Highland Creek is a neighbourhood in eastern

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. It is located along the southern portion of the river of the same name in the former suburb of

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

. To the east are the neighbourhoods of Port Union and West Rouge, to the west West Hill and Woburn, and to the south Centennial Scarborough. The western portion of the neighbourhood is occupied by the

University of Toronto Scarborough The University of Toronto Scarborough (abbreviated as U of T Scarborough or UTSC) is a division of the University of Toronto and one of its three campuses, located in the Scarborough, Ontario, Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ...

, a feature landmark in the area and a busy pedestrian centre. After the opening of the college, the neighbourhood was developed primarily into residential areas. Areas dominated by wildlife, which is located along the Highland Creek valley, were left alone. Some shops and a church exist along the commercial Old Kingston Road. The community is one of the most prestigious neighbourhoods in Scarborough with wide lot homes. Home prices are relatively expensive compared to other areas of Scarborough. This partly due to the location of the university.

History

Like many creeks and river valleys in Toronto, evidence of First Nations occupation has been found in this area. A 2005 excavation by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority near the mouth of Highland Creek found evidence of a Late Woodland or Early Archaic site, thought to have been a place of tool manufacture. The Helliwell family, one of the first settlers in the area, accumulated a large number of artifacts from the last 5,000 years. The Highland Creek area was one of the first areas to be occupied by European settlers in the area of what would later become the Township of Scarborough. This is mainly due to the presence of Highland Creek, the river that runs through the neighbourhood, whose valley is occupied by large trees and wildlife. During the 18th and early-19th centuries, the area was home to vast farmlands and homes. In 1954,

Hurricane Hazel Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest, second-costliest, and most intense hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm killed at least 469 people in Haiti before it struck the United States near the border between North and Sou ...

destroyed many dwellings in the area and contributed to the flooding of the creek. In 1963, the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

purchased the western part of the land from E. L. MacLean, who acquired the land from its original owner Miller Lash, a businessman from

Old Toronto Old Toronto is the part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that corresponds to the boundaries of the City of Toronto prior to 1998. It was incorporated as a city in 1834, after being known as the town of York, and being part of York County. Toronto ...

who built an estate on the land, now known as the Miller Lash House, in 1911. The university eventually built and opened the Scarborough College, which is today known as University of Toronto Scarborough, a satellite campus of the university. The campus was opened in 1965.

Education

Two

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

s operate elementary schools in Highland Creek, the separate Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), and the

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

Toronto District School Board The Toronto District School Board (TDSB), formerly known as English-language Public District School Board No. 12 prior to 1999, is the English-language public-secular school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The minority public-secular franco ...

(TDSB). TDSB operates three public elementary schools, Highland Creek, Meadowvale, and Morrish Public School. TCDSB operates one elementary school in the area, Cardinal Leger Catholic School. Neither TCDSB, or TDSB operate a

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

in the neighbourhood, with TCDSB/TDSB students residing in the neighbourhood attending secondary schools in adjacent areas. The French-

first language A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period hypothesis, critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' ...

public secular school board, Conseil scolaire Viamonde, and it separate counterpart, Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir also offer schooling to applicable residents of Highland Creek, although they do not operate a school in the neighbourhood, with CSCM/CSV students attending schools situated in other neighbourhoods in Toronto. Along with elementary schools, the area is also home to two public

post-secondary Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

institutions operate a campus in Highland Creek. Centennial College's Morningside Campus is located along Highland Creek's western boundary on Morningside Avenue. The

also operates a

satellite campus A satellite campus, branch campus or regional campus is a campus of a university or college that is physically at a distance from the original university or college area. This branch campus may be located in a different city, state, or country, ...

in the neighbourhood, the

Transportation

Centennial College Science Technology Centre

As it is located along Old Kingston Road, which was a former provincial highway that connected Toronto and

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

, it is home to some of the oldest buildings in Scarborough. Ontario Highway 2A runs just south of the neighbourhood's core. Other major roadways in the neighbourhood include

Meadowvale Road Meadowvale may refer to: Australia * Meadowvale, Queensland, a rural locality in the Bundaberg Region Canada *Meadowvale, Ontario Meadowvale is a large suburban district located in the northwestern part of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, just ...

, and Morningside Avenue, which also acts as the neighbourhood's western boundary.

Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian prov ...

is a major east–west controlled access highway that bisects Greater Toronto.

Public transit

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the primary public transport agency in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operating the majority of the city's transit bus, bus and rail services. It is the oldest and largest of the urban transit service providers ...

(TTC) bus route 38 is named after the neighbourhood and runs 7 days a week, between

Scarborough Centre station Scarborough Centre is a bus terminal station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving multiple bus routes of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and one Durham Region Transit (DRT) bus route. It was also a rapid transit station serving Line 3 Scarb ...

and the Rouge Hill GO Station, along

Ellesmere Road Ellesmere may refer to: Places Australia * Ellesmere, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland * the former name of Scottsdale, Tasmania, Australia Canada * Ellesmere Island, an Arctic island of Canada and named for Fr ...

, Military Trail, Lawson Road, and Port Union Road. 12 Kingston Road, 54 Lawrence East, 85 Sheppard East, 86 Scarborough, 95 York Mills, 116 Morningside, 905 Eglinton East Express, 954 Lawrence East Express, 986 Scarborough Express, and 995 York Mills Express also serve parts of the neighbourhood.

GO Transit GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven mil ...

commuter coach route 51, and Durham Region Transit routes 900 and 923 may be accessed at the University of Toronto Scarborough.

Amenities

Snappy Food Mart, located at the corner of Morrish Road and Ellesmere, where there is also a Toronto Public Library branch. The Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre serves the community and is owned by both the city of Toronto and the University of Toronto Scarborough.

References