The Brooke’s Bush Gang & Other 19th Century Criminal Gangs in Toronto

Note: This article is an addition to an earlier two-part article about the Brook’s/Brooke’s Bush Gang. You may read those here and here.

Introduction

From about 1855 to 1862, the dangerous, disorderly desperadoes of the Brooke’s Bush Gang terrorized Toronto. Headquartered in a wooded area and shanty on the east side of the Don River, the group made their mark assaulting and robbing travellers along Kingston Road near the river. Their actions culminated in the murder of Ontario politician John Sheridan Hogan on the Don Bridge and led to the trial and execution of one the gang members.

The Brooke’s Bush Gang provides an interesting window into the criminal history of Victorian Toronto. In particular, it speaks to some of the early workings of organized crime. However, the group was not the only criminal collective in the period and area. Two other groups existed in the decades before and after the Brooke’s Bush Gang — that is, the 1840s and 1860s. These were the Markham Gang and the Ridout’s Bush Gang, respectively. The groups resemble and differ from one another in the level of sophistication of their operations and information available about them.

The Markham Gang

The Markham Gang was formed by 1841 and, like the Brooke’s Bush Gang, enjoyed a relatively short existence which was ended by several high-profile trials involving violent crimes. As the name suggests, the group focused their activities to the north and east of Toronto. Its origins have been linked to the 1837 Rebellions.

The membership and function of the Markham Gang were an interesting subject. Gang members were young, often related to each other (in prominent local families) or neighbours. Unlike the Brooke’s Bush Gang, which seemed to be more of an amorphous group of desperadoes and unfortunates, the Markham group was comprised of rich, well-to-do men — which made their tendencies toward burglary more curious. Members were sworn to secrecy by oath to protect each other. The Markham Gang also operated in a very distinct way to its later counterpart. First, the group was quite sophisticatedly organized with leaders and prominent members. The gang posed as ‘avant couriers’ who would conduct reconnaissance on their future victims — noting where money was located in houses and their occupants’ activities.

There are two defining events in the history and end of the Markham Gang: (1) the robbery and assault of John Morrow and family and (2) the murder of William McPhillips.

The first case occurred in the Morrow home on the night of November 7, 1845. This was the year the gang gained the most notoriety and began to be reported on almost regularly by The British Colonist. The Morrow household was located in Reach Township, near the hamlet of Jockey Hill (now Epsom) halfway between Uxbridge and Port Perry. Just after midnight, Hiram and James Stoutenborough, Nathan Case, and Robert Burr violently entered the home and began wielding clubs while demanding money (the Morrows had sold some livestock earlier that day). John Morrow was repeatedly beaten and left badly injured.

In the subsequent arrest and two trials (Burr was charged separately from the others as a ringleader), all were found guilty and sentenced to hang. These were commuted to life sentences at Kingston Penitentiary, but they were released and pardoned by 1853, long after the gang ceased operations.

In the second, the William McPhillips killing occurred in Logan’s General Store in Markham on November 20, 1846. It was deduced that someone entered the store and struck McPhillips viciously on the head while he was working. Among the identified culprits were Stephen Turney who was arrested and tried successfully for murder. He was hanged in June 1847 in Toronto.

Other criminal activities took place in Whitby, Vaughan, Pickering, Sharon, and other nearby localities. Although the methods differed, much like the Brooke’s Bush Gang, they were often larceny involving money, watches, grain, and livestock. From 1845 to 1846, other members of the gang were arrested and tried for varying crimes to varying results. The end of the gang was likely spelled by several members being dead or, if still alive, mostly jailed, eventually returning to society and distancing themselves from their criminal pasts after their served terms.

The Ridout’s Bush Gang

The first mention of Ridout’s Bush was in June of 1859 when members of the Brooke’s Bush Gang were found in another ‘bush’. A group of “unfortunates” consisting of Maria Reid, Mary Sheppard, Catherine O’Brien, Harriet LeGrasse, Mary Martin, and Ellen McDonald were “charged with conducting themselves in a disorderly manner in the bush in the rear of Mr. Ridout’s residence, head of Sherbourne Street”.

The events had Sergeant Major Cummings receiving word of what was happening behind Ridout’s home and proceeding to the area with a posse of constables to apprehend the girls. In court, one of the captured girls, Reid, defended that she was just “out for a walk for the good of her health” when they saw some boys catching birds. What followed was a humourous exchange with laughter in the courtroom in which Sergeant Cummings asserted to the Magistrate the girls were “notoriously bad characters.” Reid replied how can they be bad characters if they are in gaol all the time where they can’t have any mischief. The episode ended with a sentence of one month gaol (although the Magistrate added that it probably wouldn’t help) and the prisoners left “laughing and jeering”.

John Ross Robertson noted in 1894 in an anecdote about another “historical sketch” that “Ridout’s Bush” was now Sherbourne Street. The naming of the street and the bush both relate to the Ridout family, who from 1818 owned Park Lot 4 — consisting of the modern borders of Sherbourne Street to Ontario Street and Queen Street to Bloor Street. The lot seems to have been subdivided into thirds with different Ridout members holding ownership at different times. The 1858 Boulton Altas of the area indicates two marked Ridout houses (to a T.G. Ridout and J. Ridout) and a third at the head of Sherbourne which may refer to the house in the 1859 episode with the Brooke’s Bush Gang. The area from Sherbourne to Bleecker Street, north of Carlton Street (which corresponds to the western third) is illustrated in a grassy motif. In 1845, Thomas Gobbs Ridout donated a 30-foot wide strip of land which straddled his property and the adjacent property to the west. It was initially called Allan’s Lane (William Allan was the adjacent owner) and, by request from Ridout to honour his family’s birthplace, was changed to Sherborne (without the ‘u’). Allan’s Lane was a grassy road with a wagon trail in the middle and straddled the pasture to the west and the bush to the east.

The next time Ridout’s Bush seems to appear as a locale for disorderlies was in May 1862. It was noted in The Globe that following the final Hogan trial and execution of James Browne in March, the Police disbanded the Brooke’s Bush Gang. “Depredations” in the city had been reduced since then. Some persons, including some formerly belonging to the gang, began to gather in Ridout’s Bush, and like in their former hangout, began to behave “in a very unbecoming manner”. A posse of constables visited the bush and apprehended Catherine Dunn, John Wiley, and Edward Finagan, charging them with disorderly conduct. In a subsequent court appearance, the women were charged with 30 days in gaol and the men were discharged.

The Ridout’s Bush Gang’s antics seemed to continue into the next years, although references were sparse in the historical records. In May 1863, police arrested members in the bush in connection to a robbery near the Blind Tollgate at Bloor Street and Dundas Street. A woman approached a travelling victim and invited him back to the bush with her, at which point he was surrounded and “requested money” to buy a drink. He attested he had little money and was subsequently attacked and robbed of his coat which had seventy-five sovereigns (British pound sterling). There was no direct mention of the idea at the time, but the action resembled the tendencies of the Brooke’s Bush Gang.

Commenting on the episode, The Globe did warn:

“This gang is becoming quite notorious, and if it be not soon completely broken up and dispersed, will, in all likelihood, finish its career by some scheme of villainy equal to that of the late Brooke’s Bush party.”
The Globe, June 1, 1863

In July of the year, two men and four women were arrested for robbing hen roosts and disorderly conduct; one man was fined and the others sent to gaol for a month. In September 1864, police stopped “a band of ne’er-do-well’s” who “were holding high carnival at Ridout’s Bush, near Sherbourne street.” They found seven persons in “the midst of the riotous mirth” and “their conduct was disgraceful in the extreme”. Four women and three men were arrested and sentenced to hard labour in gaol.

The Ridout’s Bush Gang seem to disappear in the historical records after the fall of 1864. Their activities while akin to the Brooke’s Bush Gang did not seem to reach the level of notoriety of the more eastern-situated group. Also, the Ridout’s Bush Gang, unlike the Markham Gang and the Brooke’s Bush Gang, did not have a high profile trial pertaining to a violent crime which led to their end. While no record points to any possibilities towards their disbandment, it may be that the group quietly ceased their mischief.

The similar activities and timeframe between the Brooke’s and Ridout’s Bush Gangs, as well as the possibility that one gang was an offshoot of the other, led to some subsequent reporting that may have confused the two. In 1920, a Colonel Grassett, born 1847, recalled in The Globe that “Ridout’s Bush, above College Street” was a “pleasant place” for young persons “in long ago summers”. He did, however, distinguish it from “the black pine woods east of Sherbourne Street”, which were to be avoided. Grassett noted there were a lot of robbers and people in them. He also recounted how the gang murdered Mr. Hogan, although he seemed to have them confused with the Brooke’s Bush Gang. It seems like The Globe may have also made the mix-up as well when they reported that “trinkets and valuables” from the Brooke’s Bush Gang were found while tearing down a home at the corner of Carlton Street and Homewood Avenue in 1924; the site was written to be the shanty headquarters of the gang. The house was located on the sizeable lot of former Homewood Estate, which was located on the west side of Sherbourne Street opposite Ridout’s Bush and may explain its association with the latter gang.

Conclusion

The Markham Gang, Brooke’s Bush Gang, and Ridout’s Bush Gang paint a very interesting picture of organized crime in and around Toronto in the mid-19th century. While the nature of the crimes between the three groups were quite similar, their execution, scale, and frequency differed. The first group was a complex and layered gang with pre-meditated crimes and secret oaths. The second was an amorphous collection of individuals with a great frequency of thefts and assault. The third gang had the least presence of the three. Both the Markham and Brooke’s Bush Gangs were associated with significant violent crimes. The Brooke’s and Ridout’s Bush Gangs operated in similar fashions and may have been tied together. All three seemed to have a short existence of less than ten years, but their stories are notable aspects in local history.

Works Consulted

2 Wellesley Place. City of Toronto. (n.d.). https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/en/oha/details/file?id=1893

Another landmark in danger. (1924, April 19). The Globe, p. 14.

Arculus, P. (2003). Mayhem to murder: The history of the markham gang, organized crime in canada west during the 1840’s. Observer Publishing of Port Perry.

City news. (1862a, May 21). The Globe, p. 2.

City news. (1862b, May 22). The Globe, p. 2.

City news. (1863, June 1). The Globe, p. 2.

City police. (1859, June 22). The Globe, p. 3.

EGPLadmin. (2021, July 26). Stephen Turney: Murderer and member of the Markham Gang. EGPL Blog. https://www.egplblog.com/post/stephen-turney-murderer-and-member-of-the-markham-gang

Henderson, E. (1930). Bloor Street, Toronto, and the Village of Yorkville in 1849. Papers & Records (Later Ontario History), Volume 26, 445–456.

