Thorncliffe Park is a neighbourhood 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 Ca ...
, Canada, in the former
Borough of East York.
The City of Toronto recognizes Thorncliffe Park's boundaries as the
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 ...
on the south side;
Leaside Bridge
The Leaside Bridge, formerly the East York Leaside Viaduct, and officially commemorated as the Confederation Bridge, spans the Don River in the City of Toronto, Ontario. The Truss bridge carrying Millwood Road was built to connect the then Town o ...
, Millwood Road, and
Laird Drive on the west side; the
West Don River on the east side; and
Eglinton Avenue East on the north side.
History
The site of Thorncliffe Park was a farm owned by
Robert T. Davies, the wealthy founder of the Dominion Brewing Co. An avid participant in
horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...
, under the banner of
Thorncliffe Stable Thorncliffe Stable is a defunct Thoroughbred and Standardbred horse racing and breeding operation established in 1888 in Toronto, Ontario by businessman Robert T. Davies. The stable was based at Davies' Thorncliffe Farm in the Don River Valle ...
, he raced both
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...
and
Standardbred
The Standardbred is an American horse breed best known for its ability in harness racing, where members of the breed compete at either a trot or pace. Developed in North America, the Standardbred is recognized worldwide, and the breed can trace i ...
horses. After Davies' death in 1916 his estate sold the property to a group of investors from
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...
, who built the
Thorncliffe Park Raceway
Thorncliffe Park Raceway was a Toronto-area racetrack that operated from 1917 until 1952. It was located east of Millwood Road, south of Eglinton Avenue East and the CPR's railroad tracks. It was the first home of the Prince of Wales Stakes. The na ...
racetrack
A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...
. The track was home to
thoroughbred horse racing
Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...
and
harness racing
Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Austral ...
from 1917 until 1952 when it was sold for
real estate development
Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re- lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to other ...
. Today, the old racetrack site is commemorated by two streets named Grandstand Place and Milepost Place and the number of buildings that took on racetrack stable names like Churchill, Maple Glen and Wellow Glen.
The Thorncliffe Ski Jump, located west of the present day
Ontario Science Centre
The Ontario Science Centre, formally the Centennial Museum of Science and Technology, is a science museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located near the Don Valley Parkway about northeast of downtown on Don Mills Road just south of ...
, was opened by the Toronto Ski Club in January 1934 and operated until February 1941. Its last recorded event raised funds for the
Canadian Red Cross
The Canadian Red Cross Society ()[World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...]
.
In the 1950s, developers tore down the racetrack and created one of Toronto's first high-rise neighbourhoods. The neighbourhood embodies some standard
urban planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
ideas of the era – high concentrations of similar housing types, strict separation of retail and residential development, and the assumption that everyone has a car. Low-rise buildings are clustered inside the enclosure created by Thorncliffe Park and Overlea, while high-rise buildings line the outside of Thorncliffe Park. Retail establishments were concentrated in a single shopping mall, now called the
East York Town Centre
East York Town Centre is a neighbourhood shopping centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Overlea Boulevard in the Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood.
History
The shopping centre was opened to the public in 1960 as the Thorncliffe Market ...
, between the two arms of Thorncliffe Park Drive at Overlea Boulevard. Smaller retail and service plazas have recently opened along Overlea Boulevard. Many residents on Thorncliffe Park Drive are at considerable walking distance from shops, although this problem is mitigated somewhat, even in winter, by well kept sidewalks and walkways and by frequent bus service.
Street names
Some of Thorncliffe Park's street names commemorate a former racetrack located there, or recognize the Town of
Leaside's role in the development of the new community.
* Leaside Park Drive – named in 1966, six months before the Town of Leaside's amalgamation into the
Borough of East York.
* Beth Nealson Drive – named after
Beth Nealson
Beth Nealson ( – 1994) was a Canadian politician, community planner, and journalist. She was elected mayor of Leaside, Ontario, in 1962, making her the first woman mayor in Metropolitan Toronto. Known as "Mrs. Leaside", Nealson was also the ...
, the last mayor of the Town of Leaside.
* William Morgan Drive – named for Leaside's reeve from 1948 to 1950.
* Banigan Drive – named for an elected member of Town of Leaside's Council from 1951 to 1955. Banigan was defeated by Charles H. Hiscott in the
1955 election to replace retiring mayor Howard Burrell.
* Pat Moore Drive – named for a Thorncliffe Park resident and community advocate.
* Patriarch Bartholomew Way – recognizes the Toronto visit of the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians,
Bartholomew I of Constantinople
Bartholomew I ( el, Βαρθολομαῖος Αʹ, , tr, I. Bartholomeos; born 29 February 1940) is
the 270th archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch, since 2 November 1991. In accordance with his title, he is regarded as the '' ...
.
Demographics
According to the 2016 Census, Thorncliffe Park has a population of 21,108, a 9.79% increase from 2011. The top 10 non-English mother tongues are
(24.4%),
Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...
(5.1%),
Tagalog (Filipino) (4.7%),
Persian (4.6%),
Gujarati
Gujarati may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India
* Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat
* Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them
* Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...
(4.1%),
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
(3.5%),
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
(2%),
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
(1.5%),
Punjabi
Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan
* Punjabi language
* Punjabi people
* Punjabi dialects and languages
Punjabi may also refer to:
* Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...
(1.4%), and
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
(1.4%).
