Davisville walking tour reimagined – Jane’s Walk (May, 2020)
The Heritage Working Group is offering a self-guided walking tour to all of our residents. This year’s walk repeats our Jane’s Walk from two year’s ago. SERRA encourages everyone to take the walk sometime from May 1st to May 3rd to honour the late Jane Jacobs. We have prepared a walking tour map and a companion guide that describes 24 points of interest. You may choose to walk the entire route (takes 90 minutes) … Read more
An interview with Juanne Hemsol, SERRA’s first president
The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same. Please read this interview with Juanne Hemsol, SERRA’s first president and decide for yourself what has changed in our neighbourhood in the past 54 years. This interview written and conducted by Mary Turcotte. SERRA Mandate: SERRA was formed (1965) for the purpose of furthering and protecting interests of its members in matters relating to real estate, zoning, municipal planning and any other matter touching … Read more
The North Toronto Historical Society – Guest Speaker Series
The North Toronto Historical Society has guest speakers every month. Meetings are held on the last Wednesday of the month at Northern District Library, 40 Orchard View Blvd., 2nd Floor. FREE ADMISSION. EVERYONE WELCOME. PROGRAMS ARE COSPONSORED BY NORTHERN DISTRICT LIBRARY AND THE NORTH TORONTO HISTORICAL SOCIETY. MEETINGS BEGIN AT 7:30 P.M. (REFRESHMENTS FROM 7:10 P.M.). Please click here for details as dates and events may change. North Toronto Historical Society Monthly Meetings January – March … Read more
North Toronto Historical Society Walk – A Jane’s Walk Encore Performance
This is a repeat performance of SERRA’s Jane’s Walk from May … now teamed up with North Toronto Historical Society. The Fall Walking Tour of Davisville Village: Date: Sunday, September 30, 2018 Time: 2:00-3:45 p.m. (rain or shine) Location: Meet us at the NW corner Davisville and Mount Pleasant (June Rowlands Park) Join us to explore the historic village of Davisville with NTHS and SERRA (South Eglinton Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association). Discover its people, farms, homes, … Read more
Public Forum -THE FUTURE OF TORONTO’S PAST: STATE OF HERITAGE
Many thanks to the Federation of North Toronto Residents’ Associations FoNTRA for providing this information about this Toronto Heritage event: Heritage Toronto wants to amplify your voice to the incoming City Council. How can heritage be prioritized within an ever-growing city? Which stories from our past need to be shared? How can the city better preserve the things we care about, whether they’re cultural spaces or physical structures? The creation of a Toronto Museum has been … Read more
Heritage Fun Facts – Where is Joseph Avenue?
The western part of Millwood Road was originally named Joseph Avenue after Joseph Davis as seen on the Goad map from 1913. The name of this portion of the street was changed to Millwood Road with the amalgamation of the Village of North Toronto with the City of Toronto.
In 1979, Janet Magee Manor was named in honour of Mrs. Janet M. Magee
Heritage – Did You Know … Erected in 1979, Janet Magee Manor was named in honour of Mrs. Janet Magee, a dedicated community worker in North Toronto, who was born in Lombardy, Perth County, Ont. Read more at: http://www.torontoplaques.com/Pages/Janet_M_Magee.html Janet M. Magee Historical Plaque – torontoplaques.com www.torontoplaques.com
Second Annual Davisville Village Jane’s Walk (May 5, 2018)
Amy Isaac, Sharon Mourer organized a very successful Davisville Village Jane’s Walk which took place on Saturday May 5, 2018. Two large groups of residents strolled through the neighbourhood and discovered some well hidden historical homes and sites in Davisville Village East.. Thanks to our Jane’s Walk leaders, community volunteers and everyone who came out to learn about our neighbourhood. In case you missed the walk, we will be doing a repeat in conjunction with … Read more
SAVE THE REGENT THEATRE
Feb 4, 2018 Update: More than 100 people attended the community meeting to share ideas on how to save the Regent Theatre. Thanks to Councillor Matlow for taking the lead on this important initiative and for his support. Click here to read the Streeter.ca article about the community meeting. We will share more information once it is made available. Click here to read the CBC Toronto news article from January 22, 2018. The Regent Theatre on … Read more
129-year old house on Balliol St. is threatened!
The rare “Ontario Cottage” style house at 505 Balliol St. was built about 1888. It appears on an 1890 map of the Davisville area. This house served as a neighbourhood grocery store and post office until the 1950s. Local children would frequent the store for candy and Popsicles. A Coca-Cola sign remained in the front bay window until the 1970s. Despite being one of the oldest existing houses in the Davisville area, it is under threat … Read more
1890 Fire Insurance Map of the Davisville Area
Yonge Street is to the left with a cluster of buildings of the village of Davisville. The purple circle is around Davisville school. The blue line is where Tullis Dr is now on top of Mud Creek. It appears that today’s short block of Glebe Road is all that remains of the original Glebe Road that went thru the Clergy Reserve. The yellow line is along the Toronto Beltline Railway which is today the Beltline … Read more
Heritage in Midtown
For the past few years the City of Toronto Planning Staff have been working with the local community of Yonge and Eglinton on a study called Midtown in Focus. An important component of the study has been to look at the heritage buildings on our main streets. In August, Heritage Preservation Services released a report that has proposed to add 258 addresses on the Main Streets of Midtown as listings to the Heritage Registry. Approximately … Read more
Heritage Status Granted to the Theatres on Mt. Pleasant Rd.
We are pleased that heritage status has been granted to the theatres on Mt. Pleasant. Read about it in the June 14, 2017 article from Post City Toronto. Did You Know? Granddaughter of the theatre owner during the Depression said that people would often pay with ”merchandise” such as ” nylons”. Some interesting information can be found on these links: Toronto’s Old Movie Theatre – the Mount Pleasant (Hudson) Toronto’s Old Movie Theatres – the Regent (the … Read more
Davisville Village Jane’s Walk
Forty people, interested in Davisville Village’s rich history, came out on a day threatening rain, wind and cold temps to learn more about the neighbourhood we call home. They were not disappointed. The 90-minute walk, which started at the original J. J. Davis store at the corner of Yonge and Davisville (today a thriving Starbucks), meandered throughout the Village and took in sights as diverse as the Glebe church lands (now the beautiful Belsize area), … Read more
Davisville Village Heritage – The J.J. Davis House
Can you imagine parking a horse at Yonge and Davisville today? Davisville is named after John Davis and his family. John came to Canada from England at age 27 in 1840. The J. J. Davis Store was built in 1894 by the Davis family. A general store and post office were operated by Jack and Charles Davis, grandsons of John Davis. In later decades it became home to other retail stores and is now … Read more