The many birch trees on John Stark’s property on the Scarborough Bluffs are said to have prompted the name Birch Cliff for his cottage there. When the post office was established in A.H. Mitchell’s store in May of 1908, the name Birch Cliff was chosen to serve as the community’s name as well. Birch Cliff is located in the south west section of Scarborough along Kingston Road westward from Birchmount Road. A few country homes along the bluffs and the Victoria Park recreation facilities were all that made up the area in the 19th century. After the building of the radial streetcar line from Toronto and its eventual extension to West Hill in 1906, the community took root. Therefore, it is essentially a 20th century community. The trustees of School Section # 15, established to serve the Birch Cliff community, erected the area’s first school in 1915. The original building, enlarged several times since, still serves the young people of the area and is one of the oldest school buildings still in regular use.
As the community expanded, Scarborough Council moved its meeting location from Woburn to Birch Cliff in 1922 and for the next 25 years, the general business of the old township was conducted from the area, including the township’s Public Utilities and Water Works. As Scarborough grew during the early part of the 20th century, Birch Cliff was home to the township’s first Dominion Store, first Canadian Tire Store, and first local newspaper, the News/Advertiser, founded in 1921. Unfortunately few copies of this weekly paper have survived. They would surely tell us more about the history of Birch Cliff.
Before the Community of Birch Cliff was established this area was considered to be a part of the Community of Scarborough Junction.
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Birch Cliff – Historical Image Gallery:
