Tag Archives: Heritage

Feb. 27- Mar. 1: Heritage Showcase at Scarborough Town Centre

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Scarborough Heritage Showcase

Article 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. Unfortunately, Sears court was not available that week. However, to mark the occasion, our annual Heritage Showcase display was set up in the Scarborough Town Centre at Sears Court on the weekend of Feb. 27-March 1st, 2015.

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.

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 from the Scarborough Archives dating from 1949-1970s illustrate the rapid transformation of the landscape and were on display.

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 Our municipal government has changed, but the Scarborough community names still survive.
As we celebrate Heritage Week 2015, we reflect briefly upon the days when early settlers set out to clear the land and build homes for their families.

Once again, the Scarborough Historical Society and Archives set up a Heritage Showcase display at Sears Court in the Scarborough Town Centre, during regular shopping centre hours from Friday, Feb. 27 to Sunday, March 1st, 2015.
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 also visit our Facebook page: “Scarborough, Looking Back“

In the news: Highland Creek Heritage Festival – June 8, 2013

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Miller Lash house, Highland Creek valley. Photo: Jeremy Hopkin

Miller Lash House, Highland Creek valley.   Photo: Jeremy Hopkin

100 Years in the “Valley” – The Miller Lash House Celebration!
Text excerpt from The Villager newspaper, March / April 2013:

The University of Toronto Scarborough celebrates 100 years of history in the community. The historic Miller Lash House was built in 1913 to be the summer home of Miller Lash, Toronto lawyer and industrialist, and his family. Located in the scenic Rouge River Valley, the house was enjoyed by the family for many years. Subsequently it was purchased by the University in 1963 and became the residence for the first few Principals of the University of Toronto Scarborough. In 2002 the University decided to transform the house into a meeting and event venue, and as such it has become one of Toronto’s popular choices to host weddings, events and meetings.

The University wants to recognize this historic event on campus and hold a day of celebration for not only the campus community but to invite our friends and neighbours from the surrounding communities to join in on the fun. To that end we have begun working with the organizers of the Highland Creek Heritage Day Festival. The date is Saturday, June 8th, please mark it in your calendars and plan to come down and see the House and take part in the Festival.

The Miller Lash 100th Anniversary Celebration will include many of the popular aspects of Heritage Days and plans to offer a festival of fun and entertainment while taking some trips down memory lane and acknowledging the great history that is very much a part of this community. Stay tuned for further updates as plans are finalized and we hope to see you “In The Valley” on June 8th…

More information:

– Highland Creek Heritage Festival
– Miller Lash House

– Highland Creek historical image gallery

Heritage Showcase 2013 at Scarborough Town Centre

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Scarborough Town Centre

Scarborough Town Centre.     Photo: Jeremy Hopkin

Heritage Week Display – February 22-24

On Family Day, the third Monday of February, we began what was formally known as “Heritage Week”. To mark the occasion, the annual Scarborough Archives heritage display was set up at the Scarborough Town Centre by the Scarborough Historical Society.

Scarborough’s heritage is barely 200 years old if we set aside the early Native People who once inhabited the area. Yet local heritage is something on which we can all reflect, regardless of our ancestral roots.

Scarborough remained a purely rural community until about 1910 when suburban development then began at Birch Cliff. Electricity first arrived in the township in 1912, a water works in 1921 and high schools in 1922 and 1929. By 1940 the population reached 23,274.

During the post war boom, subdividers 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. During the next 45 years, families from all parts of the world came to make a new home in Scarborough. In 1998, with a population of over half a million, Scarborough’s municipal government, along with the rest of Metro, was amalgamated into one municipal government, a new City of Toronto. Community names such as Scarborough, Agincourt, Highland Creek and West Hill are still recognized and Scarborough had retained its own Community Council to deal with local issues.

As we celebrated Heritage Week 2013, the Scarborough Archives and Historical Society set up its annual display at Sears Court in the Scarborough Town Centre, during regular mall hours from Friday, February 22nd to Sunday the 24th.

This columnist and a host of volunteers were on hand to meet Scarborough Mirror readers and the general public, answer questions about our heritage and display the Archives’ extensive photo collection for all to view. Included in the photo collection were hundreds of aerial photographs showing the development of the communities during the boom years 1950-1975…

– Rick Schofield.

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.