Moss Park home of William Allan. (n.d.). http://www.lostrivers.ca/content/points/mosspark.html

Old-time crooks often gentlemen, muses ex-chief. (1930, June 18). The Globe, p. 13.

Robertson, J. R. (1894). Robertson’s landmarks of Toronto: A collection of historical sketches of the Old Town of york from 1792 until 1833, and of Toronto from 1834 to 1908. J.R. Robertson.

Smith, W. (n.d.). The Toronto Park Lot Project. The Toronto Park Lot Project by Wendy Smith. https://parklotproject.com/

Thornburn, M. (1956, June 23). Mud road in 1800’s now a 5th avenue. The Globe and Mail, p. 25.

Toronto : J.H. Beers & co. (1970, January 1). Commemorative biographical record of the County of York, ontario : Containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and many of the early settled families. – : J.H. Beers & Co . Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/recordcountyyork00beeruoft

Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, June 4). Markham gang. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markham_Gang

‘Sports of All Sorts’: A Quick History of Sporting East of The Don River

In the lost geography of Toronto’s sports history, there are notable sites that have disappeared from the city’s streets. On the east side of the Don River in particular, a group of sites representing three sports — baseball, cricket, and shooting — tell an intriguing tale of late 19th-century and 20th-century sporting in the city.

The Toronto Base Ball Club & Sunlight Park

Baseball in Toronto has a history dating back to at least 1859, when the “Canadian Pioneer Base Ball Club” was organized. The group practiced every Monday on the University of Toronto grounds. In the fall of 1885, the Toronto Baseball Club, previously playing out of the Jarvis Street Lacrosse Grounds on Wellesley Street, sought a wider and larger playing field. They settled on a site east of the Don River.

Despite the size and potential of the new field, The Globe questioned the idea:

“But there are surely other considerations besides merely preventing an occasional ball from going over the fence involved in the matter. Certainly if people living in the north-western and western parts of the city have to lose half a day two of three times a week in order to see baseball amtches, there were be a considerable dimuntion in the gate receipts next season.”
The Globe, October 26, 1885

But sure enough, the newspaper reported the next month that:

“One of Mr. John Smith’s fields, between Queen Street and Eastern Avenue, has been leased to the East Toronto Cricket Club; and an eight acre field adjoining it has been leased to the Toronto Baseball Blub for a term of ten years. The trees are being taken down, and other preparations being made for next season’s work. This ground will have carriage entrance on Queen-street.”
The Globe November 19, 1885

John Smith was a descendant of an original pioneer of the town of York, William Smith Sr. The Smiths owned 200-acres from the Don River to about today’s Broadview Avenue (Lot 15) and the adjacent 200-acre lot east of Broadview (Lot 14). Leslieville historian Joanne Doucette noted the southern end of the lot was ideal for the elder Smith as it “was an excellent location for his favourite sport, hunting, with easy access to Ashbridge’s Bay, a stop over point for many thousands of migrating waterfowl…” The Smiths also leased some land near the bay to Gooderham and Worts in 1866 for their cattle sheds.

On May 22, 1886, The Toronto Baseball Grounds hosted its Grand Opening – a 3 o’clock contest between Rochester and Toronto. A Grand Stand was located south of Queen Street and the grounds themselves were flanked on the west by Base Ball Place (originally Pioneer Avenue) and Scadding Avenue (named for another early pioneer, John Scadding, and later renamed Broadview Avenue) on the east.

Historian Adam Bunch writes the 1887 season was quite a successful one at the park: The Toronto Baseball Club, also known as the Toronto Canucks, playing out of the International League (a minor league that exists today), won the pennant that year. The team was renamed the Toronto Maple Leafs (before the existence of the famed ice hockey club of today) and played in the park until 1896, briefly transferring to Albany for part of the season before returning to play at Hanlan’s Point.

The Toronto Baseball Grounds were renamed Sunlight Park around the turn of the century. The event was precipitated by the construction of the Lever Bros Sunlight Soap Factory located just across Eastern Avenue. The park continued to host baseball matches, such as the Commercial League in 1901, a league seemingly for company teams. It hosted military bands and the circus also came to town! A large, five-foot snake was found following the exhibition and was killed by a resident. Sunlight finally closed in 1913, but still remains a storied part of baseball history in Toronto.

The East Toronto Cricket Club & Grounds

Cricket in Toronto has a history dating back to the early 19th century with troops at Fort York playing the sport and later in the 1820s with friendly matches at the Home District Grammar School (Jarvis Collegiate Institute is partly descended from the school).

In 1885, a Dominion Day match was played between the Guelph Cricket Club and the East Toronto Cricket Club (C.C.), on the “new” grounds of the latter on Eastern Avenue. The home team lost the contest and The Globe reported “the day was all that could be desired, and the wicket played well; but the outfield has not yet been got into shape”. It was a successful season despite the easterners not having a field to practice on to start it. They went 12-7-1.

The locations of these grounds are slightly unclear but most likely were on the south side of Eastern Avenue. The lands looked to have been part of the George Leslie property. The East Toronto C.C. began playing on their new Eastern Avenue field in July 1885, but the report in November of that year referenced above stated that John Smith leased fields to the cricket club and the Toronto Baseball Club. The City Directories first listed “Cricket Grounds” on Eastern in 1887 on its south side between the Grand Trunk Railway on the west and Vacant Lots and Blong Street (today’s Booth Avenue) on the east. “Base Ball Grounds, s e” also first appeared in the 1887 Directory on the north side of Eastern Avenue between the Don Bridge and Broadview Avenue. Moreover, the 1893 Bird’s Eye View in the header of this article seems to depict some sporting activity, perhaps baseball or cricket. It is possible that the club used both locales as athletic fields of the day did not seem to be purpose built to one sport.

The East Toronto Cricket Club, headquartered at 272 Sherbourne Street, was quite a successful endeavour. It was described in the 1894 season as “the most enterprising of the city cricketing organizations”. That year, it was reported 190 wickets for 615 runs at an average of 3.39. The City Directories cease to list cricket grounds on Eastern Avenue by 1890, although the East Toronto Cricket Club played into at least the first decade of the 20th century.

Stark’s Athletic and Shooting Grounds & Toronto’s Gun Clubs

Beginning in the late 1870s, Charles Stark operated a shop on Church Street near King Street which sold watches and firearms. Stark made quite a healthy living from it too — he was a major salesperson of guns who operated a catalogue that pre-dated and even dwarfed Eaton’s efforts in the early going. Stark also changed the use of and attitudes towards guns, particularly in urging men “to buy firearms for activities like recreational sport hunting or competitive target shooting.”

By the late 1880s, references to Stark’s Athletic and Shooting Grounds began to appear in city directories and news stories. As the name suggests, the site served a multiple purposes: general sport and the sport of firearms. In 1888, several amateur baseball teams received on offer to play at Stark’s Grounds. The Toronto Amateur League seemed to play at least some of its games on the grounds: in 1890, it was reported that a day’s games were to be played on the Toronto Base Ball grounds instead of Stark’s.

The latter shooting purpose is summarized well with a competition in February 1889:

“Tomorrow will be an interesting day to sportsmen. At Stark’s shooting grounds, Eastern Avenue, will be held two big sweepstake matches at blackbirds. Starting at eleven o’clock there will be a sweepstake shoot. Entrance fee, $5, in which $1000 is guaranteed in prizes by Mr. Stark.”
The Globe, February 1, 1889

Stark’s Athletic Grounds also hosted other shooting events in the 1890s, such as the McDowell gun competition and shoots by the Toronto Gun Club. The space also was called the “Charles Stark Company Grounds” and the “Eastern Avenue Shooting Grounds”.

Stark’s Grounds were partly described in an odd episode in February 1891. The Globe reported that mounted policeman was shot by someone on the grounds. The report turned out to be false as:

“…The shooting lodge, they point out, is placed at the lower part of a twelve acre field and the shooting is done over the marsh. Even if the shot had been fired directly towards the street, the distance of 500 yards would have to be covered, and no shot gun will carry shot beyond 150 yards, and even that is only a rare occurrence.”
The Globe, February 24, 1891

This description likely confirms the location of the Stark grounds on the south side of Eastern Avenue facing Ashbridge’s Marsh, which was, as noted above, a place where migratory and native birds could be found. The City Directories begin to list “Stark’s Athletic and Shooting Grounds” in 1890 and place it on the south side of the street between the Grand Trunk Railway and Blong Avenue (today’s Booth Avenue). It replaced the entry for the East Toronto Cricket Grounds. In November 1900, the Stanley Gun Club held their annual pigeon match on the “old Stark Athletic Grounds” at Booth Avenue and Eastern Avenue (the club also had a nearby clubhouse and Morse and Eastern, possibly at Ayre’s Hotel).

Charles Stark died in 1899 and related on not, references to Stark’s Athletic Grounds ceased in the early 1900s, but other clubs and grounds seemed to occupy a similar locale. in November 1901, the Stanley Gun Club held a shoot at the “Gooderham athletic field” at Booth and Eastern. As noted, the Gooderham Cattle Sheds were adjacent. In 1907, the club had a shoot at the ‘Stanley grounds’ at the corner of the Grand Trunk crossing and Eastern Avenue. In the 1910s, the club was playing at the foot of Saulter Street on Ashbridges Bay. In 1920, the Past time Gun Club had a shoot at the foot of Booth Avenue.

The 1920s were the last hurrah for bird shooting in Toronto. The Globe reported in May 1929 that a by-law was set to be introduced preventing the firing of guns within the city, except at gun clubs and license shooting galleries. By this time Ashbridge’s Bay had been filled in and the area had become a “thriving industrial area”. The area of Eastern Avenue and Booth Avenue in particular had been occupied by the Consumers Gas Co.’s “B” complex beginning in 1904.

View off Gas tank, Booth Ave., Eastern Ave., Toronto, Ont, 1919.
Source: Library & Archives Canada

Sources Consulted

“Ashbridge’s Bay Is Out of Bounds.” The Globe, 3 May 1929, p. 16.

“Ball Park on Mainland in ’25: Commence Work in Few Weeks.” The Globe, 26 July 1924, p. 12.

“Base Ball.” The Globe, 9 Aug. 1859, p. 2.

“Baseball.” The Globe, 10 Apr. 1888, p. 2.

“Baseball.” The Globe, 19 July 1890, p. 18.

Brown, R. “The Largest Stock of Guns in Canada: Charles Stark and Firearm Retailing in Late-Nineteenth-Century Toronto – Ontario History.” Érudit, The Ontario Historical Society, 11 Apr. 2022, https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/onhistory/2022-v114-n1-onhistory06907/1088106ar/abstract/.

Bunch, Adam. “An Illustrated History of Baseball in Toronto.” Spacing Toronto, 16 Apr. 2015, http://spacing.ca/toronto/2015/04/14/illustrated-history-baseball-toronto/.

