Mimico
Encyclopedia
The historic Town of Mimico is a neighbourhood in the south-western part of Toronto
, Ontario
, Canada
. It is located in the south-east corner of the former Township (and later, City) of Etobicoke, and was an independent municipality from 1911 to 1967.
Mimico is bounded by Evans Avenue, Algoma Street and Manitoba Street to the north, Lake Ontario
to the south, a line midway between Fleeceline Road and Louisa Street to the East, with the western boundary along a line through Dwight Avenue (south of the railway) and St. George Street (north of the railway). Mimico originally stretched north to what is now The Queensway, but was cut off from this area with the building of the Queen Elizabeth Way
.
Mimico is the oldest of the former 'Lakeshore Municipalities'. The former Town of Mimico was sub-divided from the former Township of Etobicoke in 1911. The land area of Mimico was mainly from three estates (former farms): Stock Estate (North of Portland), Hendry Estate (between Royal York and Queens Ave), Van Every Estate (between Royal York Rd and Dwight Ave). Mimico was an independent municipality until 1967, when it became a post office of the new Borough of Etobicoke, which was itself amalgamated in 1998 into the current city of Toronto.
Originally a 'railway town' Mimico is now a 'bedroom community' with two commercial strips; along Royal York Road
north of Mimico Avenue and along a straight stretch of Lake Shore Boulevard West, parallel to the shoreline (from Louisa Avenue to Allen Avenue). There is also a former commercial strip along Mimico Avenue connecting Royal York Road and Lake Shore Boulevard West. Some areas of industrial use still exist along the railway corridor.
The name 'Mimico' is derived from the Mississauga word omiimiikaa meaning "abundant with wild pigeons" (c.f. 19th century Mississaugas omiimii, "pigeon"). The 'pigeon' after which Mimico was named was the Passenger Pigeon
thought to have been the most numerous species in the world at the time European colonization began in North America; it is now extinct.
After arriving in the Toronto area, Elizabeth Simcoe
, wife of Upper Canada's first Governor and the founder of Toronto, refers to the large number of (passenger) pigeons after which Mimico is named. The area known as "Mimico" originally extended up the Mimico Creek
to include Dundas Street
, Upper Canada's early highway connecting Toronto to the west. One of Etobicoke's most prominent businessmen, William Gamble, opened a sawmill
west of the mouth of the Mimico Creek and a small settlement for the mill workers was built nearby. With Mr Gamble's patronage Etobicoke's first church, Christ Church (Anglican), was opened on Church Street (Royal York Road). At this time, Mimico was in Etobicoke Township, which had been meeting with the other townships in the southern part of the County of York (what would become Metropolitan Toronto) as the Township of York (excluding the Town of York, later City of Toronto). Mr. Gamble eventually moved his business away, but with the addition of a school at the foot of Church St (Royal York Rd), southern Mimico would not disappear.
By 1850, after the Union of The Canadas
, Etobicoke was formally recognised as a Township and the Great Western Railway (originally chartered as the Toronto & Hamilton Railway) was built through the southern part of the Township. The railway opened the Mimico Station Mimico Station in 1855, just north of the tracks beside Christ Church on Church St. (now Royal York Rd.) and commissioned a subdivision plan with side-streets for the 'Town of Mimico'. Mimico was advertised as being '8 minutes' from Toronto (by train), then bordered by Dufferin St. In 1858, a Mimico post office
had been opened just south of the Railway Station on Church St. (Royal York Rd.) where St. Leo's church is today and in 1863, the Wesley Methodist Church was established.
This prompted the northernmost part of the Mimico area on Dundas St. to adopt a separate name; Islington. In Tremaine's 1860 Map of York County, the Mimico Subdivision is reprinted with all its side streets, however by 1861, the plan had already failed, the area largely returning to agricultural use. Mimico's founding families were therefore mostly farmers: the Van Everys (Loyalists), the Handrys and the Stocks.
Between 1883 and 1893, there were 13 separate annexations to the City of Toronto which brought the border of that city to the Humber R. In 1890, the Mimico Real Estate Security Company Ltd was formed to divide and sell lots in the Etobicoke Community of Mimico. This plan included the subdivision of Mr. Edward Stock's land as far north as the Stock's Side Road (an extension of Toronto's Queen Street, now the Queensway) and a cattle path he had established as a shortcut from Church St. (Royal York Rd.) to Lake Shore Road became Mimico Avenue.
