High Park North
Encyclopedia
High Park North, or often, simply 'High Park', after the park
, is a neighbourhood in Toronto
, Ontario
, Canada. It is bounded on the south by Bloor Street
, on the west by Runnymede Road, on the north by Annette Street, Quebec Avenue and Humberside Avenue, and on the east by the CNR/CPR railway tracks. It is located in the Parkdale-High Park provincial and federal ridings. The area east of Keele Street is also known as the "West Bend" neighbourhood informally.
High Park North is mainly residential, containing many semi-detached homes built in the early 20th century. North of High Park
, the neighbourhood has several high-rise apartment buildings, built after the construction of the Bloor-Danforth subway.
Bloor Street is the main east-west thoroughfare. It is a four-lane road and is commercial in with storefront-type businesses with residential second and third storeys. North-south roads include Keele Street
and Dundas Street
. Both are primarily residential within the neighbourhood.
The oldest residential houses in High Park North were built in the late 1800s and early 1900s and are mostly Victorian
, Edwardian
and Tudor-style
. The houses are typically two- and three-storey, built with detached brick. Among remarkable architectural details and ornaments are leaded and stained glass
windows, lush wood trims, French doors, hardwood doors, and fireplaces.
Condominium buildings are located on Gothic, High Park, and Quebec Avenues near Bloor. They offer views of the park and from some balconies, Lake Ontario
can be seen as well.
Annette Public School
Annette is a public elementary school. It shares its space with High Park Alternate School.
High Park Alternate School Jr
High Park Alternate shares its space with Annette School on Annette Street.
Humberside Collegiate Institute
Humberside is a large public high school
located on Quebec Avenue at the intersection of Humberside Avenue.
Indian Road Crescent Junior School
Indian Road Crescent Junior School is located in the Junction Area of Toronto, east of Annette and Keele Streets. The original school, located to the north of the current building, was built in 1901. It was originally called Western Avenue Public School and was built on one of the transportation routes used by our native peoples. The new school was built in 1964. Indian Road Crescent serves students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 6.
The school is also home to an Ontario Family Resource/Parenting Centre
Keele Street Community School and Community Centre
Keele is a public elementary school which shares its space with a community centre. It is located along the west side of Keele Street north of Bloor Street.
Western Technical-Commercial School
Western Tech is a large high school located on Evelyn Crescent north-west of High Park.
Catholic Schools
St. Cecilia School is an elementary school located on Annette Street. It offers a Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8 program.
Father Joseph McCann, a priest at St. Helen's Church, purchased land on Edwin Avenue in November 1887 to establish a new Catholic church and school. Originally the parish was to be named after St. Charles. According to historical records, however, the first school—a small wooden structure—was named St.Mary's.
In 1890 the school was replaced with a brick building and renamed St.Cecilia's. Legend has it that St. Cecilia, the patron saint of sacred music, was chosen as the new name because the Heintzman Piano
factory stood in view, across the railway tracks, from the school. The present St. Cecilia's Church, at the corner of Annette Street and Pacific Avenue, was opened in 1909, replacing a smaller structure first occupied in 1895. Father Eugene Gallagher was the pastor.
The present St. Cecilia Catholic School at the corner of Annette Street and Evelyn Avenue opened in 1914 with additions in 1918, 1954 and 1964. The school's first teachers and administrators were the Loretto Nuns, who lived in the former Heintzman family residence at Annette and Laws Streets, providing another musical connection with St. Cecilia.
, housed in a renovated heritage building built in 1930, is located within High Park North at Bloor Street West and Glendonwynne Road. The Annette branch of the TPL is located to the northeast of the neighbourhood at Annette and Medland.
. High Park Avenue in particular was the site of many early homes of the Junction wealthy, as was modern Evelyn Crescent; many of these houses are still standing. High Park North emerged as a neighbourhood once Bloor Street was widened and evened out following World War I, when most of the residential homes which still exist today were built.