Bunch, Adam. “Toronto’s First Great Baseball Team – the Old-Timey Toronto Baseball Club of 1887.” Spacing Toronto, 2 Apr. 2013, http://spacing.ca/toronto/2013/04/02/torontos-first-great-baseball-team-the-old-timey-toronto-baseball-club-of-1887/.

“Commercial League Final.” The Globe, 24 Aug. 1901, p. 25.

“Cricinfo – Canada.” Cricinfo.com, http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/NATIONAL/ICC_MEMBERS/CAN/CCA_HISTORY_11SEP1997.html.

“Cricket.” The Globe, 2 July 1885, p. 8.

“Cricket: East Toronto’s Fine Record.” The Globe, 8 Dec. 1894, p. 18.

“Cricket: Gooderham & Worts’ Victory.” The Globe, 28 July 1890, p. 3.

“The Dog Nuisance in Toronto.” The Globe, 7 Sept. 1886, p. 4.

“Down in Ashbridge’s Marsh.” The Globe, 3 Sept. 1904, p. 10.

“An Expanding Concern: Report of Consumers Gas Company for the Year.” The Globe, 31 Oct. 1904, p. 12.

“Firearms.” The Globe, 25 Apr. 1882, p. 8.

“Football: The Leagues Open To-Day.” The Globe, 27 Apr. 1901, p. 30.

“The GunThe Globe.” The Globe, 26 Mar. 1887, p. 16.

“Large Snake in East End.” The Globe, 11 Oct. 1907, p. 12.

“List of Baseball Parks in Toronto.” Wikiwand, https://www.wikiwand.com/en/List_of_baseball_parks_in_Toronto.

MacCallum, Peter. “From Sunlight Park to East Harbour, Part 2 of 2.” Spacing Toronto, 26 Mar. 2022, http://spacing.ca/toronto/2022/03/28/from-sunlight-park-to-east-harbour-part-2-of-2/.

“Miscellaneous.” The Globe, 30 July 1890, p. 6.

“Notes.” The Globe, 26 Oct. 1885, p. 8.

“Observations.” The Globe, 11 Aug. 1888.

“Shooting For The Dinner.” The Globe, 19 Dec. 1887.

“Shooting on Stark’s Grounds.” The Globe, 24 Feb. 1891, p. 8.

“Sporting Intelligence.” The Globe, 20 Oct. 1885, p. 8.

“Sporting Intelligence: Cricket.” The Globe, 4 July 1885, p. 12.

“Sporting Notes.” The Globe, 28 May 1887, p. 3.

“Sports of All Sorts.” Sports Of All Sorts, 28 Jan. 1893, p. 16.

“Sports Of All Sorts.” The Globe, 16 Nov. 1901, p. 25.

“Sports of All Sorts.” The Globe, 1892 Sept. 3n.d., p. 3.

“Sports of All Sorts.” The Globe, 22 May 1907, p. 9.

“Sports Of All Sorts.” The Globe, 30 Apr. 1892, p. 17.

“Sports of All Sorts: Hamilton Gunners Coming.” The Globe, 9 Feb. 1906, p. 10.

“The Stanley Shoot To-Day.” The Globe, 23 Nov. 1900, p. 8.

“Stanley’s Will Shoot To-Day.” The Globe, 1 Jan. 1915, p. 12.

“This Is Circus Day: The Greatest Show in the World Is Now in Toronto.” The Globe, 10 Aug. 1906, p. 7.

“Toronto Baseball Grounds: Queen-St, East of Don Bridge: Grand Opening.’” The Globe, 1886 May 2n.d., p. 2.

“Toronto East: Humours, Gossip and Actualities Which Interest The People East Of The Don.” The Globe, 19 Nov. 1885, p. 2.

“The Trigger.” The Globe, 10 May 1888, p. 3.

“The Trigger.” The Globe, 30 Mar. 1892, p. 6.

“The Trigger: At Bluerocks and Sparrows.” The Globe, 23 Apr. 1897, p. 14.

“The Trigger: At Stark’s On Saturday .” The Globe, 7 Mar. 1892, p. 6.

“The Trigger: Great Shooters Coming.” The Globe, 18 Jan. 1907, p. 9.

“The Trigger: Stanley Gun Club Shoots.” The Globe, 18 Mar. 1901, p. 10.

“The Trigger: Stark’s Sweepstakes.” The Globe, 1 Feb. 1889, p. 3.

“Twenty-Five Shooters At Balmy Beach Traps.” The Globe, 13 Apr. 1920, p. 15.

“Watched and Firearms.” The Globe, 21 Dec. 1880, p. 5.

Wencer, David. “Historicist: Wicket Little Town.” Torontoist, 16 July 2016, https://torontoist.com/2016/07/historicist-wicket-little-town/.

“‘Military Tattoo by Boys.’” The Globe, 6 July 1901, p. 24.

Scenes From Deerlick Creek

Deerlick Creek is located in the post-war Parkwoods-Donalda neighbourhood of North York. The stream runs roughly 3 kilometres from its northern point its mouth at the Don River, making it a tributary to the larger river and part of its watershed. Deerlick Creek passes through a couple of parks — Brookbanks Park and Lynedock Park — and crosses several streets. It is an interesting stroll through nature and suburbia, and through the layers of pre-contact, colonial, and post-war Toronto.

Deerlick Creek was given its name in the 19th century (as early as 1841) by farmers of the area, when deer and salmon could be found in the ravine. Unlike other colonial-era waterways in Toronto, there does not appear to have been mills or industry built on the stream, which suggests it was not a forceful current.

The current headwaters of the creek are in Lynedock Park, a locale which also has a middle school. The neighbourhood north of York Mills Road around the creek dates mostly from the early 1960s and is dotted with mostly post-war bungalows.

Deerlick Creek and community, north of York Mills Road, 1992.
Source: City of Toronto Archives

Curiously, these houses were not the first to be built here. In the 1950s, there were at least six houses built before the current neighborhood. Driveways curled up from York Mills Road, branching off to the houses. Deerlick Creek ran in the middle of them. In 1965, most of the houses were integrated in the neighbourhood. Beginning in the 1970s, more of the houses were razed for other homes and apartment buildings. Possibly two houses remain today — one house for certain and a potentially altered house. Both homes are identifiable through through their odd orientations compared to the street. Their garages face away from the street, pointing to the repositioning of their driveways, as well as a front door placed to the side in one.

Deerlick Creek and community, north of York Mills Road, 1956 & 1965.
Source: City of Toronto Archives

Deerlick Creek was channelized and straightened beginning around 1960 when the neighbourhood was under construction. At its most northern point, the stream disappears into a culvert at Roywood Drive. A footbridge connects the park and schoolyard to the neighboorhood. There are improvements happening along the creek to combat area basement flooding.

Deerlick Creek ventures south under Lynedock Crescent. It is not clear how wide and powerful it might have been historically, but today, it is a narrow, shallow, and murky-looking waterway. Then, it disappears briefly under York Mills Drive.

On the other side, the ravine is part of Brookbanks Park. Deerlick Creek snakes around the park with paved and unpaved paths on either side of it and bridges crossing the creek. The stream is narrow here too and not fast flowing. Evidence of erosion is visible with some retaining walls. While a ‘wild’ element remains on a small level, sections have likely been straightened

Brookbanks Park is the physical heart of the Parkwoods-Donalda neighbourhood. It has multiple entry points and is a well used and valuable greenspace for the surrounding community. This interconnectedness is also present when one looks up from the ravine to see the backs of houses. The neighbourhood was built beginning in the 1960s. A by-product of the development was a lot of of the tree canopy in the ravine was lost. One would think its bio-diversity was also negatively impacted too.

Deerlick Creek and community, south of York Mills Road, 1956 & 1965.
Source: City of Toronto Archives

Deerlick Creek passes under Brookbanks Drive. Like its similarly named park, the street also slinks through the neighbourhood. There is a great vista of the Brookbanks Ravine on the south side of the street which highlights its contours and the tree canopy.

Interestingly, this area has some tangible pre-contact history. Dr. Mima Kapches conducted digs in Deerlick Creek ravine in the 1980s and 1990s. The digs resulted in the discovery of a Meadowood cache blade from 1000 BCE and a small pebble containing a human face in effigy believed to be from 4700 BCE. Jason-Ramsey Brown writes that the discoveries have some archeologists believing the area of Deerlick Creek may have a season pottery production and firing campsite.

In the 1970s, the Toronto Field Naturalists surveyed Brookbanks Ravine and Deerlick Creek and noted 105 species of birds and 167 species of trees could be found in the valley. It also noted that while deer may have roamed freely a century ago, now the largest animal groups were squirrels and skunks. The Naturalists also noted the ravine was threatened by “tidying by the parks department and construction on the edge of the ravine by homeowners.”

Brookbanks Park ends at Cassandra Drive where a narrow path leads one to and from the park. Deerlick Creek veers southwest, under the highway, and flowing into the Don River at a golf course. An unpaved path seems to run next to its course, although it is unclear how far it stretches.

North from Brookbanks Drive, Valley Woods Drive is an interesting street sandwiched between the Don Valley Parkway and the ravine. Valley Woods itself was laid out beginning in 1965, much like the rest of the neighbourhood. At the foot of the street is Citadel Village, which at the time of its construction was a representation of idyllic, post-war, suburban living.

Citadel Village was designed by Tampold & Wells and was completed in 1967. It is a collection of townhouses surrounding a circular apartment — presumably the “citadel”. A 1966 promotional advertisement described Citadel Village as a “southern European village on a mountaintop with a thickly wooded ravine on the east and a panoramic view of the city to the west.” Other selling points in ads in the following years highlight the family-friendly development particularly in its spaciousness and lack of traffic, comfort, and proximity to local amenities and downtown (15 minutes by the new Don Valley Parkway!). Citadel Village is listed as Toronto heritage property.

Citadel Village, 1968. 1 Source: Toronto Public Library

Valley Woods Road slinks up the side of the ravine with connections to the park. It also has a bus serving the street. At the top of the street at York Mills Road, a new condominium and planned community are under construction, named “The Ravine”. The development will consist of several towers and homes, and replaces rental townhouses previously on the site. It is the next layer in the history of Deerlick Creek and its surrounding communities.

Works Consulted

“The Biggest Townhouses In Town.” The Toronto Daily Star, 9 Nov. 1968, p. 59.

“Brookbanks Park and Deerlick Creek.” Greck, https://www.greck.ca/Projects/Brookbanks-Park-and-Deerlick-Creek.

“Citadel Village.” The Toronto Daily Star, 22 Aug. 1966, p. 31.

Donvalleygirls. “The History of Brookbanks Park and Deerlick Creek.” Exploring Toronto’s Don Valley, Lake Ontario, and Green Spaces in between., 29 Feb. 2016, https://donvalleygirls.wordpress.com/2014/02/15/the-history-of-brookbanks-and-deerlick-park/.

“The Easy Life of Citadel Village.” The Toronto Daily Star, 20 July 1968, p. A50.

“Friendly People.” The Toronto Daily Star, 31 Dec. 1971, p. 40.

L, Mishy. Brookbanks Park and Deerlick Creek, https://mishylainescorneroftheworld.blogspot.com/2013/04/brookbanks-park-and-deerlick-creek.html.

Lakey, Jack. “Brookbanks Park Still Plagued by Damage from 2005 Flash Flood.” Thestar.com, Toronto Star, 1 Sept. 2014, https://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/the_fixer/2014/09/01/brookbanks_park_still_plagued_by_damage_from_2005_flash_flood.html.

Little, Olivia. “Brookbanks Park in Toronto Comes with Plenty of Natural Beauty and a Rich History.” BlogTO, BlogTO, 14 Jan. 2021, https://www.blogto.com/city/2021/01/brookbanks-park-toronto-comes-plenty-natural-beauty-and-rich-history/.

“Metro Naturalists Set Plans to Preserve Area Ravines.” The Toronto Star, 26 Feb. 1975, p. C15.

“Parkwoods Donalda.” StrollTO, https://www.strollto.com/stroll/parkwoods-donalda/.

Quinter, David. “Toronto Butterfly Habitat Urged.” The Toronto Star, 6 July 1976, p. B1.

Ramsay-Brown, Jason. Toronto’s Ravines and Urban Forests: Their Natural Heritage and Local History. James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers, 2020.

“The Warmest Townhouses in Town.” The Toronto Daily Star, 1 Feb. 1969, p. 25.

Yu, Sydnia. “Master-Planned Community in the Middle of Mother Nature.” The Globe and Mail, 2015 May 1AD, p. G2.

A Criminal History of The Notorious Brook’s Bush Gang

Note: This is Part II of a two-part series about the Notorious Brook’s Bush Gang. You can read Part I here.

In August 1857, James Gokey alias DeLavelle, Thomas Readmond, Andrew Jenkins, and Samuel Hannon, who were described as “four stout fellows”, and Susan McCormack and Mary A. Walton, “abandoned females”, were charged with being connected to the gang of thieves who infested Brook’s Bush, and who would pounce upon travellers passing the Don Bridge, rob and assault them, and otherwise “conduct themselves in a most lawless manner”. The constable who arrested them visited the bush and said the eastern end of the city was not safe from the low characters who infest it. The party were fined, sent to break stones, and sent to prison.

The episode provides a great account of the operations of the gang. First, it describes the physical and possibly social identity of the group. The men were stout and imposing – the kind that would be involved in physical assaults and worse. The description of the women as “abandoned” has been described previously, and their inclusion with men in the acts was common. The Don Bridge would come to be a common setting for their crimes, which would culminate in their most dastardly act a few years later. The general sentiment was of lawlessness and danger, particularly in their area. The gang were also targets of the police and were often sentenced to monetary fines, or breaking stones at the House of Industry when they could not pay, or time in prison.

A Series of ‘Motley Spectacles’

Over the next five years, the Brooks Bush Gang were involved in several robberies and assaults which terrorized the east end. In October 1857, six males and five female “disorderlys” of Brook’s Bush were brought into custody by Sergeant Smith, who dealt frequently with the group, and charged with disorderly conduct. They were fined 20s and those unable to pay were sent to gaol for a month and ordered to be kept at hard labour.

The year 1858 was eventful for the gang. On New Year’s Day, The Globe reported a Samuel Hannah, who was known to police, was charged with “uttering a flash bill”. He visited Mercer’s eating house at 24 Church Street at Wellington Street and paid with a counterfeit bill. The landlady, Mrs Verena as per the 1859 City Directories, told him the bill was bad. She informed the police and Hannah was arrested and “committed…as a rogue and vagabond to hard labour in the common gaol for one month.”

Later in January, denizens of the Brooks Bush Gang were charged with several acts of robbery. Those involved were Catherine O’Brien, Catherine Hogan, Bridget McGuire, and Matthew Flynn, the latter of who was described as a “rough-looking fellow”. The crimes included hen houses being robbed, clothes stolen off clotheslines, and other thefts which have led to citizens’ inability to leave any items in gardens and yards. Two officers, including Sergeant Smith, pursued two thieves on Parliament Street and caught up with one of them. Flynn hid in a culvert at Gerrard and Parliament Streets with his stolen goods hidden in a nearby culvert. Among the property were shirts, a pail, an axe, an iron pot, and other things. Flynn was going back to the Bush after the robberies. The officers found at the site poultry, two geese, three lanterns, two boilers, and other property. O’Brien, Hogan, and McGuire were also waiting there with supper for Flynn and his accomplice. In court, Flynn acted with “great effrontery” and “appeared as if he had been recently drunk”. He defended himself that the goods were his own and he was protecting them from his landlord who he owed rent. However, several people — Francis Langrill, Mrs Hagarty and Mrs Murphy — refuted the story and identified the items. In the directory for the year, Langrill was listed as a “butcher, 30 St. Lawrence arcade, house Parliament Street”. A Patrick Hagerty was listed at 279 Parliament Street between Gerrard and Dundas. The identities of the ladies are unknown. Flynn was later reported to be sent to the Penitentiary for two years.

Following the thefts, a reader of The Globe wrote into the newspaper expressing a hope that “there will not be too much clemency shown towards him”. He lamented how City and York Township authorities have allowed the group to annoy the public and residents of the area. The only course was to make an example of the group and clear the bush of its denizens so local inhabitants can live a little easier.

The following month, Sergeant Smith placed Patrick Matthews, Samuel Jocelyn, Catherine O’Brien, Catherin Cogan, and Margaret MacGuire in front of the bar again. Smith had found stolen property such as axes, lanterns, tins, boilers, and geese and fowls. Richard Boles of Sumach Street, who had three fowls and an axe stolen, went to the Brooks Bush shanty and said he recognized Matthews, who told Boles that he would “knock the brains out of any person who dared to enter”. The alleged victim appears in the 1859-60 Caverhill Toronto City Directory, listed as “Richard Bowles”, a labourer at 185 Sumach Street in the Dundas Street area. In July, William Brown, Robert Brown, J. Pigeon, P. Matthews, James Hallachy, and Samuel Josleyn were brought up with the charge. Sergeant Smith said he went to the shanty and found several of the prisoners and three females, which he took into custody. The females said they were in the shanty all night and Pigeon, R. Brown, Hallachy, and a man named Smith not in custody came back early in the morning with the poultry. Robert Brown, John Pigeon, and Hallachy were founded guilty and a sentence was deferred.

In April 1858, James Harrachy, William Brown, Patrick Matthews, Samuel Josleyn, Robert Brown, and Bridget McGuire were brought again to the bar for crimes of theft. William Brown was acquitted, but the others were found guilty. Robert Brown was imprisoned for ten days in the city prison and then in the provincial penitentiary (in Kingston, Ontario) for three years and three months. Harrachy was committed to ten days for larceny; Matthews for three years and three months in the penitentiary; Josleyn was sentenced to three years and four months and McGuire to two years and one month. John Pigeon was charged with larceny and committed to ten days in the city prison and five years in the penitentiary.

In June, three ruffians of the Brook’s Bush attacked two men on Queen Street. One of the victims got away but the other was struck in the face, neck, and shoulders with a black bottle and severely cut.

In September, Cornelius Leary was charged with assaulting a feeble-looking woman, Mary Sheppard. The lady said she had a dispute with Leary in which he struck her and dragged her toward a shed. She fell and he stepped on her, severely injuring her. Constables said both prisoners (it is unclear if this meant Sheppard too) were part of the Brooks Bush gang. Leary was fined $5 but was unable to pay, so he was sent to break stones for a month.

In November, Jane McDonald, Margaret Evans, Sarah Fielder, Mary Ann Walton, Mary Crooks, James Brown, and Thomas Willis appeared in court and “presented a very motley spectacle.” The men were fined $5 and the women were sent to prison for a month. In an odd layer to the story, Mary Cary, also of the gang, went to the police station to find them, but behaved “disorderly”. She too was arrested and sent to gaol for a month.

In May 1859, four coats and a bag of coppers were stolen from Leak and Matthews, soap and candle manufacturers on Palace Street (today’s Front Street East). The Directories identified this at 62 Palace Street near George Street. There was also a “Leak’s Wharf” associated with the business at the foot of George Street. A witness heard them chuckling over the haul. Several days later, several officers on The Esplanade were monitoring the water for “persons bathing during prohibited hours” and attending to arriving and departing steamers, when they interrogated four suspicious fellows. One had a bundle in his hand. They were taken into custody — they were Thomas O’Brien, John Connolly, Barker Coulder, and John Scott of the Brooks’ Bush Gang. They appeared to be sheltering in an old boat moored off the Esplanade.

Also in May, William Reid and Henry Miller, of the gang were brought up on the charge of stopping a young man on the Don Bridge. They offered to leave the city and were discharged. The judge was about to send them to prison for a month as “disorderly characters” but relented after hearing their pleas.

Maurice Malone, John Clyde, John Esson, Margaret Hagarty, Elizabeth Nolan, Mary Ann Pickley, Mary Ann Flanaghan and Bridget Drew were sent to gaol for a month each. William Edwards and Francis Curran were sent for 14 days for disorderly conduct as well as Charles White for a similar offence with hard labour.

In August 1859, the Globe reported a number were in custody for assaulting Edward Closghey. There was a chase for them. Among the party is a desperado named John Clyde, who replaced the former ringleader, Carr, who was committed to the Penitentiary. James Tuck, Denis O’Dowd, Edward Short, Martin Kelly, William Macpherson, Marry Ann O’Bryan and Elizabeth Nolan were brought in for assaulting Edward McCloskey. The victim fell into the company of Clyde, Kelly Marry Ann O’Bryan, and Nolan on Carlton Street. They had a bottle of whiskey and asked him to drink part of it, which he did. He paid a dime and tried to leave but was stopped by Clyde. Clyde struck him and tried to kill him with the help of Martin Kelly. Eliza Nolan tried to protect the victim. McCloskey got away and Clyde threatened him again not to tell on him or “he would make him suffer for it.” Clyde and Kelly, the attackers, were sent to Assize Court. Nolan got “only two months in gaol” for protecting McCloskey. O’Dowd was discharged for previous good behaviour. The others were sent to gaol for three months.

In September 1859, William McPherson, John Burns, Jeremiah Leivy, James Tuch, James Brown, Thomas Richardson, James Cochrane, John Eppison, Mary Anne Pickely, Mary Anne Walton, Sarah Fidder, Ellen McDonald, Margaret Hill, Mary Crooks, Mary Sheppard and Isabella Convony were found at the bush and arrested. The offences are unknown. The females were sent to gaol for fourteen days and the men for a month.

