| Long Branch | |
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| — Neighbourhood — | |
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| Coordinates: 43°35′29″N 79°31′57″W / 43.59139°N 79.5325°W | |
| Country |  Canada |
| Province |  Ontario |
| City |  Toronto |
| Community | Etobicoke-York |
| Established | 1884 (Subdivision) 'Sea Breeze' 1891 (Postal village) |
| Incorporated | 1930 (Village) |
| Changed Municipality | 1954  Metropolitan Toronto from York County1998 Toronto from Etobicoke |
| Annexed | 1967 into Etobicoke |
| Government | |
| - MP | Michael Ignatieff (Etobicoke-Lakeshore) |
| - MPP | Laurel Broten (Etobicoke-Lakeshore) |
| - Councillor | Mark Grimes (Ward 6 Etobicoke-Lakeshore) |
The former Village of Long Branch is a neighbourhood in the south-west of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the south-west corner of the former Township (and later, City) of Etobicoke and was an independent municipality from 1930-1967, the last of the former 'Lakeshore Municipalities'. Long Branch is bounded by Lake Ontario on the south, Etobicoke Creek to the west, the Canadian National railway to the north and Twenty-Third Street to the east.
Contents |
History
Before Long Branch became a village, what is now the western portion of the neighbourhood was home to Loyalist Col. Sam Smith, one of the first settlers of Etobicoke, whose early settler's home survived into the 20th century[1].
- Sea Breeze Park & Long Branch Park
The property was bought by the Eastwood family from Col Sam Smith's son Samuel Smith in 1871. In 1883 James Eastwood sold a portion of his land south of Lake Shore to be subdivided as the 'Sea Breeze Park', renamed 'Long Branch', summer resort. The central north-south street being named 'Sea Breeze Avenue' (now 'Long Branch Avenue') ended in a pier at Lake Ontario[2]. The 'Long Branch Hotel' was built at Beach Road (now Lake Promenade) and Long Branch Avenue across from the wharf in 1887. In 1891 the Long Branch post office was opened and in 1895 the Toronto & Mimico Electric Railway and Light Company streetcar was built along Lake Shore through Long Branch to the Long Branch Loop[3]. This line was later amalgamated by the Toronto Transit Commission which at first operated it as a part of the Queen line later building a loop at Humber Bay where the lines were separated; the streetcar line along Lake Shore became the 507 Long Branch route.
After 1900 the other lots south of Lake Shore around Long Branch were subdivided. The original north-south streets in Long Branch had names: Lansdowne Avenue (now 33rd Street, a street in Toronto already had that name) and Lake View Avenue (now 35th Street), Long Branch Avenue is still named (it would be 34th Street)[4]. In 1931 north-south street names were standardised by continuing the ordinal numbers given to New Toronto streets, picking-up at Twenty-Third Street in the east (bordering the former Mimico Asylum) through to Forty-Third Street in the West.
- Incorporation & Challenges
Long Branch was incorporated as a Village, leaving Etobicoke Township in 1930, shortly after the other Lake Shore municipalities, Mimico and New Toronto, were incorporated as Towns. A cenotaph was raised on Long Branch Avenue south of Lake Shore in 1933 to commemorate the village's contribution during the First (and later, Second) World War[5]. During the Second World War many industries were opened between Lake Shore Road and the railway to the north as part of the war effort, which has left Long Branch with challenges in a period of deinsdustrialisation.
In 1954, more than forty homes in Long Branch were lost at the mouth of the Etobicoke Creek by Hurricane Hazel. Long Branch's dead from the Hurricane were:[6]
- Mr & Mrs Ed. Crymble, Mrs Robert Johnston, Clifford, Patricia & Robert Thorpe
To prevent any future floods from having similar disastrous results, houses from around the mouth of the creek were relocated, and the area turned into a park. In 1959, the park was named for Long Branch Reeve Marie Curtis in recognition for her efforts to have it built[7]. The Long Branch Park Hotel was destroyed by fire in 1958[1].
Adjacent to the park is a closed site which had been the Long Branch munitions factory through the 1940s. Huge quantities of British-pattern military small arms were manufactured there during the Second World War, including such weapons as the Bren light machine-gun, the Sten submachine-gun or machine-carbine, and the Short-magazine Lee-Enfield bolt-action battle rifle. As of 2005 there are plans to incorporate the former munitions factory site into the Marie Curtis Park.