In 1915, Bloor Street was the site of a major public works at the north-west corner of High Park. The street, west of High Park Avenue, was crossed by creeks that emptied into Grenadier Pond. The creek banks were steep, making the roadway treacherous and difficult for traffic. A rail trestle was built to cross the gap at a level of 60 feet. The rails were used for rail cars to dump soil around the trestle. The trestle was completely buried and the present Bloor Street roadway built on top. Existing north-south roadways connecting to Bloor Street were raised to meet the new level of Bloor Street and this facilitated the development of the neighbourhood.
In the 1960s, the area directly north of High Park was the site of 'block-busting' development. After the construction of the Bloor-Danforth subway line in the 1960s, the nearby residences on High Park Avenue, Quebec Avenue and Gothic Avenue were bought up by developers, razed and large apartment buildings were built. The area from north of the subway line to Glenlake Avenue is now almost entirely high-rise towers. At the time, the City government was very much pro-development, and there were no local ratepayer/community associations as is seen today. Local City alderman Ben Grys, along with his wife, owned properties on Gothic Avenue and voted to approve the apartment project on the site before his family's land holdings were revealed by John Sewell
through a search of local property tax rolls. Under vague conflict-of-interest guidelines, Grys continued as alderman until he was defeated in the following municipal election. Grys sued Sewell over Sewell's attempt to remove him but eventually withdrew his case when it became clear that Sewell would get access to further information about his business dealings. By the 1970s, local residents formed associations in harmony with new reform Council members, partly to fight the block-busting north of High Park.
The desirability of living close to High Park and the subway keeps developers operating in the neighbourhood, although not on the scale of the past. In the first decade of the 2000s, a condominium development was built on the site of a former gas station on the south side of Bloor Street, overlooking High Park on the landfill of the former bridge over Wendigo Creek.
One block east of High Park Avenue, between Pacific and Oakmount, a block of Edwardian-era homes has been purchased for demolition. The area will be the site of a condominium development overlooking High Park. A tenant of one of the homes remained while the other homes became vacant and boarded up until eviction in 2010, much like the block-busting of the 1960s and 1970s. This is the first block of older homes directly on Bloor Street, facing High Park, to be demolished for apartment building.
, Keele
and High Park
stations of the Bloor-Danforth TTC subway line. The TTC operates local buses out of each station.
High Park
High Park is a municipal park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It spans , and is a mixed recreational and natural park, with sporting facilities, cultural facilities, educational facilities, gardens, playgrounds and a zoo. One third of the park remains in a natural state, with a rare oak savannah ecology...
, is a neighbourhood in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada. It is bounded on the south by Bloor Street
Bloor Street
Bloor Street is a major east–west residential and commercial thoroughfare in Toronto, in the Canadian province of Ontario. Bloor Street runs from the Prince Edward Viaduct westward into Mississauga, where it ends at Central Parkway. East of the viaduct, Danforth Avenue continues along the same...
, on the west by Runnymede Road, on the north by Annette Street, Quebec Avenue and Humberside Avenue, and on the east by the CNR/CPR railway tracks. It is located in the Parkdale-High Park provincial and federal ridings. The area east of Keele Street is also known as the "West Bend" neighbourhood informally.
Character
High Park
High Park is a municipal park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It spans , and is a mixed recreational and natural park, with sporting facilities, cultural facilities, educational facilities, gardens, playgrounds and a zoo. One third of the park remains in a natural state, with a rare oak savannah ecology...
, the neighbourhood has several high-rise apartment buildings, built after the construction of the Bloor-Danforth subway.
Bloor Street is the main east-west thoroughfare. It is a four-lane road and is commercial in with storefront-type businesses with residential second and third storeys. North-south roads include Keele Street
Keele Street
Keele Street is a north-south road in Toronto and York Region in Ontario, Canada. It stretches 47km, running from Bloor Street in Toronto to the Holland Marsh. South of Bloor Street, the roadway is today known as Parkside Drive, but was originally part of Keele Street...
and Dundas Street
Dundas Street (Toronto)
Dundas Street, also known as Highway 5 west of Toronto, is a major arterial road connecting the centre of that city with its western suburbs and southwestern Ontario beyond...
