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Davenport is a neighbourhood northwest of downtown in
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 north of the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks and Dupont Avenue and south of Davenport Road and the ridge that is the former Lake Iroquois coastline. Its eastern boundary is Bathurst Street and it stretches west to Lansdowne Avenue. It is contained within the larger city-recognized neighbourhood of Corso Italia-Davenport. The neighbourhood lends its name to federal, provincial and
municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...
ridings that cover it and a number of neighbouring areas.


History

Davenport Road follows a centuries old carrying trail the First Nations peoples used to travel the route south of the ridge. It was also an important route by the early European settlers to the region and the area that is today Davenport became home to small farms in the early nineteenth century. One of the first settlers was Ensign John McGill, who built a home he named Davenport in 1797. This was named after Major Davenport, another local officer, and is the origin of the area's name (the name Davenport is of Norman French origin: Dauen-port meaning "the town on the trickling stream"). In 1861 the Northern Railway ran a rail line to the south of Davenport Rd and built a station in the area which they named Davenport. A small village, also named Davenport, grew up around the station. In 1889 the village merged with the nearby Carleton Village and West Toronto Junction to form the town of Toronto Junction. In 1909 this was annexed to the city of Toronto itself. Like the rest of the area known as The Junction in the early twentieth century the presence of the railway led to the industrialization of the area and many small plants and factories were set up in the area along the tracks. The residential areas to the north became home to the working class population that worked there, especially Italian Canadians, who dominated the neighbourhood and the nearby Corso Italia by the 1950s. It today remains home to many Italian and Portuguese residents, but since the departure of most of the factories in the 1970s and 1980s the area has been somewhat
gentrified Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has been us ...
taking on some of the characteristics of nearby areas like
the Annex The Annex is a neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The traditional boundaries of the neighbourhood extend north to Dupont Street, south to Bloor Street, west to Bathurst Street (Toronto), Bathurst Street and east to Avenue Road, ...
. New townhouse developments have been built in the area replacing former factories and warehouses. Today, the neighborhood is largely Portuguese with sizable
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
,
Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...
,
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
, and Chinese populations.


Landmarks

*Tollkeeper's Cottage (built c.1830) *Garrison Creek


References


External links


Lost Rivers - Davenport
{{authority control Neighbourhoods in Toronto