By Diti Dumas and Morgan Dumas
In 1819, John and Mary Lea and their young son William arrived to North America from Lancashire, England. Upon settling in Canada, John purchased 200 acres of timberland and a farm with a log cabin on it. The piece of land was lot 13 concession 3, which is more recently known as being between Bayview Ave. and Leslie St. and half a mile from Eglinton.
In 1829, the Lea family built a larger brick house to replace the log cabin they had been living in for the past 10 years. The house they built was claimed to be the first brick house built in the town of York. In 1841, the eldest of John Lea’s children, William bought an additional 130 acres to the south of his father’s land and built an octagonal home which he named Leaside. The exact location of this house was very close to the present site of Leaside Memorial Gardens.
Over 10 years later, John Lea passed away leaving the farm to be divided between his remaining family. In 1881 William sold a parcel of land to the Canadian Pacific Railroad for a train station and gave ½ an acre to the Anglican Church for the original St. Cuthbert’s Church on Government Road (which is now Bayview Ave.) In 1891, the Don Branch of the railroad was built and the Leaside Junction Station was built three years later in 1894. This is when Leaside became a name and more importantly a location on the map. For over 75 years, this station was one of Toronto’s busiest. It was destroyed by a fire in 1940; however it was rebuilt in 1946. What made the town of Leaside unique was not only its location, but also that it was the only town to be completely planned in detail before a single dwelling was built, and to grow to completely fulfill its intended design plans. These plans were created by Fredrick Todd who decided to use many of the Canadian Northern Railway company executive’s names to label the streets. Some of these include; Laird Dr., Hanna Road and Wicksteed Ave.
On April 23, 1913, Colonel Davidson and Randolph McRae were successful in their application to the province of Ontario to incorporate Leaside as a town with a population of 43 and less than a month later the first town council was elected on May 8, 1913. The residential development of this area was stalled due to the outbreak of WW1. Also that year, Canadian Wire and Cable became Leaside’s first industry and opened the Leaside Munitions Factory during WW1. Canadian Wire and Cable built 60 homes on Airdrie, Rumsey and Sutherland for its workers after the war. Leaside was also the location of an airfield used for the training of Canadian pilots and on June 24, 1918 the first air mail delivery in Canada was to Leaside’s Airfield. Today, a commemorative plaque to honor this success is located at the intersection at Brentcliffe and Broadway. In 1919 under the Ontario Housing Act the Leaside Housing Company received a loan to build working class homes. However, the building of these homes was stalled until the 1930’s due to transportation problems. In 1927 a high level bridge known as the Leaside Viaduct was built across the Don Valley and an underpass was built below the railway. Between the 1930s and 1950s, the residential construction of Leaside continued and in 1967 the town of Leaside was amalgamated with East York to become The Borough of East York. Thirty years later Leaside was amalgamated once again into the new megacity of Toronto.
Since then, Leaside has held onto this land for more than 150 years ago and it is no surprise that it continues to be one of the most sought after neighbourhoods in Toronto. It is especially appealing to middle- upper income families who are looking for an ideal location to raise their growing families. The average house prices in Leaside start at $400,000 and include a variety of options including two-storey detached homes, semi-detached homes and bungalows. For single people or smaller families, Leaside is also home to a variety of exclusive condo and townhouse projects which were built in the 1990s and start at $200,000. It also has a collection of the nicest rental apartment buildings in the city.
Not only do the many wonderful parks in Leaside: Serena Gundy Park, Sunnybrook Park, Trace Manes Park and Howard Talbot Park make this area ideal for families, but also the sense of community you feel while walking down the main streets. To the west of Leaside is the highly desirable Bayview Ave. which boasts an astonishing array of shops and restaurants including some of the best Gelato in the city (located at Hollywood Gelato). Bayview is not the only shopping district in this neighbourhood, residents can also walk or take a short drive to Eglinton Ave. and the shops at the Sunnybrook Plaza. The newest and possibly most exciting shopping development in Leaside is the Leaside Centre which includes large national retailers such as The Home Depot, Best Buy, Hallmark and Urban Barn at the south-end corner of Laird Dr. and Eglinton Ave.
For the younger members of the family, Leaside is one of the most sought-after school districts in Toronto and includes Northlea Public School in North Leaside, Bessborough Public School and Rolph Road Public School in South Leaside, Leaside High School and St. Anselm Catholic School. For families interested in the private sector, Junior Academy, Crescent School and Childrens Gardens Nursery School are only a short walk or drive away. Leaside Memorial Gardens is said to be the pillar of this family oriented neighbourhood, with an arena, indoor swimming pool, curling arena and auditorium.
Bus service can be found throughout the interior of the Leaside community, south of Eglinton Ave. and connects to the St. Clair subway station. Bus routes on Bayview and Eglinton Ave also connect to the Davisville and the Eglinton Stations. However, if you have a car, transportation is even simpler as you can drive downtown from Leaside in about 10 minutes via the Bayview extension.
As the many residents will tell you, Leaside is more than a neighbourhood of houses, schools, parks and stores; it’s a community that’s based on family! On a bright sunny morning you will see people with their families walking down the streets waving and talking to their fellow neighbours, and you will know that you are home and the key is Leaside.
Diti Dumas is a Sales Representative with Royal LePage R.E.S. Ltd./JOHNSTON & DANIEL DIVISION, Brokerage. Diti is a regular contributor to the Muddy York Blog. Diti’s website is located at www.ditidumas.com.
Morgan Dumas is an aspiring writer and journalism student from Ryerson University in Toronto.