. Both are primarily residential within the neighbourhood.
The oldest residential houses in High Park North were built in the late 1800s and early 1900s and are mostly Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
, Edwardian
Edwardian architecture
Edwardian architecture is the style popular when King Edward VII of the United Kingdom was in power; he reigned from 1901 to 1910, but the architecture style is generally considered to be indicative of the years 1901 to 1914....
and Tudor-style
Tudor architecture
The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...
. The houses are typically two- and three-storey, built with detached brick. Among remarkable architectural details and ornaments are leaded and stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows, lush wood trims, French doors, hardwood doors, and fireplaces.
Condominium buildings are located on Gothic, High Park, and Quebec Avenues near Bloor. They offer views of the park and from some balconies, Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
can be seen as well.
Schools
Public SchoolsAnnette Public School
Annette is a public elementary school. It shares its space with High Park Alternate School.
High Park Alternate School Jr
High Park Alternate shares its space with Annette School on Annette Street.
Humberside Collegiate Institute
Humberside Collegiate Institute
Humberside Collegiate Institute is a public high school located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It serves the Bloor West Village, High Park North and Junction neighbourhoods. Humberside was established in 1892 and has an academic program for students in grades 9 through 12...
Humberside is a large public high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
located on Quebec Avenue at the intersection of Humberside Avenue.
Indian Road Crescent Junior School
Indian Road Crescent Junior School is located in the Junction Area of Toronto, east of Annette and Keele Streets. The original school, located to the north of the current building, was built in 1901. It was originally called Western Avenue Public School and was built on one of the transportation routes used by our native peoples. The new school was built in 1964. Indian Road Crescent serves students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 6.
The school is also home to an Ontario Family Resource/Parenting Centre
Keele Street Community School and Community Centre
Keele is a public elementary school which shares its space with a community centre. It is located along the west side of Keele Street north of Bloor Street.
Western Technical-Commercial School
Western Technical-Commercial School
Western Technical-Commercial School ' is a high school in the High Park North neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada. It shares the same building with Ursula Franklin Academy and The Student School. Originally two schools when it was opened, Western Technical and Western Commercial, the present school is...
Western Tech is a large high school located on Evelyn Crescent north-west of High Park.
Catholic Schools
St. Cecilia School is an elementary school located on Annette Street. It offers a Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8 program.
Father Joseph McCann, a priest at St. Helen's Church, purchased land on Edwin Avenue in November 1887 to establish a new Catholic church and school. Originally the parish was to be named after St. Charles. According to historical records, however, the first school—a small wooden structure—was named St.Mary's.
In 1890 the school was replaced with a brick building and renamed St.Cecilia's. Legend has it that St. Cecilia, the patron saint of sacred music, was chosen as the new name because the Heintzman Piano
Heintzman & Co.
Heintzman & Co. Ltd was a celebrated Canadian piano manufacturer, based in the Toronto area, whose instruments retain a reputation for quality of workmanship and fineness of tone.- History :...
factory stood in view, across the railway tracks, from the school. The present St. Cecilia's Church, at the corner of Annette Street and Pacific Avenue, was opened in 1909, replacing a smaller structure first occupied in 1895. Father Eugene Gallagher was the pastor.
The present St. Cecilia Catholic School at the corner of Annette Street and Evelyn Avenue opened in 1914 with additions in 1918, 1954 and 1964. The school's first teachers and administrators were the Loretto Nuns, who lived in the former Heintzman family residence at Annette and Laws Streets, providing another musical connection with St. Cecilia.
Institutions
The Runnymede Branch of the Toronto Public LibraryToronto Public Library
Toronto Public Library is a public library system based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest public library system in Canada and in 2008, had averaged a higher...
, housed in a renovated heritage building built in 1930, is located within High Park North at Bloor Street West and Glendonwynne Road. The Annette branch of the TPL is located to the northeast of the neighbourhood at Annette and Medland.