The Murder of John Sheridan Hogan

On December 1st, 1859, Mr John Sheridan Hogan, a journalist turned member of parliament for Grey County for the Province of Canada, was visiting a female acquaintance on Terauley Street ( now Bay Street). The unmarried 44-year-old man left the home at 8:30 to visit the office of the new editor of The British Colonist, his publication. It was the last time he was seen alive.

Hogan’s disappearance was not noted by police until months after his last known sighting. He lived a peculiar life in Toronto, having few friends and no family and living a transient life with the Rossin Hotel as his base. His sudden disappearance was a mystery. His body was found washed up at the mouth of the Don River in March 1861, some sixteen months later, by some fishermen. He was identified by Mrs Laurie, the acquaintance he visited on the December night, identified a broach or patch she put on his clothing.

Suspicion quickly turned to the Brook’s Bush Gang for having something to do with Hogan’s death. His final location at the mouth of the river suggested he had washed down from somewhere upriver — potentially the Queen Street bridge, a location the gang had notoriously terrorized over the past five or so years. But pinning it on The Brooks Bush Gang was a task.

Queen Street East, Church St. to Davies Avenue, bridge over Don River (1851-1878), looking northeast, 1861. This was likely the bridge Hogan was murdered.
Source: Toronto Public Library

The key to the case was the testimony of Ellen McGillick, a member of the Brook’s Bush Gang present when Hogan was murdered. In the four years leading up to the event, McGillick had often given witness testimony about the actions of the gang, which the Police trusted as truth. The detective on the case, a Colgan, hailed from the same Irish place as McGillick and went to question her. McGillick told him about the murder and who was involved. Arrests were made soon after of Jane Ward, James Brown, also known as ‘English Jim’, William Reid and Mary Crooks.

McGillick testified seeing two men struggling with each other and another woman with them on the east end of the Don Bridge. The woman, who turned out to be Jane Ward, told one of the men, James Brown, to throw the other man, Hogan, off the bridge. She also noted other gang members were present and how they spoke of tying Hogan’s legs before throwing him into the river. Ward also told McGillick how she robbed the man and was holding a rock and handkerchief. Members of the gang after the murder threatened McGillick not to say anything about it. McGillick finally added that there was blood on the rail of the bridge and Brown had gone the next day to clear it; police corroborated by finding blood on the bridge.

In a trial in April 1861, John Sherrick and Jane Ward of the Brooks Bush Gang were acquitted. James Brown was found guilty that fall in a separate trial. He was retried again in 1862 with the same result. Brown was a labourer born near Cambridge, England in 1830. He moved to the United States and then Toronto in 1852, hoping to find work in shipyards. At some point, he fell in with the Brook’s Bush Gang (the first mention of him in the newspapers was November 1858). Brown was hung in front of spectators on March 10, 1862, at the York County Courthouse on Adelaide Street. It was the last public execution in Toronto.

The End of The Brooks Bush Gang

After the Hogan trial, references to the Brooks Bush Gang dwindled. In August 1862, members of the gang were charged with assaulting and robbing a farmer a short distance from the city. They were tried at Yorkville as the crime was outside city limits. In 1864, John Smith was violently assaulted and nearly robbed near the Don River by two ‘desperadoes’. The victim was possibly a property owner as the Smith family was known east of the Don. The attack was very much like the antics of the Brook’s Bush gang, “who infested the neighbourhood some time ago”, which signified that although they were not behind the attack, the gang was no longer present and their memory still haunted the area. Interestingly, Charles Sauriol noted how E.T. Seton said members of the gang destroyed his cabin in 1875, although this may be dubious as it was much after the early 1860s.

In the following years, stories of past members crept up in the news. In 1864, Mary Ann Pickley was found dead. Since the murder and police broke up the gang, she had been living “here there and everywhere” but mostly in jail. The Globe reported she was one of the last of the gang with almost all of them dead. In 1868, the Globe reported Kate (possibly Catherine) Cogan, “the last of the Brook’s Bush Gang”, was arrested for breaking windows. Similarly, the newspaper also wrote in 1872 about a former member of the gang, Bill Reid, who was described as “probably the last who will ever be seen of the once dreaded Brooks Bush Gang” and how nineteen years ago he was “conspicuous even among the lawless community, and he was connected to them about the time of the murder of” Hogan. Finally, Jane Ward moved to Guelph in the mid-1860s, changing her name to Jane Lewis and saying very little of her past life. She wound up in the Wellington County House of Industry for the remainder of her life, dying in 1904. She was said by newspapers of the time to be the last member of the Brook’s Bush Gang.

The former haunts of the Brook’s Bush Gang east of the Don River disappeared too, leaving little geographic trace of the gang. By 1880, the lot near the Don Jail was subdivided, houses were built on it, and Holly Brook was buried. Even Withrow Park, the other possibility for the gang’s headquarters, was made a public park by 1910. In 1912, the Butcher’s Arms, the old hangout of the Brook’s Bush Gang, was torn down for houses, where a strip of Edwardian-style, century-aged homes stands there today.

Broadview Avenue, at the former location of The Butcher’s Arms, 2020.
Source: Google Maps

The Globe also reported in 1924 on the upcoming demolition of a house at 154 Carlton Street at Homewood Avenue which stood on the site of a former Brook’s Bush Gang headquarters. There are few details of this “shanty”. The Oldright House was built in the 1870s according to The Globe piece and some of the gang’s belongings were found when the house was constructed. Its location was appropriately situated in the east side of the core of Toronto where the gang did some of their criminal activities.

The east end of Toronto was transformed in the decades following the end of the gang. In addition to the redevelopment of the specific woodlots mentioned above, the general area was laid out with streets and landmarks. ‘Brook’s Bush’ as a district name understandably fell out of use. On March 25, 1888, the area of Riverside was annexed by the city of Toronto (Riverside replaced ‘Don Mount’ as a name in 1880, the latter was likely used alongside Brook’s Bush; Riverdale later came into use in the early 20th century). Police protection, a lacking factor which allowed the Brook’s Bush Gang to prevail as a menace, was cited as a reason for annexation.

Annexation Map of the City of Toronto, 1967
Source: Old Toronto Maps

Appendix I: List of Members

Michael Barry (possibly an affiliate), Jane Ward, Catherine Cogan (possibly also listed as Catherine Hogan or Kate Cogan), Andrew Jenkins, Catherine O’Brien, John Clyde, Samuel Joslin, James Gokey alias DeLavelle, Thomas Redmond, Samuel Hannon (possibly also listed as Samuel Hannah), Susan McCormack, Mary A. Walton, Bridget McGuire, Matthew Flynn, Patrick Matthews, Margaret Maguire, William Brown, Robert Brown, John Pigeon, James Hallachy, Cornelius Leary, Jane McDonald, Margaret Evans, Sarah Fielder, Mary Crooks, James Brown, Thomas Wills, Mary Cary, “Yankee” Mary (unclear if she was one of the listed Marys), Robert Wagstaff, Thomas O’Brien, John Connolly, Barker Coulter, John Scott, William (Bill) Reid, Maurice Malone, John Esson, Margaret Hagarty, Elizabeth Nolan, Mary Ann Pickley, Mary Ann Flanaghan, Bridget Drew, a man named Carr, James Tuck (or Tuch), Denis O’Dowd, Edward Short, Martin Kelly, William MacPherson (possibly an affiliate), Mary Ann O’Bryan, John Burns, Jeremiah Leivy, Thomas Richardson, James Cochrane, Johm Eppsion, Sarah Fidder, Ellen McDonald, Margaret Hill, Mary Sheppard, Isabella Convony, Ellen McGillick, John Sherrick, John Coteau, William Dillon, Charles Gerne, Andrew McGuire, John Hudie, Patrick Fogarty, William Eppison, Sarah Hill, Anna Maria Gregory, Mary Carey, Catharine Dalton, Bridget Kane, Francis Furdon, Esther McDonell, Margaret Adams, Rachel Smith, and James Curtain.

Works Consulted

“Another Landmark In Danger.” The Globe, 19 Apr. 1924, p. 14.

“Article.” The Globe, 19 Feb. 1859, p. 2.

Bonnell, Jennifer. Reclaiming the Don: An Environmental History of Toronto’s Don River Valley. University of Toronto Press, 2014.

BOYLE, D. Township of Scarboro 1796-1896. Book ON DEMAND LTD, 2014.

“The Brook’s Bush Gang Again.” The Globe, 15 Aug. 1859, p. 2.

“Buglary and Capture of The Robbers.” The Globe, 6 May 1859, p. 3.

“’The Butchers’ Arms,’ Once Rendezvous of Notorious Gang, Is Being Torn Down.” The Globe, 29 Apr. 1912, p. 9.

“City News: A Notorious Character.” The Globe, 15 Feb. 1872, p. 1.

“City News: Assault and Attempted Robbery.” The Globe, 10 May 1864, p. 1.

“City News: Found Dead.” The Globe, 18 Nov. 1864, p. 2.

“City News: Police Court.” The Globe, 1 Aug. 1862, p. 2.

“City Police Court: A Month’s Stone Breaking For A Supper.” The Globe, 1 Jan. 1858, p. 2.

“City Police: A Parcel of Thieves.” The Globe, 28 Jan. 1858, p. 2.

“City Police: Another Gang Arrested.” The Globe, 11 Aug. 1857, p. 3.

“City Police: Brook’s Bush.” The Globe, 24 Feb. 1858, p. 2.

“City Police: Cowardly Assault.” The Globe, 7 Sept. 1858, p. 2.

“City Police: Disorderlies.” The Globe, 24 May 1859, p. 3.

“City Police: Drunk and Disorderly.” The Globe, 10 May 1859, p. 3.

“City Police: The Book’s Bush Gang.” The Globe, 16 Aug. 1859, p. 2.

“City Police: The Brook’s Bush Gang.” The Globe, 16 Nov. 1858, p. 2.

“City Police: The Brook’s Bush Gang.” The Globe, 19 Sept. 1859, p. 2.

“City Police: The Brooks’ Bush Gang.” The Globe, 6 Feb. 1858, p. 3.

“City Police: The Disorderlys at Brook’s Bush.” The Globe, 24 Oct. 1857, p. 2.

“Collectors’ Notice.” The Globe, 30 Mar. 1859, p. 4.

COLLINS, JOSEPH EDMUND. Four Canadian Highwayman. OUTLOOK Verlag, 2018.

Craig, Jessica Calafia. “Dreams of Slaughter.”

“Died This Day: James Brown, 1862.” The Globe and Mail, 10 Mar. 2007, p. S9.

“Distressing Case.” The Globe, 25 Dec. 1857, p. 2.

