Bathing Beach at the foot of Cherry Street, Toronto, 1933. Image by Alfred Pearson. Courtesy of the City of Toronto Archives.
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Original JPG File | 1054 × 770 pixels (0.81 MP) 8.9 cm × 6.5 cm @ 300 PPI |
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Resource ID
8423
Access
Open
Credit Line
City of Toronto Archives
Date of Creation
1933
Keywords
beaches, recreation, Cherry Beach, Tourism
Program Category
Tours
Rights
Public Domain
Caption
Bathing Beach at the foot of Cherry Street, Toronto, 1933. Image by Alfred Pearson. Courtesy of the City of Toronto Archives.
Description
The area known today as Cherry Beach is located at the foot of Cherry Street in Toronto's Port Lands. A popular swimming spot for decades, the beach was previously known as Clarke Beach, named for Alderman Harry Clarke. In the 1930s, Clarke worked with the Toronto Transit Commission to provide special bus routes to transport swimmers to the beach during the summer months. Beginning in 1933, "bathing cars" ran from Sumach and King Street to the lower end of Cherry Street from 1pm to 9:50pm every Saturday and Sunday. In the 1950s, Cherry Beach remained a popular and affordable destination for decades. One woman, interviewed during a day at the beach with her kids in 1955, stated that she chose Cherry Beach because she could no longer afford tickets for her family to ride the ferry to Toronto Island.