History
High Park North falls entirely within the boundaries of the town of Toronto Junction, which was purchased from the Keele estate in 1882 by Daniel Clendenan who subdivided the farm and racetrack for a residential district (now called High Park North) to serve the Junction commercial district. As Bloor Street was still an uneven and a mostly undeveloped street, early housing in the area was concentrated to the north and east, where it was easier to access the stores and industry along Dundas StreetDundas Street (Toronto)
Dundas Street, also known as Highway 5 west of Toronto, is a major arterial road connecting the centre of that city with its western suburbs and southwestern Ontario beyond...
. High Park Avenue in particular was the site of many early homes of the Junction wealthy, as was modern Evelyn Crescent; many of these houses are still standing. High Park North emerged as a neighbourhood once Bloor Street was widened and evened out following World War I, when most of the residential homes which still exist today were built.
In 1915, Bloor Street was the site of a major public works at the north-west corner of High Park. The street, west of High Park Avenue, was crossed by creeks that emptied into Grenadier Pond. The creek banks were steep, making the roadway treacherous and difficult for traffic. A rail trestle was built to cross the gap at a level of 60 feet. The rails were used for rail cars to dump soil around the trestle. The trestle was completely buried and the present Bloor Street roadway built on top. Existing north-south roadways connecting to Bloor Street were raised to meet the new level of Bloor Street and this facilitated the development of the neighbourhood.
In the 1960s, the area directly north of High Park was the site of 'block-busting' development. After the construction of the Bloor-Danforth subway line in the 1960s, the nearby residences on High Park Avenue, Quebec Avenue and Gothic Avenue were bought up by developers, razed and large apartment buildings were built. The area from north of the subway line to Glenlake Avenue is now almost entirely high-rise towers. At the time, the City government was very much pro-development, and there were no local ratepayer/community associations as is seen today. Local City alderman Ben Grys, along with his wife, owned properties on Gothic Avenue and voted to approve the apartment project on the site before his family's land holdings were revealed by John Sewell
John Sewell
John Sewell, CM is a Canadian political activist and writer on municipal affairs; he was the mayor of Toronto, Ontario from 1978 to 1980.-Background:...
through a search of local property tax rolls. Under vague conflict-of-interest guidelines, Grys continued as alderman until he was defeated in the following municipal election. Grys sued Sewell over Sewell's attempt to remove him but eventually withdrew his case when it became clear that Sewell would get access to further information about his business dealings. By the 1970s, local residents formed associations in harmony with new reform Council members, partly to fight the block-busting north of High Park.
One block east of High Park Avenue, between Pacific and Oakmount, a block of Edwardian-era homes has been purchased for demolition. The area will be the site of a condominium development overlooking High Park. A tenant of one of the homes remained while the other homes became vacant and boarded up until eviction in 2010, much like the block-busting of the 1960s and 1970s. This is the first block of older homes directly on Bloor Street, facing High Park, to be demolished for apartment building.
Transportation
The neighbourhood is served by the Dundas WestDundas West (TTC)
Dundas West is a station on the Bloor–Danforth line in Toronto, Canada. It now ranks as the 29th busiest station in the system. Its postal address is 1525 Bloor Street West; the main entrance, however, is on Dundas Street, at the corner of Edna Avenue...
, Keele
Keele (TTC)
Keele is a station on the Bloor–Danforth line of the subway system in Toronto, Canada. It is located at 1733 Bloor Street West at Keele Street/Parkside Drive...
and High Park
High Park (TTC)
High Park is a station on the Bloor–Danforth line of the subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 1874 Bloor Street West at Quebec Avenue, near High Park Avenue. It was opened in 1968.-Station description:...
stations of the Bloor-Danforth TTC subway line. The TTC operates local buses out of each station.
External links
- High Park North neighbourhood profile
- The West Toronto Junction Historical Society maintains archives of historical documents, pictures and other information about the neighbourhood's past.