Doucette, Joanne. “Brook’s Bush Gang.” Leslieville Historical Society, 30 Sept. 2020, https://leslievillehistory.com/tag/brooks-bush-gang/.

“Editorial Article.” The Globe, 14 June 1858, p. 2.

“Editorial Summary.” The Globe, 22 June 1858, p. 2.

Forster, Boulton A C. Adventures, Travels and Politics: Illustrated. Heath, Cranton, Limited, 1939.

Goddard, John. The Man with the Black Valise: Tracking the Killer of Jessie Keith. Dundurn, 2019.

“Grey County MP Murdered.” Grey County MP Murdered, https://www.history-articles.com/mpmurdered.html.

History of Toronto and County of York, Ontario. C. Blackett Robinson, 1885.

“The Hogan Murder – The Trial of James Brown.” The Globe, 28 Sept. 1861, p. 2.

Holloway, Michael. “More 1327 – 1339 Queen St E Heritage Discoveries.” More 1327 – 1339 Queen St E Heritage Discoveries, http://easttorontocommunity.blogspot.com/2014/11/more-1327-1339-queen-st-e-heritage.html.

Hopkins, J. Castell. Canada: An Encyclopaedia of the Country; the Canadian Dominion Considered in Its Historic Relations, Its Natural Resources, Its Material Progress and Its National Development, by a Corps of Eminent Writers and Specialists. Edited by J. Castell Hopkins. 1898.

Horwood, Harold, and Edward Butts. Bandits & Privateers: Canada in the Age of Gunpowder. CNIB, 1991.

James, Robert W., and John Rae. John Rae Political Economist: An Account of His Life and a Compilation of His Main Writings. University of Toronto Press, 1965.

“Leslieville Historical Society: The Modern Location of the Brook’s Bush Gang A.k.a.” Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/groups/821994634490152/permalink/4924606597562248/.

Lost Rivers of Toronto Map, http://mercator.geog.utoronto.ca/georia/lostrivers/leaflet-storymap_webtest/disappearing.html.

MacGregor, Roy. “Deception at the Don.” The Globe and Mail, 13 Aug. 2016, p. M2.

Mancke, Elizabeth, et al. Violence, Order, and Unrest: A History of British North America, 1749-1876. University of Toronto Press, 2019.

Muir, Elizabeth Gillan. An Unrecognized Contribution: Women and Their Work in 19th-Century Toronto. Dundurn Press, 2022.

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

“The Murder of Mr. Hogan.” The Globe, 8 Apr. 1861, p. 2.

“New Plaque Honours Black Community That Helped ‘Forge the Identity’ of Leslieville | CBC News.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 20 Nov. 2019, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/new-plaque-honours-black-community-that-helped-forge-the-identity-of-leslieville-1.5364692.

“Penetang Veteran Tells of Old Times.” The Globe, 10 Sept. 1923, p. 10.

“Police Court: Drunks and Disorderlies.” The Globe, 26 Oct. 1868, p. 1.

“Police Intelligence: A Batch of Disorderlies.” The Globe, 16 Jan. 1855, p. 2.

“Police Intelligence: The Denizens of Brook’s Bush.” The Globe, 23 Aug. 1856, p. 2.

Poplak, Lorna, and Dominic Farrell. The Don: The Story of Toronto’s Infamous Jail. Dundurn, 2021.

Ramsay-Brown, Jason. Toronto’s Ravines and Urban Forests: Their Natural Heritage and Local History. James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers, 2020.

“Recorder’s Court: The Brooks Bush Gang.” The Globe, 7 Apr. 1858, p. 2.

“Recorder’s Court: The Brooks’ Bush Gang.” The Globe, 9 Apr. 1858, p. 3.

Robertson, J. Ross. Robertson’s Landmarks of Toronto: A Collection of Historical Sketches of the Old Town of York from 1792 until 1837 and of Toronto from 1834 to 1908. J. Ross Robertson, 1908.

“The Sewell Murder – Important Arrest.” The Globe, 29 July 1856, p. 2.

“A Soldier’s Trials.” The Globe, 1 Apr. 1859, p. 3.

Staff, Advertiser. “Notorious Woman Criminal Died at House of Industry.” Wellington Advertiser, 27 Sept. 2018, https://www.wellingtonadvertiser.com/notorious-woman-criminal-died-at-house-of-industry/.

Thompson, Samuel. Reminiscences of a Canadian Pioneer for the Last Fifty Years an Autobiography. Hunter, Rose, 1884.

“Toronto Assizes: Charge of Murder.” The Globe, 30 Oct. 1856, p. 2.

“The Vagrants of Brook’s Bush.” The Globe, 30 Jan. 1858, p. 2.

2022: A Year in Review

2022 marks ten years for Scenes From Toronto. This year, I committed to a goal of two articles a month when possible. Out of 24 possible articles in the month, I published 17. Although I did not match my goal, I am proud of that output.

2022 also followed the momentum of the previous year in creating original, research-based articles, drawing on primary and secondary sources, as well as the work of great historians and writers. I hope they have added to Toronto’s rich local heritage scene and telling the city’s lesser known (hi)stories.

The Stats

The Best of 2022

To mark the year, I have compiled my favourite ten articles.

1. “Old” Toronto Streets: An exploration of a peculiarity in Toronto’s geography and streets. This is a multi-parter.

2. A Quick Early History of Toronto’s First Traffic Signals and The ‘Right on Red’ Rule: Toronto’s early rules about automobile travel offer some interesting insights about why modern traffic laws are the way they are, including the origins of the allowance of a right turn against a red light.

3. “Know Agincourt, but Their Maps Ignore Toronto”: A Quick History of The Agincourt Magnetic Observatory: The story of a lost Scarborough landmark which brought on discovery and innovation at a global level.

4. A Quick History Of The Iconic Guild Inn in Scarborough: The Guild of All Arts is a famed landmark is the east end of Scarborough with an interesting evolution.

5. The ‘Commercial Slum’ That Once Stood Across Toronto City Hall: This is a layered story of the creative destruction and revitalization which marked an intriguing transitional period in Toronto. The first of two parts.

6. The Rise of The Hill District, Toronto: The origin of one of Toronto’s exclusive neighbourhoods is an interesting tale of the who’s who in Toronto history and a period in which Old Toronto’s street grid began to fill up.

7. Was this the first Chinese restaurant in Toronto’s Junction?: A century ago, there was a Chinese eatery in The Junction. The story explores some history of one of Toronto’s largest communities.

8. The Curious History of Riverdale Avenue, Toronto: The east ends street is a fine reminder of how old lot lines have impacted the look of the city.

9. A Quick History of Controversial Toronto Street Name Changes: In a topical subject, this explores some lesser known street name changes and some overall in themes in why streets are historically altered.

10. The Notorious Brooks’ Bush Gang: A feared group of trouble-makers terrorized 19th century Toronto. A second part to this story is coming.

Thanks to all that have read, engaged with, and supported Scenes From TO! Happy 2023!

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/.

Was this the first Chinese restaurant in Toronto’s Junction?

On November 17, 1919, The Globe ran an odd article about a scuffle in a Junction restaurant. The event highlighted how a restaurant worker, potentially an owner, asked some patrons to stop smoking in his establishment. The customers disagreed and threw his own plates at the man before fleeing.

While the events are bizarre, the article features several notable details that, taken with other sources and context, paint an interesting picture of historic Toronto. First, it informs of one of the first Chinese-operated restaurants outside the central core of Toronto and perhaps the first restaurant in The Junction neighbourhood. It references the Chinese population and restaurants of the city in the early 20th century. Finally, it alludes to the general depiction and treatment of the Chinese community at the time.

The first significant detail in The Globe article is the “restaurant at 2,904 Dundas Street West”. The name of the cafe is not given, but the potential proprietor is listed as a “Ying Buck”, who is unfortunately described as a ‘Chinaman’ and ‘Celestial’ with ‘Manchurian blood’.

The name of the restaurant in 1919 is tricky to identify. The City of Toronto Directory for the year 1919 lists a “Chinese Restaurant” at 2904 Dundas Street West. In the year prior, the address previously hosted a “Gus Freeman, restaurant.” The early City Directories did not explicitly name Chinese entreprises or their proprietors, which makes their identification through this source challenging. Eateries were simply listed as “Chinese restaurant.”

The actual name of the Chinese restaurant can be somewhat identified through other sources. The City of Toronto Archives displays a “Amo Cafe” in an image of Dundas Street West looking west of Mavety Street in 1923, which is consistent with the address 2904 Dundas West.

References to “The Amo Cafe” are scarce in other sources, but the next appearance of the restaurant were in October 1929. The Globe and Toronto Daily Star outlined another bizarre scenario in which the cafe’s owner, this time a Charlie Chong, was held up in front of patrons by two youths after midnight on October 28.

Several wanted ads connected to 2904 Dundas Street West pointed to the address as a Chinese restaurant. In May 1919, a restaurant at 2904 Dundas published a wanted ad for an ‘experienced waitress’, possibly at a time when the restaurant was recently open or about to open. In 1925, a chef at 2904 Dundas placed an ad looking for work, seeming self-identifying as ‘Chinese’ and ‘experienced.’

By the 1930s, the restaurant at 2904 Dundas Street West was finally named in the directories. First, it appeared as “Ging Ing restaurant” in 1931. Then by the middle of the decade, “Amo Cafe” is named with proprietor “Bing Ing” (possibly the same individual as Ging Ing). It is not clear whether what the restaurant was called between 1919 and 1922, but it was almost certainly a Chinese restaurant. The Amo Cafe is listed in the City Directories until 1969, the last year of digitized directories in the Toronto Public Library’s collection. It may have been open longer. Unfortunately, there are not many other details identifiable about the cafe, such as the menu, employees, or what it looked liked beyond some descriptions of the kitchen being located in the rear.

The other addresses and names outlined in the article also tell us a bit more about the world around The Amo Cafe in the Junction. While Ying Buck, the owner of the Amo Cafe, does not appear in any other sources, C. Ham – or at least his address – shows up in the 1919 City Directory. At 21 Hook Avenue, a Mrs. Margaret Ham is listed, which may be a relative of Ham. The surname appears to be of Chinese origin.

Detective Hazelwood and Police Station No. 9 are also in the sources. Hazelwood is named in several crime-related news items. The police station was also known as Keele Street Station. Dundas Street West was complete with many everyday establishments: eateries, butchers, banks, candy shops, bicycle shops, grocers, and more. The restaurant, the police station, and Ham’s potential residence could all be found in a kilometre radius.

