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Willowdale, Toronto

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Willowdale is an established and affluent community in the former City of North York, now part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was originally called "Lansing". North York was merged with five other municipalities and a regional government to form the new "City of Toronto" in 1998.

Willowdale was originally a village centered at the intersection of Willowdale Avenue and Sheppard Avenue East, where a number of small business and commercial buildings still remain. The boundaries of the current neighbourhood extend as far east as Bayview Avenue, west to Senlac Avenue, south to the 401, and north to Finch Avenue or even Cummer Avenue. The neighbourhoods abuts Bayview Village to the east and Newtonbrook to the north. North York Centre is centered at the intersection of Yonge Street and Empress Avenue and is commonly thought to be a part of Willowdale, though its high-rise residential and commercial development sets it apart from much of the rest of Willowdale.

The Willowdale neighbourhood consists of single family homes, condominium townhouses and high-rise condominium towers. The high density development is restricted along Yonge Street while the single family homes range in age from the original 1910 to 1950 construction (one and two-storey pre-war houses and modest one-and-half storey postwar houses) to very large replacement two-storey luxury homes constructed by tearing down the original houses. It is in this neighbourhood that the term "monster homes" was first applied by Torontonians.

Today, Willowdale is an ethnically diverse community. In 2003, 59% of all Willowdale residents were immigrants. Willowdale is home to a significant Chinese community, with 24% of all residents identifying themselves as native speakers of Chinese. A sizeable Korean community is also found in here, with Korean being the mother tongue of approximately 5% of residents. There is also a significant Jewish population. Some notable sites in Willowdale are:

People born in Willowdale include:

History

Willowdale was originally settled by Jacob Cummer, who immigrated to Canada from the United States in 1797. Cummer was a mill owner on the nearby Don River, a proprietor of a tinsmith shop on Yonge Street and a self trained doctor and veterinarian. Cummer was held in such high esteem by his neighbours that this area was originally known as Kummer's Settlement.

David Gibson, a distinguished land surveyor, was another leader in this community. Like most of his neighbours, Gibson participated in the ill-fated Toronto Rebellion of 1837. He was thus charged with high treason and escaped to the United States were he found employment as the First Assistant Engineer on the building of the Erie Canal.

Gibson returned to his Yonge Street farm in 1851, after being pardoned for his role in the Rebellion. He then helped to establish the "Willow Dale" post office, named after the many willow trees that once graced this district. Members of the Gibson family were still living in Gibson House in the 1920's when the residential subdivision of Willowdale began to take place. The Gibson House, circa 1851, is still standing in its original location at 5172 Yonge Street and is now a historic museum.

See also

External links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

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