The Summerhill neighbourhood in central 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...

 was named after 'Summer Hill' house, built in 1842 by Canadian transportation baron Charles Thompson.

Much of the area was once part of the Thompson estate but was subdivided by his heirs in the 1880s.

In the 1880s, the North Toronto Railway Station

Summerhill-North Toronto CPR Station

The North Toronto or Summerhill CPR Station is a former Canadian Pacific Railway station in Toronto, Canada, located on the east side of Yonge Street, approximately 250m south of the Summerhill TTC subway station...

 was established on Yonge Street

Yonge Street

Yonge Street is a major arterial route connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. It was formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at , and the construction of Yonge Street is designated an "Event of...

 and the neighbourhood of Summerhill quickly developed around it.

The Railway station was rebuilt in honour of a visit by the Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...

 (later Edward VIII

Edward VIII of the United Kingdom

Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...

) in 1916.

The neighbourhood underwent very little growth after the railway station closed in 1931 but was again revitalized by the launch of the Summerhill Subway station

Summerhill (TTC)

Summerhill is a station on the Yonge–University–Spadina line of the subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its address is 1189 Yonge Street, with the entrance actually being on Shaftesbury Avenue, which is at the north end of the station platforms...

 in 1954.

The old railway station is still there and currently serves as an LCBO outlet. The station, along with the still-operational CP

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

 railway bridge, is a landmark of the neighbourhood. As part of the provincial government's "MoveOntario 2020

MoveOntario 2020

MoveOntario 2020 is a plan proposed by the Government of Ontario that would fund 52 rapid-transit projects throughout the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area in Ontario, Canada.-History:...

" programme, plans are being considered to return the building to its original use as a train station, serving the planned GO Transit

GO Transit

GO Transit is an inter-regional public transit system in Southern Ontario, Canada. It primarily serves the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area conurbation, with operations extending to several communities beyond the GTHA proper in the Greater Golden Horseshoe...

Crosstown line.