The existence of the Amo Cafe within this Junction neighbourhood is particularly curious as it was not an obvious location for Chinese restaurants for the time. The 1919 City Directory had a subsection for Chinese establishments under its category of restaurants. In this subsection, 2904 Dundas West is the only restaurant listed on its street, and the only one listed outside of the core of Toronto. The majority of restaurants were listed under Queen Street, Yonge Street, and York Street. The early Chinese community settled in Toronto in The Ward on Elizabeth Street near Queen Street. It is not clear if there was a notable Chinese population in the Junction in the 1920s and beyond.

Restaurant staff and customers gather at soda fountain and in booths, ca 1937. The window displays ‘restaurant’. The business is unknown.
Source: City of Toronto Archives.

The diction and content of The Globe article is also worth mentioning, because it is unfortunately representative of media characterizations of the Chinese community of Toronto at the time. ‘Chinaman’ and ‘Celestial’, now racial slurs, were common descriptors. For example, there are 3,639 results for searches of ‘Chinaman’ in the The Globe’s newspaper archive for 1900 to 1929. Ying Buck’s “Manchurian blood”, although perhaps not a common racist phrase, is also a questionable choice of words as Manchuria is a region within China, but there are not enough details to know if The Globe knew of the man’s origin.

News articles about Chinese restaurants in Toronto in the early 20th century also seemed to lean towards unfortunate events, like the 1919 scuffle and 1929 robberies of The Amo Cafe. Even the headline “Chinaman Pelted With His Crockery” highlights a level of violence and sensationalism. Robberies, gambling and drug raids, mobs, fines, and explosions make up some of the topics of newsworthy events. There also seems to be a general sentiment of distrust of and mystery about Chinese establishments and the Chinese quarter.

Today, there are plethora of Chinese restaurants in Toronto. Its community is large and vibrant. Gains have been imperfect and disgusting societal biases still remain, but one can hope the world of today is a step up from the attitudes of the time of the Amo Cafe. In an interesting turn of events, 2904 Dundas Street West is a Chinese restaurant in 2022, resuming a century-old legacy for the historic property.

More “Old” Streets of Toronto

In January, I looked at the origins of “Old” Streets of Toronto — that is, main Toronto roads that have the moniker “old” preceding their names. In many cases, these stories involved the re-routing of streets to create a more direct path for travellers. In doing so, the old paths were sometimes not eliminated.

Here are six (and a half) more “Old” Streets of Toronto and their quick histories:

Old Dundas Street

Year rerouted: ~1929

Historically, the main crossing over the Humber River on Dundas Street was located about two hundred metres south of the current bridge. This section of Dundas made up the old community of Lambton Mills and served as a main entrance into Toronto from the west on the Dundas highway. There were several versions of Dundas Street bridges here over the years — some made of wood, some iron, but all narrow for traffic and susceptible to the flooding waters of the Humber.

In 1929, a new high-level bridge was completed over the Humber. This altered the main course of Dundas Street to the north. The old course became “Old Dundas Street”. For nearly thirty years, the two Dundas Street bridges existed alongside each other. In 1954, the devastating effects of Hurricane Hazel left the Old Dundas Street bridge in a dilapidated state; it was finally demolished several years later. Today, Old Dundas Street exists on both sides of the Humber River mostly as a quiet residential street. Lambton House, a historic inn turned museum, is a leftover of Old Dundas Street and Lambton Mills’ prominence.

Old Weston Road

Year rerouted: ~1948

Weston Road takes an interesting route through northwest Toronto, running diagonally through its street grid from the historic town of Weston (makes sense, eh?) and creating some unconventional intersections. North of St. Clair Avenue, the route of Weston Road was historically located east of the present road on the other side of the train tracks. It made up the historic village of Carlton with St. Clair and Weston as its nexus. It is highlighted by the still standing, yet altered Heydon House Hotel, built 1890. Weston then ran south to join with Dundas Street.

Around the 1890s, another “branch” of the street was built north from Keele Street running parallel to the railway on its west side. This street took on the name “Weston Road South”. In the 1910s, the street was completed to join with the main Weston Road.

Perhaps because Weston Road South offered a more direct route south into the city, it formally became the more prominent road in the 1940s. First, an “Old Weston Road” began to refer to the section of Weston Road between the railway and Hillary Avenue. This meant that at one time a person could stand at the intersection of Weston Road, Old Weston Road, and Weston Road South. In 1948, Weston Road South became just Weston Road. Also, the entirety of the older eastern section of Weston Road was renamed Old Weston Road, save for the section between the tracks and Hillary which was added to Rogers Road. As the tracks to the south grew, the section of Old Weston near Dundas became severed from the rest of the road. Today, Old Weston Road is a mostly residential street.

Old Eglinton Avenue

Year rerouted: ~1957

For an east-west street that has become so vital to Toronto’s street grid and home to many neighbourhoods, it is difficult to imagine that Eglinton Avenue did not always exist in one harmonious stretch of road. However, it took some doing to make it into the street of today. Until the 1950s in the eastern half of Toronto, Eglinton Avenue terminated near Brentcliffe Road in Leaside and did not resume again until Victoria Park Avenue in Scarborough. The area in between them was about a five-kilometre stretch of farmland and two ravines — that is, both the east and west branches of the Don River. In the mid-1950s, a massive project was undertaken to join the two sections.

While an “Old Eglinton Avenue” seems to come out of the events of the 1950s, it seems a little unclear why. The street runs parallel to the “new” road for about half a kilometre west from Bermondsey Road. Like the surrounding area, it mostly houses industrial buildings. As Eglinton did not seem to exist between Leaside and Scarborough (at least not in any formal sense), the story of Old Eglinton is a bit of a mystery. Hiking The GTA has located an old roadbed for an “Old Eglinton Road“. This may have been a farm road or a line that divided farm lots. It is also notable how Old Eglinton Avenue aligns with a “pencilled in” Eglinton Avenue between Victoria Park and Leaside, so a theory may lay in that idea.

Old York Mills Road

Year rerouted: ~1972

The valley near Hogg’s Hollow has proven to be an obstacle to road transportation several times in its history. As I previously noted, Yonge Street was realigned in 1835 after skirting east to better tackle the West Don ravine’s topography. Because of this same geography, Wilson Avenue terminated at Mason Boulevard, meaning there was no direct east-west crossing at Yonge Street as we know it today. In 1972, a project was undertaken to extend Wilson to meet with Yonge and York Mills Road.

To make this extension happen, a curved road was constructed from Wilson Avenue which then crossed Yonge Street and joined York Mills Road between Campbell Crescent and York Ridge Road. This meant the straight section of York Mills near Yonge Street was effectively separated from the main route, becoming “Old York Mills Road”. Today, Old York Mills houses a trailhead, a passenger pickup zone for York Mills Station, a condominium, and a church.

Old Kennedy Road

Year rerouted: ~1987

Kennedy Road just north of Toronto is a prime example of how of a noticeable curve in a street sometimes denotes a street was re-engineered. Kennedy existed in two separate sections north and south of Steeles Avenue, the Scarborough-Markham town line. The roads were about six hundred metres apart, meaning a northbound traveller from Scarborough had to jog east and then north again to continue into Markham. The area as a whole is and was known as Milliken, a historic community with the uncommon characteristic of existing within both municipalities.

In 1987, the two sections of Kennedy Road were connected by a curving road running north from Steeles which veered east to meet the Markham section of Kennedy just north of the newly created Denison Street. The circumstances behind the re-alignment were unclear, but given Kennedy Road’s history as a ‘highway’ in Scarborough and the tendency in and around Toronto to harmonize streets within bordering jurisdictions, it is easily conceived why the jog was removed.

The eastern section of Kennedy became “orphaned” and was renamed Old Kennedy. Old Kennedy stops at Denison and continues on as Fresno Court, which in turn ends at a cul de sac. A fence separates it and Kennedy Road. Old Kennedy Road is an interesting mix of industrial and residential, with several older-looking houses near Steeles, perhaps lending back to the days when it was a hub in the village of Milliken.

Old Finch Avenue

Year rerouted: ~1993

Finch Avenue in Scarborough is relatively straight for much of its course from the North York town line to the Pickering town line — except in its most eastern part. Where Finch passed through Staines Road, the street at one time did a triangular job around the CPR tracks (the detour seems to have been created in the 20th century).

Further along, Finch did another jog up Sewell’s Road before meandering across the Rouge River and around its valley. It continued straight toward Kirkham’s Road (today’s Meadowvale Road). As there is today, there was an uncleared section of land across to Beare Road, thus one would have to jog up again to Plug Hat Road and back down to reach Finch again. The street resumed once more on its way to the Pickering Border. This stretch of Finch between Sewells and Kirkham’s made up the historic community of Hillside which had a church, school, and mill. The village made up much of the Rouge lands today from Sheppard Avenue/Twyn Rivers to Steeles Avenue.

By the 1980s, changes came to Finch Avenue. Morningside Avenue curved from the south to meet Finch. Then, in or around 1993, the street was extended further north of Finch. This changed the alignment of the Finch/Staines intersection and effectively split Finch Avenue. Travellers moving east on Finch had to now follow the curving street north to Morningside Avenue and then curve back south via the same street. The east-west street on the other side was “Old Finch Avenue”, following the older, winding alignment. Because of this, the street bunks the trend of “old” streets which were leftover sections of the re-routed street; there is/was not ever a “newer” Finch Avenue that existed alongside the street. Old Finch terminates at Meadowvale Avenue; after Beare Road, it becomes Finch again and continues into Pickering for another eight kilometres.

“Star Trek Run” Toronto Star, June 3, 1978.
Source: Toronto Star Archives

Today, Old Finch is mostly known for its ‘haunted’ Bailey bridge and being the northern border of the Toronto Zoo, whose postal address is 361A Old Finch Avenue. The reconfiguration at Staines also facilitated the Morningside Heights neighbourhood.

The Older Finch Avenue

Year rerouted: 1977

Old Finch Avenue in the Rouge Valley was not the first Old Finch in the city. There was once a severed section of the street near Victoria Park in the old community of L’Amoreaux when the street was realigned directly across the Scarborough-North York border. This curved realignment eliminated a jog along the town line for east-west travellers. This Old Finch Avenue was closed in 1977; Pawnee Avenue roughly follows its old right of way.

For a Google map of “Old” Toronto Streets, click here.

If you have any information to add or have any stories from any of these locations, leave a comment below or email bob@scenesto.com!

A Quick History of Controversial Toronto Street Name Changes

Toronto’s street grid is over 200 years old by colonial standards and even older with its Aboriginal trails. There have been additions and extensions, widenings and improvements. They have also been named to reflect the city’s past and present and it values (by those who do the naming, that is) – and to help the postal service.

The city is not a static object and neither are street names. Revisions and renamings have been an understated part of Toronto’s history. However, not all street renamings — proposed and actual — have gone over well. What is the mainly reason for this opposition? Simply put: History and Tradition. Whether successful or not, these episodes in Toronto’s history inform us how the city operated and why Toronto’s geography is as it is today.

