West Toronto Junction

There are two plaques about this neighbourhood.
Both can be seen on this page.

Photo by the City of Toronto - Posted November, 2011

Photo and transcription by contributor Wayne Adam - Posted November, 2011

Attached to this eastbound St. Clair Avenue West transit shelter at Keele Street is this City of Toronto plaque. Here's what it says:

Plaque coordinates: 43.672444 -79.467845

West Toronto Junction was named in the late 19th century for its location at the intersection of four railway lines: Grand Trunk Railway, Toronto Grey & Bruce, Credit Valley Railway and Ontario, Simcoe & Huron Rail. British immigrants and second generation working class families from Toronto settled nearby and held well-paying jobs. The railway's regional repair yards were originally located south of St. Clair along West Toronto Street, later moving west to Runnymede Road where a small remnant is still in operation. These yards serviced 100 trains a day during the first half of the 20th century. Rail connected international markets which attracted businesses and sparked a period of land speculation. Before amalgamating with Toronto in 1909, the settlement that grew up with and around the rail yards became the City of West Toronto, challenging Toronto itself, for business and industry at the turn of the century.

Photos by Alan L Brown - Posted September, 2006

On the east side of a park at Keele Street and Humberside Avenue you will find a 1989 Toronto Historical Board plaque. A copy of this plaque can also be found just inside the front doors of the Annette Street branch of the Toronto Public Library on Annette Street at Medland Avenue, 2 blocks west of Keele Street. Here's what it says:

Plaque coordinates: 43.662412 -79.462346

West Toronto Junction began as the Canadian Pacific Railway stop for the Toronto Grey and Bruce, The Credit Valley, and The Ontario and Quebec Lines. In 1883 lawyer D.W. Clendenan purchased 100 ha nearby, laid out streets and sold building lots. After achieving village status, then absorbing neighbouring Carlton and Davenport, the municipality was incorporated as a Town in 1889. The CPR erected repair shops and freight yards here. By 1909, when it was annexed by the City of Toronto, "The Junction" had become a major industrial centre boasting such enterprises as Heintzman & Company Pianos, Wilkinson Ploughs, the Union Stock Yards and a Federal Customs House. The area voted to prohibit the sale of liquor in 1903 and after many plebiscites has remained dry. In 1982, despite public opposition, Canadian Pacific demolished the historic West Toronto Station.

Related Toronto plaques
The Junction BIA
Theodore August Heintzman 1817-1899

Related Ontario plaques
Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway

More
Towns and Villages

Here are the visitors' comments for this page.

Posted April 25, 2010
Hello. Your text refers to the CPR station being demolition in 1982 but the link connects to a photograph of thed CNR station in West Toronto. [Editor's Response: Thanks. Link is fixed.]

Posted June 16, 2009
Baird Park, at Keele and Humberside, is the park where you found the plaque and I believe the Junction has not been "dry" since sometime in the 1990's. Cheers!

Posted February 19, 2009
I will never understand why anyone would want to tear down the old railway stations? And rip up all the old lines? Out with the old, in with the new is not always the best way to be.

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