| High Park North | |
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| — Neighbourhood — | |
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| Country |  Canada |
| Province |  Ontario |
| City |  Toronto |
| Community | Toronto & East York |
| Established | 1883 (Subdivision) |
| Changed Municipality | 1887 West Toronto from York 1909 Toronto (former) from West Toronto 1998 Toronto from Toronto (former) |
| Government | |
| - MP | Gerard Kennedy (Parkdale—High Park) |
| - MPP | Cheri DiNovo (Parkdale—High Park) |
| - Councillor | Bill Saundercook (Ward 13 Parkdale—High Park) |
High Park North is a neighbourhood of the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bounded on the south by Bloor Street, on the west by Runnymede Road, on the north by Annette Street, Quebec Avenue and Humberside Avenue, and on the east by the CNR/CPR railway tracks. It is located in the Parkdale-High Park provincial and federal ridings. The area east of Keele Street is also known as the "West Bend" neighbourhood informally.
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Character
High Park North is mainly residential, containing many semi-detached homes built in the early 20th century. North of High Park, the neighbourhood has several high-rise apartment buildings, built after the construction of the Bloor-Danforth subway. Bloor Street is the main east-west thoroughfare. It is a four-lane road and is commercial in with storefront-type businesses with residential second and third storeys. North-south roads include Keele Street and Dundas Street. Both are primarily residential within the neighbourhood.
Schools
- Annette Public School
Annette is a public elementary school. It shares its space with High Park Alternate School.
Humberside is a large public high school located on Quebec Avenue at the intersection of Humberside Avenue.
- Keele Street Community School and Community Centre
Keele is a public elementary school which shares its space with a community centre. It is located along the west side of Keele Street north of Bloor Street.
- High Park Alternate School Jr
High Park Alternate shares its space with Annette School on Annette Street.
- St. Cecilia Catholic School
St. Cecilia is an elementary school located on Annette Street. It offers a Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8 program.
Father Joseph McCann, a priest at St.Helen's Church, purchased land on Edwin Avenue in November1887 to establish a new Catholic church and school. Originally the parish was to be named after St. Charles. According to historical records, however, the first school--a small wooden structure--was named St.Mary's.
In 1890 the school was replaced with a brick building and renamed St.Cecilia's. Legend has it that St. Cecilia, the patron saint of sacred music, was chosen as the new name because the Heintzman Piano factory stood in view, across the railway tracks, from the school. The present St. Cecilia's Church, at the corner of Annette Street and Pacific Avenue, was opened in 1909, replacing a smaller structure first occupied in 1895. Father Eugene Gallagher was the pastor.
The present St. Cecilia Catholic School at the corner of Annette Street and Evelyn Avenue opened in 1914 with additions in 1918, 1954 and 1964. The school's first teachers and administrators were the Loretto Nuns, who lived in the former Heintzman family residence at Annette and Laws Streets, providing another musical connection with St. Cecilia.
Western Tech is a large high school located on Evelyn Crescent north-west of High Park.
Institutions
The Runnymede Branch of the Toronto Public Library, housed in a heritage building built in 1930, is located within High Park North at Bloor Street West and Glendonwynne Road. The Annette branch of the TPL is located to the northeast of the neighbourhood at Annette and Medland.
History
High Park North falls entirely within the boundaries of the town of Toronto Junction, which was purchsed from the Keele estate in 1882 by Daniel Clendenan who subdivided the farm and racetrack for a residential district (now called High Park North) to serve the Junction commercial district. As Bloor Street was still an uneven and a mostly undeveloped street, early housing in the area was concentrated to the north and east, where it was easier to access the stores and industry along Dundas Street. High Park Avenue in particular was the site of many early homes of the Junction wealthy, as was modern Evelyn Crescent; many of these houses are still standing. High Park North emerged as a neighbourhood once Bloor Street was widened and evened out following World War I, when most of the residential homes which still exist today were built.
In 1915, Bloor Street was the site of a major public works at the north-west corner of High Park. The street, west of High Park Avenue, was crossed by creeks that emptied into Grenadier Pond. The creek banks were steep, making the roadway treacherous and difficult for traffic. A rail trestle was built to cross the gap at a level of 60 feet. The rails were used for rail cars to dump soil around the trestle. The trestle was completely buried and the present Bloor Street roadway built on top.[1] Existing north-south roadways connecting to Bloor Street were raised to meet the new level of Bloor Street and this facilitated the development of the neighbourhood.
In the 1960s, the area directly north of High Park was the site of 'block-busting' development. The residences on High Park Avenue, Quebec Avenue and Gothic Avenue were bought up by developers, razed and large apartment buildings were built. The area from north of the subway line to Glenlake Avenue is now almost entirely high-rise towers. At the time, the City government was very much pro-development, and there were no local ratepayer/community associations as is seen today. By the 1970s, local residents formed associations in harmony with new reform Council members, partly to fight the block-busting north of High Park.
Developers are continuing to operate in the neighbourhood. 'Block-busting' has continued with the current controversial slated development on the north side of Bloor one block east of High Park Avenue, between Pacific and Oakmount, where a block of Edwardian-era homes has been purchased by developers with the exception of one, well publicised 'hold out'; this would be the first block of older homes directly on Bloor Street to be demolished for apartment building.
Transportation
The neighbourhood is served by the Dundas West, Keele and High Park stations of the Bloor-Danforth TTC subway line. The TTC operates local buses out of each station.
See also
References
- Notes
- ^ Duff, J.Clarence; Yates, Sarah (1984). Toronto Then And Now. Fitzhenry & Whiteside. p. 99.
External links
- High Park North neighbourhood profile
- The West Toronto Junction Historical Society maintains archives of historical documents, pictures and other information about the neighbourhood's past.
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The Junction | |
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| Runnymede-Bloor West Village |  |
Dovercourt-Wallace Emerson | ||
 High Park North  |
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| Swansea | Roncesvalles |
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