Scarborough Junction is a neighbourhood in the Scarborough

Scarborough, Ontario

Scarborough is a dissolved municipality within the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it comprises the eastern part of Toronto. It is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the west by Victoria Park Avenue, on the north by Steeles Avenue East, and on the east by the Rouge River...

 district of 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

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is bordered by Birchmount Road, Brimley Road

Brimley Road

Brimley Road is a north-south street in Scarborough and York Region, Ontario, Canada. The road carries 32000 vehicles daily as of May 2007 and is classified as a major arterial road by the city of Toronto....

, Eglinton Avenue

Eglinton Avenue

Eglinton Avenue, originally known as the Richview Sideroad within Etobicoke, is an east-west arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga, in the Canadian province of Ontario. Within Toronto, Eglinton Avenue is the only road which crosses through all six former boroughs...

, and St. Clair Avenue

St. Clair Avenue

St. Clair Avenue is a major east-west street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was laid out in the late 18th century by the British as a concession road , north of Bloor Street and north of Queen Street....

.

History

The first European settlement in the area was the town of Strangford established at what is today the intersection of Victoria Park and St. Clair in 1863. Another small town named Mortlake was established in 1865. The town's main building, the Halfway House Hotel survives today at Black Creek Pioneer Village

Black Creek Pioneer Village

Black Creek Pioneer Village is a historic site in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, just west of York University and southeast of the Jane and Steeles intersection. It overlooks Black Creek, a tributary of the Humber River. The village is a recreation of life in 19th-century Ontario and gives an idea how...

 where it was moved in 1962. The small farming communities changed when the area became the meeting point of two major railways. The Grand Trunk Railway

Grand Trunk Railway

The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...

 lay track through the area in 1856 and the Toronto and Nipissing Railway

Toronto and Nipissing Railway

The Toronto and Nipissing Railway was chartered in 1868 to build a narrow gauge railway in Ontario, Canada from Toronto to Lake Nipissing, via York, Ontario, and Victoria Counties. It opened in 1871, with service between Scarborough and Uxbridge. By December 1872 it was extended to Coboconk...

 arrived in 1873. The business of the area changed from farming to supporting travelers and maintaining the railroads. The two towns Strangford and Mortlake merged into Scarborough Junction. By 1896 Scarborough Junction became the most populated of all the villages with the Township of Scarborough.

The post-World War II years saw Scarborough Junction become one of the first areas of Scarborough to be transformed into modern suburbs. Its major road and rail lines made for easy travel to the city.

Further reading