Baby Point
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Baby Point is a residential neighbourhood in the
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
district of
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada. It is bounded on the west by the Humber River from south of Baby Point Crescent to St. Marks Road, east to
Jane Street Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fil ...
and Jane Street south to Raymond Avenue and Raymond Avenue west to the Humber. It is within the city-defined neighbourhood of 'Lambton-Baby Point.' Baby Point is within the proximity of
Jane station Jane is a subway station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located just north of Bloor Street West, spanning the block east of Jane Street to Armadale Avenue, with entrances from all three street ...
. The neighbourhood was at one time an Iroquois village, called
Teiaiagon Teiaiagon was an Iroquoian village on the east bank of the Humber River in what is now the York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was located along the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail. The site is near the current intersection of Jane Stree ...
. The village had a population of 5000 at its peak. The village was burnt to the ground in a French Army attack in 1687. In the 19th century, lawyer
James Baby James Duperon Bâby (August 25, 1763 – February 19, 1833) was a judge and political figure in Upper Canada. Biography He was born Jacques Bâby, the son of Jacques Bâby dit Duperon, to a prosperous family in Detroit in 1763. His last nam ...
bought the land from the Upper Canada government, which had bought it as part of the
Toronto Purchase The Toronto Purchase was the sale of lands in the Toronto area from the Mississaugas of New Credit to the British crown. An initial, disputed, agreement was made in 1787, in exchange for various items. The agreement was revisited in 1805, intend ...
. The land was developed into the current neighbourhood in the early 20th century. The name is pronounced by locals as "Bobby" or "Babby"to rhyme with tabby or cabbiein an approximation of how James Baby pronounced his surname.


History

The Baby Point enclave was originally a
Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...
and
Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans *Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people *Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been t ...
village, known as ''
Teiaiagon Teiaiagon was an Iroquoian village on the east bank of the Humber River in what is now the York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was located along the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail. The site is near the current intersection of Jane Stree ...
''. The village was abandoned before 1700 after the
Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...
drove out the Iroquois to lands south of Lake Ontario. For a short time, the Mississauga had a village at the site.
James Baby James Duperon Bâby (August 25, 1763 – February 19, 1833) was a judge and political figure in Upper Canada. Biography He was born Jacques Bâby, the son of Jacques Bâby dit Duperon, to a prosperous family in Detroit in 1763. His last nam ...
, pronounced 'Babby', was a member of a prominent
Franco-Ontarian Franco-Ontarians (french: Franco-Ontariens or if female, sometimes known as ''Ontarois'' and ''Ontaroises'') are Francophone Canadians that reside in the province of Ontario. Most are French Canadians from Ontario. In 2016, the Government of On ...
fur trading family and a former politician in
Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...
. He settled at Baby Point in 1816, after discovering the abandoned village. A lush apple orchard covered the area and
salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
swam in the Humber River making this a highly desirable area for settlement. Water from a fresh spring nearby was bottled and shipped worldwide. James Baby was a member of the Baby family which enslaved at least 17 black and indigenous people in the 18th and early 19th century in Canada. James Baby opposed Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe's effort to precipitately prohibit slavery in Upper Canada. Many streets in this neighbourhood (and still predominantly Caucasian) are named after this family. Baby's heirs lived at Baby Point until 1910, when the government acquired the land with the intention of establishing a military base and
barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...
at the site. The government eventually changed their plans and sold the land to a developer named Home Smith, who began developing a subdivision in 1912. Home Smith would later develop a residential area across the Humber,
The Kingsway Kingsway or King's Way may refer to: Places Australia *Kingsway, Glen Waverley, a shopping strip in Melbourne, Victoria Canada *Kingsway (Edmonton), a road in Edmonton, Alberta (aka Kingsway Avenue) *Kingsway (Vancouver), a road in Vancouver, Br ...
. The neighbourhood was part of the former
City of York The City of York is a unitary authority area with city status in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. The district's main settlement is York, and it extends to the surrounding area including the town of Haxby and the villages of E ...
before the
amalgamation of Toronto The amalgamation of Toronto was the creation of the city limits of Toronto, Ontario, Canada after amalgamating, annexing, and merging with surrounding municipalities since the 18th century. The most recent occurrence of amalgamation was in 1998 ...
in 1998. The area began as two independent municipalities. In 2010, local merchants formed the Baby Point Gates Business Improvement Area (a board under the City of Toronto) which runs along Jane St from Montye Ave in the north, to Lessard Ave in the south, and along Annette St from Jane St in the west, to Windermere Ave in the east. In July 2020 temporary plaques were placed on Baby Point Rd. and in front of the Baby Point Club informing the residents their neighbourhood is named in honour of an important local historical figure that fought to keep slavery and was a slave owner himself. It became a topic of social justice discussion on Twitter by local activists.


Character

Stone gates at the intersection of
Jane Street Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fil ...
and Baby Point Road mark the entrance to the Baby Point enclave. The gates were restored in 2011 by the Baby Point BIA. The homes are single-family detached. The average price of a home in the Baby Point area is valued at $2,400,800. Baby Point is situated on a peninsula of land—or a 'point' -- overlooking the Humber River. It is surrounded by ravines and parkland. The larger homes tend to back onto the Humber Valley ravine and are found along Baby Point Road and Baby Point Crescent, while the smaller homes are found near the Jane Street and Baby Point Road entrance. Most of the homes in the enclave were built in the 1920s and 1930s. In the center of the loop of Baby Point Road/Baby Point Crescent is the private Baby Point Club Park, used by the private Baby Point Club for tennis and lawn bowling.


Demographics

According to a 2019 statistics report, the Baby Point area had a population of 1,461 with a population density of 2,822 per square kilometre, 40% lower than Toronto as a whole. 79% of residents being married couples, 55% with children living at home, and the median age of the area resting at 41.2 years. Median earnings were at $160,206 per year, 110% higher than the national average. The unemployment rate is also 55% lower than the national average. Visible minority populations are lower than Toronto average with 3.6%
Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
, 3.3%
South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, ...
, 2.8%
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
. In 2016 Neighbourhood Profile, 69% of Lambton Baby Point residents had English as the Mother Tongue.


Notable residents

*
Conn Smythe Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe, MC (; February 1, 1895 – November 18, 1980) was a Canadian businessman, soldier and sportsman in ice hockey and horse racing. He is best known as the principal owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National ...
- owner and manager of the
Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...
, and his family, were long-time residents of Baby Point Road. *
Raymond Souster Raymond Holmes Souster (January 15, 1921 – October 19, 2012) was a Canadian poet whose writing career spanned over 70 years. More than 50 volumes of his own poetry were published during his lifetime, and he edited or co-edited a dozen volumes ...
- Canadian poet (often described as Toronto's unofficial poet laureate), lived for many years on Baby Point Road.


See also

*
List of neighbourhoods in Toronto The strength and vitality of the many neighbourhoods that make up Toronto, Ontario, Canada has earned the city its unofficial nickname of "the city of neighbourhoods." There are over 140 neighbourhoods officially recognized by the City of Toronto ...


References

*


External links


Baby Point Gates Business Improvement Area


{{authority control Neighbourhoods in Toronto First Nations sites in Toronto