Riverdale Park is a large park spanning the Lower
Don River
The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire.
Its ...
in
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 anch ...
,
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 C ...
, Canada, between
Cabbagetown to the west and
Broadview Avenue Broadview can refer to:
Places Australia
*Broadview, South Australia
Canada
*Broadview (electoral district), in Ontario
* Broadview (TTC), a Toronto subway station
* Broadview Avenue, a street in Toronto
* Broadview, Saskatchewan
United States
*B ...
in
Riverdale to the east.
Description
The park has recreational fields for
soccer,
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
, and
Ultimate on both sides of the river. There is also a swimming pool, tennis courts and outdoor hockey rink to the northeast, and a running track in the centre. A
footbridge
A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...
crosses the
Don Valley Parkway
The Don Valley Parkway (DVP) is a municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which connects the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto with Highway 401. North of Highway 401, it continues as Highway 404. The parkway ru ...
,
Bayview Avenue, the
Canadian National Railway Bala
subdivision tracks, and the river and joins the two sides of the valley as well as the Lower Don Recreational Trail that follows the river. The bridge is located near the site of a butternut tree bridge built by
Ely Playter that provided access to his property and mill around the 1790s. The bridge is depicted by
Elizabeth Simcoe
Dame Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe (22 September 1762 – 17 January 1850) was an English artist and Diary, diarist in Canada under British Imperial control (1764-1867), colonial Canada. Her husband, John Graves Simcoe, was the first Lieutenant Gove ...
's watercolour painting ''Playter's Bridge near York, ca. 1796''.
At the south-east corner of the park is
Bridgepoint Hospital and a monument to
Sun Yat-Sen. Immediately to the west of the park in Cabbagetown is
Riverdale Farm
Riverdale Farm is a municipally operated farm in the heart of Cabbagetown, an urban neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is maintained by Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division.
History
Between 1888 and 1974, this was the sit ...
, a city operated, publicly accessible farm.
In the summer, a free movie series takes place in the park. According to its website, "Everyone is welcome ~ Bring a picnic, friends and family to enjoy great PG rated films under the stars. All the films begin at dusk"
History
The land on the east side of the Don River was originally owned by
John Scadding
John Scadding (1754 – March 1, 1824) was an early settler in York, Upper Canada (now Toronto, Ontario, Canada). He is remembered for constructing the Scadding Cabin, which is now the oldest surviving building in Toronto. He served as a c ...
, one of the early settlers to Toronto and the estate manager and clerk for
John Graves Simcoe
John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British Army general and the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 until 1796 in southern Ontario and the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior. He founded Yor ...
, Governor of
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 th ...
.
John Scadding's cabin, built in 1794 just south of the present day park, was relocated to the grounds of the
Canadian National Exhibition
The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Canadian Labour Day ...
in 1879. of Scadding's farm property had been purchased by the City of Toronto in 1856 for the
Don Jail
The Don Jail was a jail in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located to the east of the Don River, on Gerrard Street East in the Riverdale neighbourhood. The original building was completed in 1864 and was reopened in 2013 to serve as the administrative ...
, and the rest of the lands opened as a park in 1880. The park acquired a
32-pounder cannon from
Quebec City
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...
and since relocated to
Marie Curtis Park
Marie Curtis Park is a public park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the mouth of the Etobicoke Creek on Lake Ontario in the Long Branch neighbourhood. Marie Curtis Park was built after the devastating floods of Hurricane Hazel in 19 ...
. More land was added later to bring the park up to in size, but the construction of the Don Valley Parkway in the 1960s reduced this to the current figure of . On Broadview Avenue east of the park is
John Cox Cottage
John Cox Cottage, at 469 Broadview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is the oldest known house in the city still used as a residence, and it still resides on its original site. The property, immediately to the east of what was John Scadding's orig ...
, an 1807 log home.
In 1886, road construction immediately east of the park uncovered artifacts of a First Nations settlement or encampment on the area above the valley. A small number of artifacts are on display in a display case at Withrow Avenue Junior Public School. A plaque is affixed to the main entrance of the school on Bain Avenue.
The eastern side of the park was also used as a landfill in the 1920s. A walk along Broadview Avenue shows the evidence of this in the form of green exhaust pipes to vent the methane gas from the former dump beneath the park.
In the 1970s, the park was the original site proposed for a new 40,000 seat stadium, a project that would eventually become
SkyDome. The plan was eventually abandoned, in part due to the strong objections of local Alderman
John Sewell
John Sewell (born December 8, 1940) is a Canadian politician and lawyer who served as the 58th mayor of Toronto from 1978 to 1980.
Background
Born and raised in the Beach neighbourhood, in Toronto, Sewell attended Malvern Collegiate Institut ...
.
In 1990, a grassy slope on the eastern side was planted with trees. This was the first public event hosted by the
Task Force to Bring Back the Don
The Task Force to Bring Back the Don was a citizen advisory committee that advised the city council of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on issues concerning the Don River and its watershed. It consisted of up to 20 citizen members and 3 council members. ...
. The slope is now moderately forested with trees averaging 3–4 metres in height. In 2002, Bring Back the Don created a small
marsh
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...
at the bottom of the slope. Water collects there from the slope as well as from adjacent playing fields. Other restoration projects include trees planted along a berm adjacent to the Don Valley Parkway.
References
External links
*
*
Bring Back the Don restoration projects in the parkHistoric sketches and photos from around the park and Riverdale Zoo
{{Parks and squares in Toronto
Don River (Ontario)
Parks in Toronto
First Nations sites in Toronto