Author Archives: scarboro

In the news: The Scarborough Hospital honours its past

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The Scarborough Hospital, April 2012. Photo: Jeremy Hopkin

*From www.insidetoronto.com, Apr. 22, 2012.

The Scarborough Hospital honours its past
Longtime doctor joins archive committee to preserve hospitals’ past.

Article By Danielle Milley

A lot has happened in the more than 50 years since The Scarborough Hospital opened and now there’s a group of people who’ve stepped up to document those five decades of history.

The hospital recently formed an archive committee to preserve the past of the 56-year-old general campus and the 27-year-old Birchmount site. Dr. Barney Giblon is one of the three co-chairs of the committee. The retired family physician has always been interested in preserving history and with his long history at the general site, he wanted to be a part of the committee. “I’m almost the longest serving physician on staff and I’ve always been interested in archives so when this ad appeared I thought ‘won’t this be a wonderful thing to do,'” he said. The hospital has a lot of information, but it’s also missing a lot so Giblon is glad the committee came about to preserve the history, photos and documents before they were lost.

With the general site being Scarborough’s first hospital, Giblon believes archiving TSH’s history isn’t just important for those associated with the hospital. “It is a really wonderful thing, not just for the people who worked at the hospital or who work there now, but for the whole community of Scarborough because it’s part of the history,” he said.

23-I-6.1 Scarborough General Hospital

The Scarborough General Hospital, circa 1961.

The archive committee is made up of volunteers, many of them former staff members such as Giblon. The goal is to collect, catalogue and preserve hospital memorabilia, including publications, photographs and documents from both campuses. The committee is reaching out to staff, physicians, volunteers and the community for any items that would be historically significant to the hospital in an effort to build the collection of hospital archives.

The committee has already been the recipient of a large donation of items from the family of Marion Goodchild, the hospital’s first medical laboratory technician and a member of the first group of 13 staff members to join the hospital in 1956. The donation included newspaper articles; programs from milestone events such as the hospital’s expansion in 1958 and its 25th anniversary celebration; copies of “The Pulse,” the hospital’s first newsletter, and a booklet developed in 1972 to commemorate the departure of the Sisters of Misericorde, the founders of TSH.

Goodchild was also an avid photographer and her collection of photo albums documented a variety of events at the hospital. “We are so grateful to Ms. Goodchild’s family for providing us with such a remarkable piece of our past,” said Anne Marie Males, the vice president of patient experience at TSH and the champion behind the creation of the archives committee. “Our hospitals have a rich heritage and we need to recognize and celebrate those individuals who helped build these hospitals and our community.”

Giblon is asking anyone else with documents, photos or stories to share them with the committee. “If people have memorabilia from the hospital we’d love to be able to access it, see it or copy it,” he said.

In the news: Risebrough house of L’Amoreaux

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Risebrough house, 3551 Victoria Park Ave.

*Article from www.insidetoronto.com, Mar. 2, 2012.

OMB hearing will decide whether a heritage home on Victoria Park Avenue can remain a mosque – Islamic Society of Willowdale vice president says street parking issues have been exaggerated

An Ontario Municipal Board hearing next week will decide whether a heritage home on Victoria Park Avenue can remain in use as a mosque. Scarborough Community Council refused to rezone the property last fall after city staff reported the mosque and proposed parking areas south of McNicoll Avenue would be an “overdevelopment” of 3551 Victoria Park Ave.

The Islamic Society of Willowdale bought the 19th Century farmhouse house, which has agricultural zoning, four years ago. Since then, councillors on the North York and Scarborough sides of Victoria Park have received complaints from neighbours about a lack of parking on area streets during services at the mosque. The society has proposed tearing down the home’s garage, not covered by the heritage designation, in order to create more parking.

In an interview last September, Jim Qureshi, an ISW vice president, said the mosque serves neighbourhood children and teens as a school and community centre. He said problems with street parking have been exaggerated.

Scarborough-Agincourt Councillor Mike Del Grande, however, said the difference between the city’s and the society’s positions is “not a grey area.” Del Grande encouraged any interested residents to attend the hearing, for which the board has reserved four days, starting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 6.

Heritage Week display at Scarborough Town Centre

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Scarborough Town Centre

The Scarborough Town Centre played host to Heritage Showcase

By Rick Schofield

Heritage Day or Family Day is the third Monday of February, and Heritage Week gives us a chance to look back at our community’s history. To mark the occasion, a special Heritage Week display was set up in the Scarborough Town Centre at Sears Court on the weekend of Feb. 24 to 26.

