West Toronto Junction Commemorative plaque, 2022.
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Original JPG File | 8400 × 6515 pixels (54.73 MP) 71.1 cm × 55.2 cm @ 300 PPI |
9.0 MB | Restricted |
Low resolution print | 2000 × 1551 pixels (3.1 MP) 16.9 cm × 13.1 cm @ 300 PPI |
1.6 MB | Restricted |
Screen | 1032 × 800 pixels (0.83 MP) 8.7 cm × 6.8 cm @ 300 PPI |
260 KB | Restricted |
Resource ID
10136
Access
Open
Credit Line
Heritage Toronto
Date of Creation
2022
Historical Themes
Business History, Towns and Villages, Transportation History
Program Category
Historical Plaques
Rights
Heritage Toronto
Time Period
1835-1899, 1900-1953, 1954-1998, 1999-today
Caption
West Toronto Junction Commemorative plaque, 2022.
Description
Starting as a village at the intersection of several major railway lines, the Junction was once an independent city and one of Canada’s busiest industrial crossroads.
Before this area was colonized, a network of trails used by Indigenous Peoples followed the Humber River west of here and the base of the Lake Iroquois ridge to the east. The Seneca settlement Teiaiagon was located in present-day Baby Point.
In 1853, the Ontario, Simcoe & Huron Railway laid track through this area, followed between 1856 and 1883 by the Grand Trunk; Toronto, Grey and Bruce; Credit Valley; and Ontario and Quebec Railways. The Canadian Pacific Railway acquired several of these railways and built repair shops and freight yards.
In the early 1880s, lawyer D.W. Clendenan laid out streets and sold lots on 240 acres of land he owned near here. The village grew and in 1889 became a town called West Toronto Junction (later renamed Toronto Junction in 1892.) Major employers like Canada Packers, Campbell Flour Mills, Heintzman pianos, and the Union Stock Yards built factories in the town; their workers often lived nearby.
The town’s booming economy kept its licensed hotels and taverns full, and public disorder became a concern. In 1904, the town passed a bylaw banning alcohol sales. Toronto Junction became the City of West Toronto in 1908. It merged with the City of Toronto in 1909; however, parts of the community kept a ban on alcohol sales until 2000. After a decline in industry and rail traffic in the 1960s and 1970s, the Junction went through a sustained period of revitalization.