- Modern Transition
During the post war years, Long Branch became home to many immigrant Canadians from Eastern Europe; one of the largest Orthodox churches in Canada, St Demetrius (not to be confused with St Demetrius Byzantine Rite Catholic church, also in Etobicoke), was built on Lake Shore Blvd West near Long Branch Ave in 1958[8]. During Long Branch's last years as a village, many immigrants moved to the area and many low-rise apartments were built to house the growing population.
In 1967, the Village of Long Branch and the Towns of New Toronto and Mimico were amalgamated with the Township of Etobicoke and to form the Borough of Etobicoke. The Borough became the City of Etobicoke in 1984. In 1998, Etobicoke was merged with five other municipalities and the Metropolitan Toronto government to form the new City of Toronto.
Although Long Branch had started as a lakefront community, the area today is increasingly centred along Lake Shore Boulevard. Originally developed as an industrial strip during the war years, Lake Shore Boulevard is today a major artery and business strip in transition with many plans, some controversial, to ease its transformation from a low density industrial corridor to a commercial centre mixed with medium density residential blocks.
Notable residents
- Marie Curtis (1954-1962)
- Leonard E. Ford (1963-1964)
- Thomas Berry (1965-1966)
- Other
- Col. Sam Smith, Administrator of Upper Canada
- Terry Grier, M.P.
- Ruth Grier, M.P.P., Minister of the Environment & Minister of Health
- Laurel Broten, M.P.P., Minister of the Environment
- Claude Saravia
Institutions
- Long Branch Park Hotel (demolished)
- Long Branch Library
- Long Branch Centennial Arena
- Long Branch Streetcar Loop
- Churches
- Long Branch Baptist Church
- St Agnes Anglican Church (founded 1924, closed 2005, building remains)[9]
- St Paul's United Church (founded 1924)
- St James Presbyterian (founded 1914, closed 2001)
- Christ the King Roman Catholic Church
- St. Demetrius Ukrainian Orthodox Church
- Polish Full Gospel Church[10]
- Schools
- James S. Bell Junior Middle School
- Vincent Massey Public School (now a Daycare)
- Christ the King Separate School (established 1947)
See also
.jpg) A family card game at a cottage in Long Branch in 1893. |
 Female factory worker posing with a Sten Mk II submachine gun at Long Branch on May 26, 1942. |
 Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk I* rifle, manufactured at Long Branch circa 1942 |
 Long Branch, like many Toronto neighbourhoods, uses local livery on its street signs. |
 Lake Shore Blvd in Long Branch |
 Christ the King Roman Catholic Church on Lake Shore |
 Vincent Massey Public School |
 Surviving Beach House in Long Branch |
 ALRV 4214, CLRV 4165, ARLV 4238 and ALRV 4247 rest at Long Branch Loop. |
References
- ^ a b "Etobicoke Remembered" by Robert A Given, Pro Familia Publishing, Toronto, Ont., Canada, 2007; ISBN 978-1-896596-14-3
- ^ http://www.toronto.ca/bia/long_branch.htm
- ^ http://www.etobicokehistorical.com/Stories/Long_Branch/body_long_branch.html
- ^ http://rightinniagara.blogspot.com/2008/08/then-and-now-old-long-branch.html
- ^ http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/monuments/on/longbran.htm
- ^ http://www.atl.ec.gc.ca/weather/hurricane/hazel/en/casualty.html
- ^ http://www.toronto.ca/parks/parks_gardens/mariecurtis2.htm
- ^ http://www.ukrainians.ca/immigration-news/2451-the-ukrainian-community-in-toronto.html
- ^ http://www.bigchurchdirectory.com/By-Denomination/Anglican/Ontario/1-5-1039-15088-0-St.-Agnes'-Anglican-Church-Long-Branch,-Toronto.html
- ^ http://www.poloniacanada.ca/toronto/parishes/p_en3.htm
External links
- [1]
- Long Branch neighbourhood profile
- Various photos of the Long Branch munitions factory
- The Village of Long Branch - Reeves
- [2]
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Alderwood | |
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| Mississauga, Ontario |  |
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