Lakeview is a neighbourhood in

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

in the Region of Peel, centred on Lakeshore Road in the extreme southeastern corner of the city, along the shore of

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

, between the larger neighbourhood of

Port Credit Port Credit is a neighbourhood in the south-central part of the City of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, located at the mouth of the Credit River on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Its main intersection is Hurontario Street and Lakeshore Road, a ...

to the west and the Long Branch neighbourhood of

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 ...

to the east. Lakeview was known for the 4 Sisters, the four smokestacks of the former Lakeview Generating Station. They were called the 4 Sisters because the generating plant actually had eight boilers and two boilers were 'sistered' to a common stack. The generating station was demolished in 2007, about a year after the four stacks were demolished, which occurred on the morning of June 12, 2006. At 493 ft each they were easily the tallest structures in the area. Along the shore of Lake Ontario, Lakeview is the home of the Port Credit Yacht Club, Lakefront Promenade Marina, Arthur P. Kennedy Water Treatment Plant, and G. E. Booth (Lakeview) Wastewater Treatment Plant. The area is also home to the Lakeview Branch Library, and two high schools: Cawthra Park Secondary School, and St. Paul Secondary School. (A third, Gordon Graydon Memorial Secondary School, closed.) Many parks run along Lake Ontario, including lit baseball diamonds used by many junior leagues.

History

Lakeview is within the Mississauga Purchase of 1806, lands acquired by the Crown from the

Mississauga First Nation Mississauga First Nation, also spelt Mississaugi, is one of the six First Nations that make up the Mississauga Nations. It is located directly west of Blind River, Ontario, Canada, on the Mississagi River 8 Reserve.Colonel Samuel Smith had acquired in 1801 in neighbouring

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district and former city within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west end, Etobicoke is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the east by the Humber River (Ontario), Humber River, on the ...

. The area later became Toronto Township which was restructured into the Town of Mississauga in 1968. Lakeview was the site of the Long Branch Armory, which included a rifle range, training facilities and the Long Branch Aerodrome, the first commercial air training

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

in Canada. The airport was run by the Curtiss Aviation School, and was located west of the namesake Long Branch neighbourhood in Toronto. The Lakeview location is documented by the presence of Aviation Road running south off Lakeshore Road just west of Cawthra Road. The site is further acknowledged by a historic plaque. The site was home for several arms and munitions manufacturing plants during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. One large munitions factory in Lakeview was staffed almost exclusively by women during the war.

Long Branch Aerodrome

The Long Branch Aerodrome was a 100-acre airfield located on Lakeshore Road just west of Dixie Road. The Long Branch Aerodrome has the distinction of being the first Aerodrome in Canada and home to Canada's first aviator training school. It opened on May 20, 1915, by Curtiss Aeroplanes and Motors Company for the Royal Flying Corps. Aircraft such as the Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" soon became a common sight at the airfield, which included three aircraft hangars. In January 1917, the newly designated Royal Flying Corps, Canada, the forerunner to the Royal Canadian Air Force, opened the RFC Training Centre at Long Branch. The Long Branch training centre also provided instruction on flying boats at nearby Hanlan's Point on the

Toronto Islands The Toronto Islands are a chain of 15 small islands in Lake Ontario, south of mainland Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the ...

, the first seaplane base in Canada. By July 1917, the flight school relocated to the Armour Heights Aerodrome. Long Branch became the Cadet Ground Training School for the Royal Flying Corps. Both the school and the aerodrome closed in 1919. During World War II, the former aerodrome served initially as Non-Permanent Active Militia's No 21 Training Centre and then as an army small arms training centre (Long Branch Rifle Ranges). After the war, the Lakeview Armoury was established on the site but was demolished in the 1950s. Not the slightest trace remains of the airfield today. From 1962 - 2005, the waterfront portion of the property was the location of Ontario Power Generation's Lakeview Generating Station. In September 1969, a plaque was erected at the site to commemorate Canada's first Aerodrome.

