Dempsey Store Heritage Property Plaque, 2017
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Original JPG File | 1800 × 1200 pixels (2.16 MP) 15.2 cm × 10.2 cm @ 300 PPI |
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Screen | 1200 × 800 pixels (0.96 MP) 10.2 cm × 6.8 cm @ 300 PPI |
420 KB | Restricted |
Resource ID
5280
Access
Open
Address
250 Beecroft Road, Toronto, ON M2N 6W3
Credit Line
Heritage Toronto
Date of Creation
2017
Historical Themes
Towns and Villages
Program Category
Historical Plaques
Rights
Heritage Toronto
Time Period
1794-1834, 1835-1899
Caption
Dempsey Store Heritage Property Plaque, 2017
Description
This store building was a landmark in Lansing, a community that developed in the 1790s when farmers, some from the British Isles and others who were Loyalists from the United States, settled here. The land had been occupied and used by Wendat, Haudenosaunee, and Anishinaabe First Nations and was included in the 1805 Toronto Purchase treaty between the British Crown and the Mississaugas of the Credit River.
Built in the Georgian style for Joseph Shepard II, the three-storey brick structure stood at the northwest corner of present-day Sheppard Avenue and Yonge Street. Joseph and his family lived in the building and operated a business on the ground floor, selling food, farm equipment, and hardware. The store became an important stopping point on Yonge Street and, after 1866, included a post office, as well as a milk depot for local farmers.
Benjamin R. Brown ran the business from 1888 to 1921, when George and William Dempsey took over and it became Dempsey Brothers hardware store until 1989, when it closed. The building was moved here in 1996 and renovated.
Marker lat / long: 43.77013, -79.41688 (WGS84)