at Kingston Road and then the 401.

Other east end locales of note:

Greenwood Subway Yard, opened in 1965. Previously a brickyard and then a garbage dump.

Monarch Park. The last brickyard along Greenwood Avenue closed here in the 1950s.

St. John's Norway Cemetery — St. John’s Norway Cemetery

Useful Links

Get Toronto Moving – “Scarborough Expressway (Gardiner Expressway Extension)”

Mark Osbaldeston – Unbuilt Toronto 2: More of the City that Might Have Been (Ebook)

Transit Toronto – “Expressways of Toronto (Built and Unbuilt)” by Sean Marshall

Scenes From Carlaw Avenue

Deep in Leslieville lies Carlaw Avenue, a historic manufacturing street in Toronto that fell victim to and adapted with changing times.

Series 372, Subseries 58 - Road and street condition photographs — Carlaw Avenue looking north from Natalie Avenue (now Colgate)

Perhaps the fitness studios and shiny condominiums might mislead otherwise, but Carlaw still has the remnants of a onetime working class neighbourhood. At one time factories lined the avenue from Queen to just north of Gerrard. During World War I and II, they were used to produced munitions (as a now defunct Carlaw bus route serving Sunday workers suggests).

But much like the situation with other areas in the city (The Waterfront and Liberty Village, as examples), companies began to fold their operations as it no longer became viable to run in the middle of an urban centre. The results were transformational for the street. With buildings stripped of their original use, they became anomalies in their increasingly residential surroundings. Their fates fell into one of two holes: re-purposing or demolition. Carlaw seems to have employed both.

Beginning just north of Queen on the east side is the former enterprise of Kent McLain. According to the 1910 City of Toronto Directories, Mr McLain was in the business of showcase manufacturing at 181-199 Carlaw Avenue.

Second tall building on the right side of the street — The McLain Building is the 2nd Building on the Right Side

Where the street intersects with Colgate is the site of the Colgate-Palmolive Plant, now demolished. Currently the frame of a new condo is going up.

Palmolive-Colgate Factory — Credit: Urban Toronto.

Across the street, there are two former factories that have been adapted. At 201 Carlaw is the long exterior of the Rolph Clark Stone Limited Building, built in 1913, now with a tower jutting up the middle of it . Up further on the east side of the street is the old Wrigleys Gum plant, placed at 235 Carlaw. Both establishments are now converted lofts, although old monikers still remain above the doors to remind us of their histories.

Wrigleys Factory Boston Entrance
On the west side of street is the former home of the Phillips Manufacturing Factory (address 258-326), now a long brown bricked strip of various new commercial endeavours including a kickboxing club and a yoga establishment.

At Carlaw and Dundas several recently completed and recently started condo projects as well as street signs enticing passerbyers to invest.

Just south of Gerrard is the grand Toronto Hydro Electric Station. At one time the rounded corner sported a store front, no doubt educating people about the wonder of electric powered appliances in the 20th century. Built in 1916, the station is a heritage property for the City of Toronto.

It is not an industrial site (although early factories relied on the railroad), but the cross-section at Carlaw and Gerrard is an interesting focal point as well. At one time, the large open section of Gerrard underneath the railroad did not exist, forcing the street to dip down and around at Carlaw before resuming a regular east-west route. The subway was constructed in the 1930s to straighten the street up. The former route still exists as a narrow residential branch of Gerrard running in northeast-southwest direction , although it stops just short of the main road.

Finally, situated at the northeast corner of the intersection is the Riverdale Shopping Centre, a No Frills-anchored strip mall caught in the shadow of its much larger Gerrard Square neighbour. The presence of this site hides that at one time a series of buildings belonging to the International Varnish Company made their home here.