Small Arms Limited, Long Branch Arsenal

Adjacent to the west side of Marie Curtis Park (now Marie Curtis Park West or Lakeshore Park) in Lakeview is the former site of the Small Arms Limited Long Branch Arsenal. The Federal Government had owned the lands south of Lake Shore Road, between the Etobicoke River to just west of Cawthra Road, from the late 1800s into the early 20th-Century. The first land purchase was made in 1889 for a rifle range, to replace the one at New Fort York. The military use was expanded for World War I, becoming the summer quarters for several regiments and a staging area for troops to go overseas. The Ordnance Branch of the

Department of National Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

authorized the construction of a factory on the site in 1940. After transfer to the Department of Munitions and Supply, a

Crown corporation Crown corporation () is the term used in Canada for organizations that are structured like private companies, but are directly and wholly owned by the government. Crown corporations have a long-standing presence in the country, and have a sign ...

, Small Arms Limited, was formed to operate the facility. By June 1941, the first five rifles had been produced. Huge quantities of British-pattern military

small arms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

were manufactured there during the Second World War, including the No.4 MkI*

Lee–Enfield The Lee–Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the standard service rifle of th ...

bolt-action rifle, and the

Sten The STEN (or Sten gun) is a British submachine gun chambered in 9×19mm which was used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II and during the Korean War. The Sten paired a simple design with a low production co ...

submachine gun (or machine-carbine). Small Arms Ltd. ceased operations at the end of December 1945. Beginning January 1, 1946, operations continued as the Small Arms Division, Canadian Arsenals Limited (CAL) a new Crown corporation under the Department of Supply and Services. CAL was created as Canada planned to wind down arms manufacturing and focus on in- service support of the Canadian Army equipment and planned to lease out space at the plant to non- arms tenants. In 1955 CAL was contracted to manufacture C1 and C2 semi auto rifles based on

FN FAL The FAL (, English: Light Automatic Rifle) is a battle rifle designed in Belgium by Dieudonné Saive and manufactured by FN Herstal and others since 1953. During the Cold War the FAL was adopted by many countries of the NATO, North Atlantic Trea ...

for the Canadian Army. CAL ceased operations in 1974 and the factory was closed June 30, 1976. The property was later used by Canada Post as a distribution centre. The factory complex was demolished and the "Arsenal Lands" are now being used for the stockpiling of landfill for use in future aquatic park development. The lands are slated to eventually become part of Lakeshore Park. The buildings of the office complex at the foot of Dixie Road were saved for public use (home to the relocated Antiques Market from St. Lawrence Market North), while only the water tower remains from the factory complex.

Lakeview Village

In 2019, Mississauga City Council endorsed a plan to build 8,050 housing units at Lakeview Village, a site formerly occupied by Lakeview Generating Station and the current Lakview Park.

Attractions

*Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area *Lakeview Golf Course, opened in 1907, is an 18-hole city-owned course. The course hosted the Canadian Open in 1923 and 1934.

Transportation

and Long Branch GO stations *

Queen Elizabeth Way The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) is a 400-series highways, 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario linking Toronto with the Niagara Peninsula and Buffalo, New York. The highway begins at the Canada–United States border on the Pea ...

Miway MiWay (; stylized MiWay), also known as Mississauga Transit and originally as Mississauga Transit Systems, is the municipal public transport agency serving Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and is responsible to the city's Transportation and Wor ...

routes 5 Dixie, 8 Cawthra and 23 Lakeshore

Notable people

* Harland "Colonel" Sanders, founder of the

Kentucky Fried Chicken KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's s ...

chain, lived in the area (1337 Melton Drive near Dixie Road and Queensway) part-time from 1965 to 1980 during the time he was overseeing the Canadian operations.

References

Source Material

- Historic Plaques of Peel, information provided by Eric Gibson, The Mississauga Heritage Foundation (2004), the personal recollections of Tim Baetz, resident of Midland area (2004), "History of Canadian Airports" by T. M. McGrath, Ontario Power Generation web site - www.opg.com/ops/lakeviewfinal.pdf & the personal recollections of the author (2004).

External links

Inspiration LakeviewPDF of Lakeview: Journey from Yesterday by Kathleen A. Hicks
{{Coord, 43, 34, 03, N, 79, 34, 56, W, type:landmark, display=title Neighbourhoods in Mississauga