East Toronto

For the former federal riding, see Toronto East.

Map of East Toronto in 1908, just prior to being annexed to Toronto

East Toronto, Ontario (Incorporated 1888, annexed by Toronto in 1908) was an incorporated community in what is today a part of the city of Toronto, Canada. It covered much of what is today the Upper Beaches neighbourhood, stretching up to Danforth Avenue in the north. The central street in the community was Main Street, running south from Danforth to Kingston Road. The main commercial centre of the town was located at the intersection of Main and Lake View (now Main and Gerrard). As Toronto's true main street was named Yonge, the name Main Street was maintained even after amalgamation with the city of Toronto. This explains why Toronto's "Main Street" is far from the city centre.

History

The area, after being colonized by British settlers, was occupied in about 1850, when it was a considerable distance from the city of Toronto. It was incorporated as a village in 1888 when there were about 800 people living in the area. The area began to grow rapidly and in 1903 it was elevated from a village to a town. The southern part of the community by the lake became one of Toronto's most popular travel destinations, and became home to hotels and amusement parks. The northern section, by contrast, was an industrial centre, home to the Grand Trunk Railway's main yards. These facilities stretched along most of Gerrard Street, and employed several hundred workers.

When East Toronto was annexed to city of Toronto in 1908 it had a population of about 5,000 people. The CN freight yards closed down in that same year of 1908 and relocated to Belleville and Etobicoke, a move that forced the area into a transition from a railway-based small town into a commuter-based neighbourhood within a city. The trunk yards themselves were essentially abandoned for over 90 years until a housing development was built on most of the land they once occupied.

Today East Toronto commonly refers to the portion of the old city of Toronto east of the Don River. This includes neighbourhoods such as Upper Beaches, Riverdale, Leslieville, East Danforth, and the Beaches.

Street name changes

With the annexation by the city of Toronto in 1908, many East Toronto street names were changed, as the city of Toronto already had streets by those names. The following tables show the changes made, with the names of changed streets in bold text.

North/South streets

Street names
Pre-annexation	Present
Elm Avenue	Willow Avenue
Beach Avenue	Beech Avenue
Balsam Avenue	Balsam Avenue
Spruce Avenue	Spruce Hill Road
Howard Avenue	MacLean Avenue (between Lake Front and Queen only)
Catherine Street	Pickering Street
Hannaford Street	Hannaford Street
Charles Street	Malvern Avenue
John Street	Wayland Avenue
Edward Street	Osborne Avenue
Walter Street	Walter Street
Mary Street	Kimberley Avenue
Main Street	Main Street
Enderby Road	Enderby Road
Norwood Road	Norwood Road
Lee Avenue	Lee Avenue
Woodlee Road	Woodlee Road
Elliot Street	Barrington Avenue
Donald Street	Westlake Avenue (south of The Danforth only)
Morton Road	Morton Road

The following North/South streets were technically outside the village limits of East Toronto, but were also included in the annexation, and also had their street names changed.

Street names
Pre-annexation	Present
Birch Avenue	Silver Birch Avenue
Maple Avenue	Scarborough Road (between Queen and Kingston only)
Cockburn Avenue	Scarborough Road (between Swanwick and Gerrard only)

East/West streets

Street names
Pre-annexation	Present
Queen Street	Queen Street East
Cedar Avenue	Cedar Avenue
Pine Avenue	Pine Avenue
Kingston Road	Kingston Road
Lyall Avenue	Lyall Avenue
Benlamond Avenue	Benlamond Avenue
Swanwick Avenue	Swanwick Avenue (between Enderby and Pickering only)
Lake View Avenue	Gerrard Street East
Stephenson Avenue	Stephenson Avenue
Danforth Avenue	Danforth Avenue
Lansdowne Avenue	Coleman Avenue

The following East/West streets were technically outside the village limits of East Toronto, but were also included in the annexation. Streets that had their names changed are in bold text.

Street names
Pre-annexation	Present
Glenfern Avenue	Glenfern Avenue
Balmy Avenue	Balmy Avenue
Barwick Avenue	Swanwick Avenue (between Lawlor and Scarborough only)

References

• Filey, Mike "Why Our Main Street is Nowhere Near the Centre of the City." Toronto Sun, January 15, 2006
• A History Tour of the Beach
• East Toronto - From little village, thriving town, to a part of Beaches heritage

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  East Toronto Fire Station, 1911

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  East Toronto Police Station, 1911