Here are seven examples of controversial street name changes:

Old and New St. Patrick Street

In 1917, modern Dundas Street was created by amalgamating and connecting several smaller streets. One of these roads was St. Patrick Street, which ran between McCaul Street and Bathurst Street.

One group opposed to changing St. Patrick to Dundas was the St. Patrick’s Old Boys’ Association, which attended the old St. Patrick’s School on William Street. The group deputed to City Council, but was unsuccessful. The story was not all bad as William Street was later renamed to St. Patrick Street to keep the tradition.

Mimico Mixups

In 1929, a dispute over the renaming of 54 Mimico streets spanned several council meetings. At issue, Toronto’s postal service requested the changes after Mimico and Long Branch were placed in the Toronto postal region. The difficulty was the added municipalities added duplicate street names to the region and potential confusion for postal workers. An ex-mayor attended a September 1929 council meeting arguing why the inclusion of ‘Mimico’ in the mailing addresses would not be sufficient enough for postal workers. Matters got heated in an October meeting when Mimico Mayor and Liberal candidate W.A. Edwards accused Minister of Health and Conservative candidate Dr. Godfrey of “insincerity” when Dr. Godfrey opposed the name changes when the mayor rejected Dr. Godfrey’s wish to have Stanley Avenue changed to Godfrey Crescent.

It is unclear whether the by-law change went through, but in the October council meeting, it was moved and seconded that a second reading for the proposed by-law change be conducted. The Mimico street grid remains generally intact since the 1920s, albeit with notable changes: Church Street is now Royal York Road, Salisbury Avenue is now Park Lawn Road, Brant Street is now Dalesford Avenue, and Winslow Avenue is now Douglas Avenue.

Long Branch Street Changes & Disappearances

In 1952, a ratepayers association in Etobicoke protested the changing of part of Lake Promenade Road to Island Road in Long Branch. Lake Promenade existed in two sections on either side of the main branch of Etobicoke Creek, running all the way to Applewood Creek. To eliminate confusion for postal workers, it was proposed for the western section of Lake Promenade be added to Island Rd, which it already connected to.

*1953 Aerial Image*
*Source: City of Toronto Archives*

Residents of Island Road did not like the idea as a recent storm severely damaged and condemned several homes on Lake Promenade and the association with that event to their properties was unwanted. The change ultimately took place by 1955, although it ultimately did not matter as the fallout of Hurricane Hazel caused the expropriation of homes on Island and Lake Promenade near Lake Ontario and Etobicoke Creek, as well as the complete removal of Lake Promenade west of Forty Second Street, James Street west of Forty Second Street, all of Forty Third Street, and Island Road parellel to the lake. Today, much of the area is parkland.

The Pioneers of Scarborough

In 1957, Scarborough Council was tasked with submitting a list of alternate names for 210 streets duplicated elsewhere in the City. Metropolitan Toronto was standardizing operations and services across the city in the decade, including eliminating duplicates of street names.

Confusion over postal delivery was again at issue, but names on the list included Brumwell St, Cornell Avenue, Harris Avenue, Kennedy Road, Little’s Road, Lennox Avenue, Muir Drive, and Paterson Avenue — streets named for Scarborough pioneers. Most streets seem to exist today, save for Lennox Avenue and Agincourt’s Paterson Avenue, which became Reidmount Avenue.

The Many Orioles

In 1958, duplication was at issue again in midtown Toronto with a proposal to rename the similarly named Oriole Crescent, Oriole Gardens, and Oriole Road. The names were to become Holmfield Crescent, Lower Canada Gardens, and Campus College Road, respectively.

Fifteen “angry” women of the three streets united to protest the move, even going as far as saying they’d be willing to go to jail for taking down the new signs if they ever went up. They cited the beauty, history, and fame of the “Oriole” name and the inconvenience it’d cause for people living on those streets to having to change addresses on documents. Ultimately, the names remained as they were and as they are today.

A Mega-Maxome Avenue

In 1962, Willowdale residents protested the renaming and merger of Halstead and Maxome Avenue to Harkness Street. The three streets were disjointed and together would “form a mile long thoroughfare north of Finch Avenue.”

A resident of Maxome, representing 37 others on the street, argued the historical naming of the street, which was honouring a surveyor who laid out the original blocks of the area. Ultimately, the proposal did not go through. Curiously, Halstead and Harkness have disappeared from the map, having the name Maxome Avenue instead. Today, Maxome has a windy course, like it was strung together from a few different streets, creating a mega-street of sorts.

North York Pioneers

In 1979, Scrace Hill Drive in North York was renamed to Skymark Drive, prompting the opposition of the Scrace family. The Scarces had historical roots in the Finch Avenue and Leslie Street area formerly known as L’Amoreaux, donating land for a church and cemetery, still standing today as Zion Church.

The family wrote North York Council a letter, outlining the connection and how several Scraces were even on North York Council. The street was renamed to Skymark after the development on the street, as the old street had a confusing spelling and was not easy to find. North York Controller Esther Shiner said the new name was “such a pretty name” and she would find something else to name after the Scraces. Of irony, Esther Shiner would later become the subject of a street herself.

Sources Cited

“Citizens Protest Against Change In Street Name.” The Globe, 9 Oct. 1952, p. 12.

“’Godfrey Crescent’ Causes Verbal Tilt At Mimico Council.” The Globe, 15 Oct. 1929, p. 16.

“Keep Traditions: Opposes Renaming Traditions.” The Globe, 6 Mar. 1957, p. 4.

“Petty Politics Involved In Changing Street Names.” The Toronto Daily Star, 15 Oct. 1929, p. 5.

“Sees Lakeshore Trustees ‘Trying to Hoodwink Us’.” The Toronto Daily Star, 9 Oct. 1952, p. 26.

“St. Patrick Old Boys Form Strong Body.” The Globe, 7 Apr. 1917, p. 21.

“Street Name Change Bruises Family Pride.” The Globe and Mail, 10 Dec. 1979, p. 4.

“Street Name Change Fought By Residents.” The Globe, 8 Feb. 1962, p. 4.

“Would Go To Jail: 15 Angry Women Save Their Street Names.” The Globe, 5 June 1958, p. 23.

A geographic history of a North York neighbourhood

Note: This article is written without any prior affiliation to or contextual knowledge of the history of the Highland Memory Gardens or the family farms of North York. Their inclusion is as a reference tool to show change.

This is Highland Memory Gardens. It is located near the intersection of Don Mills and Steeles Avenues, in Toronto’s north end. The development of this cemetery and its surrounding area is an interesting look into the creation and evolution of this inner suburbs.

This is the area around Highland Memory Gardens in 1860. Historically, the area consisted of lot 21 (at today’s Finch Avenue) to lot 25 (at Steeles Avenue) of the Third Concession East of Yonge Street (Leslie Street), which were generally 200-acre lots extending to the Fourth Concession East (Woodbine Avenue/Highway 404). Notably absent is a middle road (now Don Mills Road) between the two concession roads. The cemetery itself is located along the east side of the top half lot 23 and the bottom half of lot 24.

As seen this 1878 map, the area was part of the larger community of L’Amoreaux (also spelled L’Amaroux). The village crossed both sides of the North York-Scaborough townline, with its spine running along Finch Avenue and lots extending to Steeles and Sheppard Avenue.

The L’Amoreaux Post Office stood just west of Victoria Park Avenue on the south side of a lost section of Finch Avenue (it would be re-aligned through the townline in the 1970s). Further west, a Methodist Church and cemetery, a Temperance Hall, and School House stood near Leslie Street.

Cutting diagonally through the large block was a creek, now named Duncan Creek. It ran from near Leslie and Steeles (where its namesake’s farming lots stood) to its terminus near Victoria Park and Finch. It does not to seem to have been a major source of industry, compared to the adjacent Don River which hosted a number of mills. In the 1916 map below, the creek slinks its away across lots, although its course is a bit off compared to the earlier maps and later aerial photographs.

This 1954 aerial photograph is a visual of the area and tells us that even by this decade, the area still maintained its largely rural character. A more precise view of the creek is visible along with the greenery running along its course.

For the area plot that would become the Highland Memory Gardens, 1953 was last year it existed as farm fields. A key reference point is the small roadway leading from Woodbine Avenue to a farm near the banks of Duncan Creek. This roadway was the divisor between lots 23 and 24.

The cemetery found a home to the west of Woodbine Avenue, with an entrance leading off the street. The initial layout of the cemetery is a circular path. Some “offshooting” paths seem to laid out as well.

By 1956, an “arm” shoots off the southern half of the main circle, looping west to connect to the main roadway.

By the close of the decade, the layout of the cemetery increased more with off shoots on the north of the main circle.

In 1962, more acreage is added westward and a pond on the north east corner of the plot seems to be more completed. The lawns of the ground look to be landscaped. A tiny building, potentially the administrative centre, appears at the top of the lot.

The midpoint of the decade saw few geographic changes, but the notable start of residential development to the west of the creek.

By 1968, the cemetery expands again to the west. It would be its last major territorial expansion. The subdivision to the west of the creek appears complete, clearly stopping at the property line midway between Woodbine and Leslie.

By the start of the 1970s, development starts to grow to the south of the cemetery, replacing the longtime farm buildings. An early Don Mills Road begins to curl in from the the south as well as an early McNiccol Avenue slinks from west to east.

By 1973, the farm buildings near the creek are razed as the land is about to be filled in by housing. The creek itself disappears under the subdivision to the south of the cemetery. The land north of the cemetery also sees new subdivisions.

By 1976, Don Mills Road is completed, seemingly bending through the area to provide a second access point to the cemetery. Townhouses are built between the creek and Don Mills Road.

By the 1980s, Highland Memory Gardens took on the form seen today. Highway 404 was completed in the late 1970s replacing the former Woodbine Avenue right of way. With that, the main entrance to the cemetery shifted to Don Mills Road with the old entrance off Woodbine being built over. Several other buildings would later fill the northeast corner.

Today, Highland Memory Gardens is part of the Hillcrest Village neighbourhood of Toronto, an area roughly encompassed by Steeles Avenue, Finch Avenue, Leslie Street, and Victoria Park Avenue.

The Zion Church and Schoolhouse still stand today as 19th century reminders, but references to the area as L’Amoreaux are non-existent today. The post office and its street are gone, with the Old Finch Avenue closed in 1977 and Pawnee Avenue roughly replacing it as the two Finches were connected. (The L’Amoreaux name does live on in Scarborough, of course.)

There is a trail and parkland which follows Duncan Creek; the Seneca Newnham Campus, founded in the late 1960s, now runs over a buried portion of the creek. The property lines of the 40-acre Highland Memory Gardens reference the old concession lots, offering a forgotten link to the past.