Scarborough’s documented history is barely 200 years old, yet local heritage is something on which we can all reflect, regardless of our ancestral roots. We remained a purely rural community until about 1910 when suburban development then began in Birch Cliff. But more growth is on its way.

During the post war boom, developers quickly transformed open farmland into streets of closely packed houses, commercial buildings and industry. By 1955, the population had surpassed 100,000 and Scarborough had become one of the federated municipalities of Metropolitan Toronto. Aerial photographs in the Scarborough Archives dating from 1949-1970s illustrate the rapid transformation of the landscape. During the next 50 years, families from all parts of the world came to make a new home in Scarborough. Our community is now one of the most culturally diverse in the world.

In 1998, with a population of more than half a million, municipal government was amalgamated into a new City of Toronto but community names such as Scarborough, Agincourt, Highland Creek and West Hill are still recognized and Scarborough has retained its own Community Council to deal with local issues. We’re like the Boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx, which amalgamated into New York City back in 1898. Those names are still in use today, more than 100 years later. Our municipal government has changed, but the Scarborough community names still survive.

As we celebrated Heritage Week 2012, we  reflected briefly upon the days when early settlers set out to clear the land and build homes for their families.

Once again, to mark Heritage Week, the Scarborough Historical Society and Archives set up a display at Sears Court in the Scarborough Town Centre, during regular shopping centre hours from Friday, Feb. 24 to 26, 2012

Archives’ volunteers were on hand to meet the general public, answer questions about our heritage and display the archives’ extensive photo collection for all to view.

Residents were invited to come look at the hundreds of post war aerial photographs showing the development of Scarborough and look through community photo albums filled with street scenes and historic landmarks. Those interested in Scarborough’s history can sgtill visit our Facebook page: “Scarborough, Looking Back” or our website: www.scarboroughhistorical.ca

note:  If you missed us this year, we’ll be back in February, 2013.

In the news: Annis house continues to welcome guests on Kingston Road

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16-D-4.2 Jeremiah Annis house

Jeremiah Annis house, c.1890

*From www.insidetoronto.com, Feb. 3, 2012.
Also published in the Scarborough Mirror, Feb. 3, 2012

Looking Back – By Rick Schofield

Early in 1975, the Scarborough Historical Society took steps to study the historic buildings still existing in Scarborough and to approach council to have them declared historic sites for preservation under the Ontario Heritage Act. Scarborough Council was most sympathetic at that time and was of great assistance.

The Jeremiah Annis house on Kingston Road, at Scarborough Golf Club Road, is one example of a designated historic site. Built in 1867 for the Annis family, the walls are a beautiful example of the stone work the early settlers of Scarborough were capable of creating. The fancy hand-made, wooden trim around the roof and verandah reflect how the builder took great pride in his work 100 years ago. That trim was recently restored by Douglas Roberts, a modern day heritage restoration carpenter.

The fieldstone house, with its gothic centre gable, was home to Jeremiah Annis, eleventh child of Levi Annis and Rhoda Conant.

Annis was a descendant of early Puritan settlers of Massachusetts, who came to Canada from the United States in 1793, and opened one of the first inns in 1808 for pioneer travellers along the Kingston Road. Jeremiah Annis and two of his sons long played leading parts in Scarborough’s municipal life as councillors, he in 1873, Levi E. 1889-1892, and William D. 1902-1907. William D. Annis also served as Township Reeve 1908-1912.

The stone house is a picturesque example of Upper Canadian vernacular architecture, with careful consideration given to the stone work. The former dwelling has since undergone several renovations to serve the commercial needs of today’s Kingston Road traveller.

Although the interior has been gutted, the exterior of the house has retained much of its 19th century charm. A large verandah, similar to the original, was added to replace a somewhat hideous addition built in the 1960s (before the general public had any control over such matters). While earlier renovations were not kind to the building, the recent changes have been a great improvement.

Unfortunately, the widening of Kingston Road and the change in land use did little to help retain its earlier “country home” environment.

In the 19th century Jeremiah Annis often welcomed guests who passed by on their way to or from Kingston on the stage coach line. Today, the stone house still welcomes those who pass by. Perhaps this was not what Annis had in mind when he built the house in 1867, but at least it has been saved from demolition and remains viable today as The Olde Stone Cottage Pub, one of Scarborough’s designated heritage properties.