My Toronto — Part 5
Willowdale
I left the very colourful downtown Toronto for the more suburban Willowdale, which is where my girl friend Anne, and her family lived. (Willowdale is part of the Greater Toronto area, but north of the downtown area.)
Annes’ Mom, (Mrs. B — — ), a wonderful lady, had heard about just how colourful the part of town I had been living in had become, (See My Toronto — part 4) and insisted that I come and stay with them until I could find a suitable place of my own.
The B — — family was comprised of Anne, her Mom and Dad, her little brother and sister Donna, the cat (called Cat) and Annes’ big German Shepherd dog, Peter. (Annes’ horse, Sonny lived at the boarding stable with my horse.)
The home was on a quiet residential street, within walking distance of a bus that would take me to the subway, and give me easy access to my job. Sometimes I drove, but parking had become a pain, so public transit was a better option.
You can see on the map sketch below how Willowdale is laid out. Annes’ house was on Bogert Ave in the segment between Yonge street and Senlac bordered by Sheppard Ave on one side and Hwy 401 on the other.
Picture of map of area
This area was generally quiet and very pleasant. There were plenty of street trees, which, as far as I can tell from the Google map street view below, are still there.
There are several really nice park areas nearby and we would take the dog there whenever we could. Earl Bales Park was one of our favorite places, since it was a mix of open grass and shrubs and trees.
Annes’ home location was very handy for getting to the horse boarding place too.
While living there I learned that Willowdale has an interesting history.
Previously a largely rural and farming community, Willowdale was first settled by Jacob Cummer (Jacob Kummer), 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.
Popular for his various community roles, Cummer was greatly respected by his neighbours, and they named a street after him. Cummer Avenue is named for Cummer.
Another notable leader in this area was David Gibson, a distinguished land surveyor.
Ongoing resentments toward the Canadian government of the time, whereby landowners were unhappy with the governments’ lack of response to their concerns, caused Gibson and most of his neighbours to take part in the badly organized and ill-fated Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837 largely instigated by activist journalist William Lyon McKenzie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lyon_Mackenzie. (Interesting reading.)
Gibson, along with Wm. Lyon Mackenzie, managed to escape to the United States, where Gibson found employment as the First Assistant Engineer on the building of the Erie Canal. With the charge of high treason hanging over him, Gibson was unable to return to Canada, and his Yonge Street farm until 1851, when he finally received a pardon for his role in the rebellion.
He then helped to set up the “Willow Dale” post office, in honour of the numerous willow trees that had once grown in this area.
The Gibson family built the Gibson House in Willowdale in 1851 in the Georgian Rival style. Some of the family were still living there up until the 1920s. The historic Gibson House has been converted into a museum, and is still located where it was originally built, at 5172 Yonge Street.
Another interesting and historic place is the York Cemetery which was opened in 1948. Several persons of note are buried at this cemetery. Two of which are the Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, and Tim Horton. For us Canadians, Tim Horton is a real hero. An incredible ice hockey player for one, and the co-founder of a Canadian favorite coffee and donuts place, Tim Hortons.
Aside from our walks through the parks, we used to enjoy walking through York Cemetery and reading the headstones. It was a lovely place, well maintained, and they did not object to us walking with the dog, as long as he was on a leash.
I lived in Willowdale for several years, had some life upheavals and job changes and moved to slightly east of Willowdale, to an apartment in Don Mills. We’ll talk about that in My Toronto — Part 6