Infrastructure
Transportation
Public Transportation
Toronto Transit Commission
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and larges ...
buses operate in the community. When the new
Line 5 Eglinton
Line 5 Eglinton (also known as the Eglinton Crosstown or the Crosstown) is a light rail line that is under construction in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Metrolinx and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), the line will be part of ...
line opens, the 81 Thorncliffe Park and 88 South Leaside buses will connect to
Science Centre Station
Science Centre is an underground light rail transit (LRT) station and mobility hub under construction on Line 5 Eglinton, a new line that is part of the Toronto subway system. It will be located in the Flemingdon Park neighbourhood at the int ...
and
Laird Station, respectively.
Thorncliffe Park Station will be a new stop on the
Ontario Line, expected to open in 2030.
Metrolinx
Metrolinx is a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario that manages and integrates road and public transport in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), which comprises much of Ontario's Golden Horseshoe region. Headquartered at Union ...
is also building a
maintenance and storage facility in the neighbourhood. The project requires the relocation of culturally-significant amenities and services, resulting in community members calling for a redesign of the project locally.
Roads
The Overlea Bridge, formally known as the Charles H. Hiscott Bridge, was built in 1960 to cross the west branch of the Don River and connect Overlea Boulevard to Don Mills Road, linking Thorncliffe Park to
Flemingdon Park
Flemingdon Park is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the city's North York district. It is part of the Don Valley East federal and provincial electoral districts, and Ward 26: Don Valley East (South) municipally. In 2011, it ...
. The bridge was named for former mayor of
Leaside Charles Henry Hiscott (1956 to 1961).
Reconstruction is planned for the 2022-2025 period as part of the Renewing Overlea Boulevard project and will included widened sidewalks, the addition of cycle tracks and public art.
Education
Schools operated by the
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 ...
in Thorncliffe Park include Thorncliffe Park Public School, Fraser Mustard Early Learning Academy, Valley Park Middle School, and
Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute
Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute (Marc Garneau CI, MGCI or Garneau), formerly known as Overlea Secondary School, is a high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and part of the Toronto District School Board. It is the host school of the Talented Off ...
.
Recreation
Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation (PF&R) manages the Jenner Jean-Marie Community Centre and is responsible for the maintenance of R.V. Burgess Park, Leaside Park and Outdoor Pool, and
E.T. Seton Park, which is a part of the
Toronto Ravine System
The Toronto ravine system is a distinctive feature of the city's geography, consisting of a network of deep ravines, which forms a large urban forest that runs through most of Toronto. The ravine system is the largest in any city in the world, w ...
. The Thorncliffe branch of the
Toronto Public Library
Toronto Public Library (TPL) (french: Bibliothèque publique de Toronto) is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2008 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other pub ...
operates in the neighbourhood. Leaside Park is home to the Thorncliffe Park Tennis Club.
In culture
The neighbourhood has been depicted in the films ''
Arrowhead
An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, as well as to fulfill some special purposes such as sign ...
'' and ''
Concrete Valley''.
Notable people
*
Michael Bliss
John William Michael Bliss (1941–2017) was a Canadian historian and author. Though his early works focused on business and political history, he subsequently authored several important medical biographies, including of Sir William Osler. Blis ...
, historian, author and Officer of the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the cen ...
.
*
True Davidson
Jean Gertrude "True" Davidson, CM (19 April 1901 – 18 September 1978), was a Canadian politician, teacher, and writer. She was the first mayor of the Borough of East York, Ontario, and she was one of Metropolitan Toronto's most colourful polit ...
, former
mayor of East York.
*
William Dennison, former
mayor of Toronto
The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; there are no term limits. While in ...
.
*
Peter Lynch
Peter Lynch (born January 19, 1944) is an American investor, mutual fund manager, and philanthropist. As the manager of the Magellan Fund at Fidelity Investments between 1977 and 1990, Lynch averaged a 29.2% annual return, consistently more ...
, Canadian filmmaker.
*
Robert Baird McClure, medical missionary and
Moderator of the United Church of Canada
The Moderator of the United Church of Canada is the most senior elected official within the United Church of Canada. He or she may be a lay person or a member of the Order of Ministry and is elected to a three-year term by commissioners attend ...
.
*
Beth Nealson
Beth Nealson ( – 1994) was a Canadian politician, community planner, and journalist. She was elected mayor of Leaside, Ontario, in 1962, making her the first woman mayor in Metropolitan Toronto. Known as "Mrs. Leaside", Nealson was also the ...
, former
mayor of Leaside.
*
Alan Redway
Alan Redway, (born 11 March 1935) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician.
After a career in municipal politics culminating in the role of mayor of East York, a borough of Metropolitan Toronto, Redway entered federal politics. He was elect ...
, former
mayor of East York, and former Member of Parliament for
Don Valley East
Don Valley East (french: Don Valley-Est) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada that covers the northeast section of the North York part of Toronto. The federal riding was created in 1976 from parts of Willowdale, York East, Yor ...
and
York East
York East was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada at different times. It was located in the province of Ontario.
History
The first federal riding of York East was created by the British North America Act of ...
.
References
External links
Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood profile data (City of Toronto)Tales from the towers- a 10 Part series on Thorncliffe Park - Globe & Mail 2003
A food tour of Thorncliffe Park- Toronto Star - Feb 27, 2008
{{authority control
Neighbourhoods in Toronto
Ethnic enclaves in Ontario