Willowdale

Church Avenue

There are three plaques at this location.
All can be seen on this page.

Photos by Alan L Brown - Posted May, 2012

One of the plaques was erected in 2010 by Heritage Toronto here on the northeast corner of Church Avenue and Yonge Street. This is what it says:

Plaque coordinates: 43.773976 -79.413825

This graveyard is a rare remnant of the time when Willowdale was a small agricultural community centred around this stretch of Yonge Street. Aboriginal peoples hunted, fished, and camped on this land for thousands of years before European settlement began in the late 1790s. The area then became known as "Cummer's Settlement" after the pioneering family of Jacob Cummer (Kummer). The name "Willowdale" appeared after the opening of the area's first post office, named "Willow Dale," in 1855.

Largely unchanged until early in the 20th century, Willowdale then began to expand with the development of new residential streets, at first stretching out on either side of Yonge Street. In 1923, it became the site of the new offices of the Township of North York. Beginning in the 1950s and 1960s, residential development rapidly replaced the earlier farmsteads as widened roads and new expressways provided better access from North York to the City of Toronto.

Photos by Alan L Brown - Posted May, 2012

The second plaque was erected in 1996 by the Corporation of the City of North York to celebrate 200 Years Yonge. Here's what it says:

The original community of Willowdale was established between Lansing and Newtonbrook on today's Park Home and Finch Avenues. Jacob and Elizabeth Cummer (Kummer) and their family were some of the earliest to settle in the area along with the Johnston, Willson and McBride families. The early community was often referred to as Kummer's Settlement.

The Cummers are credited with having donated land on which a Methodist log chapel was built in 1834 at the north east corner of to-day's Yonge and Church Avenue. Adjacent to the church, the Johnston family offered part of their land to serve as a family burial ground. In 1856 the log church was replaced with a brick structure which boasted a towering, artistic spire that could be seen for miles around until a severe storm tore it down. Part of the original church site still remains as this pioneer cemetery built in memory of the early settlers who helped to establish the Willowdale Methodist Church.

Willowdale boasted one of the earliest schools located at present-day Yonge Street and Ellerslie Avenue. The Willowdale School, SS #4 also known as Brown's School was originally built in 1842 with bricks made on the neighbouring farm of David Gibson.

David Gibson, a land surveyor, farmer and politician is best remembered for his actions in the ill-fated Rebellion of 1837. As a result of his participation in the rebellion, Gibson's first home, which he and his wife, Eliza, built in 1829, was torched by government troops. With a price on his head for high treason, Gibson fled to the U.S. He and his family returned to Willowdale and, in 1851 built a new home on the same site. The Gibson House still stands today as a historic museum on Yonge Street north of City Hall. In 1855 Gibson opened the Willowdale post office just north of his farm, naming it after the number of willow trees in the area, thereby giving the community its name.

Photos by Alan L Brown - Posted May, 2012

The third plaque was erected in 1975 by the Toronto Transit Commission. Here's what it says:

Here, on land granted to Jacob Cummer, an early settler who came with his family from Pennsylvania in 1797, stood "Cummer's Chapel". In 1816 a Sunday school was established in his log house and camp meetings were held at his saw mill.
In 1834 he gave this site for "A Place Where Divine Services Were To Be Held Forever" and a Methodist Episcopal log meeting house was built.
In 1856 a yellow brick building, later Willowdale United Church, replaced the log chapel. In 1930 the front part was removed with the widening of Yonge Street and the remainder was demolished in 1956, with new church facilities being established nearby.

Related websites
Willowdale
Lansing
Newtonbrook

Related Toronto plaques
Jacob Cummer 1797-1841
David Gibson 1804-1864

Related North York plaques celebrating 200 Years Yonge
Lansing
Newtonbrook
York Mills

More
Towns and Villages
Religious Buildings
North York plaques

Here are the visitors' comments for this page.

Posted April 19, 2009
I'm amazed that this little cemetery that I used to walk through as a kid is still there. Located right next to the Northtown plaza I thought it would have disappeared long ago. It was kind of neglected then and I figured it was living on borrowed time. I live in BC now and lately I wondered what everything looked like now and I read that they relocated the Dempsey brothers hardware store where I bought mesh for my pet hamsters cage and that the library I used to attend regularly has six floors. Wow.

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