In the early days of Scarboro’s history many small villages grew up around the major intersections were there was perhaps a blacksmith, a church or a tavern. Such was the case in Wexford. The community of Wexford, took its name from Wexford County, Ireland. Wexford is located in western Scarborough at Lawrence and Pharmacy Avenue, and included the surrounding farm land which ran east to Birchmount Road and south to Eglinton Avenue.
Prior to Confederation, Wexford was little more than a crossroad community of several farms, a couple of small frame churches and a tavern. The community had begun during the 1840’s when Richard Sylvester opened the inn or tavern, known as “The Rising Sun Inn” on the north-east corner of what is now Lawrence and Pharmacy Avenues. The building was later moved to the south-west corner of the intersection but demolished about 1883 when John Tingle built a new General Store on the site. A small blacksmith shop was also located just south of the Tingle general store.
In 1848 the Anglicans of the community built a small white frame church known as St. Jude’s near what is now the south-east corner of Lawrence Avenue and Victoria Park. The local Methodists had already constructed a small log building known as Twaddle’s Chapel, which later became Zion Wexford just east of Warden Avenue on the north side of Lawrence Avenue. Another early church was the Wexford Wesleyan Methodist Church on the south side of Lawrence Avenue just east of Victoria Park Avenue. It was sold to the Roman Catholics and became Precious Blood Catholic Church. It was demolished when the present Catholic Church was erected.
School Section #8 was established near Wexford in 1847. A brick school was built the same year but was later replaced by a larger school built in 1863 at Eglinton and Birchmount, at which Alexander Muir , composer of ‘The Maple Leaf Forever’ once taught.
This area was known as Hough’s Corners and the school became known as the Hough School. Wexford youngsters had to walk almost two miles to attend either Ellesmere or Hough schools.
Like most early 19th century communities, a proper name was seldom used until a post office was established. In 1865, the community became officially known as Wexford when James McBeath opened a post office in his little store on the south side of Concession Road just east of the York-Scarborough Town Line.
While the railways certainly assisted in the development of certain communities, such as Agincourt and Scarborough Junction, the CPR line built through Wexford in 1887 appears to have had little impact. A small station was located at Wexford to provide for passenger and mail pick up but the station appears to have seen little activity and was not replaced after it was destroyed by fire in 1933.
Wexford became a sports centre in 1922 when an old airplane hangar was moved from Armour Heights to the northeast corner of the intersection. From then until the arena was gutted by fire in April 1951, thousands of youngsters began their hockey careers at Wexford. The building was the home of the original Wexford Hockey League.
Many of the landmarks of old Wexford have gone. Modern reminders of this small part of Scarborough’s history included the Wexford Hockey League, Wexford C.I. and Wexford Public School. As well, the churches St. Jude’s (1848) the oldest church building in Scarborough, Zion Wexford United Church (1876) and the name Wexford still remained. The area that was the old community of Wexford includes the modern communities of Wexford, Ionview and the Golden Mile.
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Wexford – Historical Image Gallery:
