Toronto Neighbourhood: History of Leaside Village

What is the background history of Leaside Village in Toronto?

History of Leaside Village

The neighbourhood takes its name from the Lea family, who settled in the area in 1820. Leaside’s modern history began when the family patriarch, John Lea, acquired a parcel of land known as “Lot 13,” on which he built a farm. In 1854, John Lea’s son William completed construction of a large brick house to the south of his father’s farm, a home he named “Leaside.” When William Lea became a magistrate for the County of York, Leaside served double duty as his family home and the regional post office.

In 1884, the Canadian Pacific Railway built a station and maintenance centre on land located just southeast of Leaside, and named it in honour of the Leas’ family estate. The railway prompted further industrial and residential development in the area, and by 1913, Leaside was officially incorporated as a town. It experienced a growth spurt during World War I, but it was the construction of the Leaside Viaduct which triggered a rapid wave of development and modernization. The viaduct, which opened in 1927, provided a vital bridge across the previously impassable Don River, allowing people employed in adjoining East York to live in Leaside.

During the 1950s, Leaside’s southern neighbour, Thorncliffe, experienced a population explosion of its own, which led to the construction of a second bridge connecting Leaside to the other side of the Don Valley. By 1955, Leaside’s population had grown to almost 17,000, and in January of 1967, Leaside became part of the borough of East York, which was amalgamated into the City of Toronto in 1998. In 2012, a renovated version of the historic Leaside manor house came up for sale.