At this time Mimico was defined as North of Lake Ontario, West of the Humber River, South of North Queen Street (Delroy Drive) and East of Mimico Avenue (now Kipling Avenue). A year later a Presbyterian Church was built on Mimico Avenue. Mimico was expected to grow quickly and a second post office was established in what is now New Toronto. A small number of Victorian buildings were built on the newly laid out streets assuring that this time they would not simply disappear. Mimico and the other lakeshore communities west of the Humber River were eventually linked by an independent streetcar line run by the Toronto and Mimico Electric Railway and Light Company, which was intended to link with a line from Hamilton
. However, the eastern end was never completed past Port Credit
.
The line travelled along Lake Shore to Roncesvalles Avenue
where it climbed a bridge to the Roncesvalles Yard meeting the end of Toronto's 'Queen' streetcar line. The 1950s building of the Queensway in the western end of Toronto moved the transfer point to Humber Loop. The streetcar line brought many of Toronto's wealthy to the Lake Shore in Etobicoke where several large estates were built, first and most impressive of which was the Featherstonaugh Estate shaped like a castle at the bottom of Royal York Rd. This period in which Mimico took shape was also the period in which Mimico's namesake, the passenger pigeon, disappeared from the area, the last known bird dying near the beginning of the next century in the United States. A Mimico resident, Mr. John Kay on noticing the disappearance of this species donated a stuffed passenger pigeon to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto to preserve some of the last evidence of what had been Mimico's namesake.
Mimico became a police village in 1905 and the next year the Mimico train yards were opened. Mimico became a Village in 1911 electing its first Village Reeve, Robert Skelton. The same year a second post office named 'Mimico Beach' was established to serve the southern half of Mimico, located on Lakeshore Road. Mimico became the smallest community to obtain a Carnegie Library
in which the town council met at first. The first immigrants began to arrive in Mimico and at this time Etobicoke's first Catholic Church was built in Mimico, St. Leo's
.
Mimico's largest employer was traditionally the railway, but as New Toronto grew and left more space for industrial use, larger industries became more associated with that town. Nevertheless, a new station was built on the south side of the tracks just east of Church St (Royal York) and a hotel was established beside the railway called the Windsor Hotel (today the Blue Goose Tavern). Although other 1890s subdivisions in Toronto at Roncesvalles and the Beaches were entirely built up in the pre-war years Mimico's growth was slow with no street being fully built and some still without any residences built on them. Nevertheless many foursquare houses
were built mostly in south-central Mimico in this period. In 1916, a referendum was held on the question of New Toronto joining Mimico, this was accepted by Mimico voters but rejected in New Toronto.
by naming Mimico's old Southampton Street in her memory in 1916. Another street was also given this name in Toronto's East End leading to recent attempts by Toronto to rename Mimico's Cavell Ave. At the end of the war, the local Daughters of the Empire, who met at the Carnegie Library, presented the town with two plaques honouring all those from the town who had enlisted and another honouring those who had died.
With the union of the Methodist, Congregational and many Presbyterian churches, the old Wesley Methodist Church on Church St (Royal York Rd) became vacant as a new United Church was built on Mimico Ave. The Town of Mimico purchased the old Methodist Church which served as the Town Hall. In 1922, Mimico's Baptist Church was built. Many bungalow style -story homes were built in the interwar years, especially south of Mimico Avenue, and most notably, the tree-lined 'crescent' streets (Lake Cres, Eastbourne Cres, Dartmouth Cres and Lake Shore) were developed with large cottage–style homes. In 1928 the local streetcar line merged with the Toronto Transit Commission
(TTC) which at first combined the line with Toronto's 'Queen' line.
Doubts about Mimico's survival appeared during the Great Depression when the Town went deeply into debt and many businesses disappeared. The depression also bankrupted some of Toronto's wealthiest including Sir Henry Pellatt
(builder of Casa Loma
) who had already built a house in Mimico (Bailey House) which stood at the bend in Lake Shore near Fleeceline overlooking the commercial stretch on Lake Shore. Just before the outbreak of war, Canada's first 'Limited Access' Highway, the Queen Elizabeth Way
, was opened by Queen Elizabeth
. Several blocks of houses were demolished through northern Mimico for the Highway which separated the creeping development on the Queensway from Mimico.
. The next year Hurricane Hazel
struck and while communities around Mimico were some of the worst affected, the storm left Mimico largely untouched. The Town saw its future in attracting many more small families and working people to the area and began to tear down older homes that stood on large lots and filled in these and the last remaining empty lots with apartment buildings.
Smaller 3-story apartment buildings went up on almost every street while larger apartments appeared along much of the Lake Shore on the south side. More commercial space was also built especially on the northern side of Lake Shore from Mimico to Burlington. A period of church expansion occurred with Christ Church Anglican and St. Leo's Roman Catholic Church building new Churches at this time for larger congregations. St. Leo's new church was built on the site of Mimico's 1858 Post Office which was demolished and shortly after the postmaster's home (Werner House) was purchased to become the new rectory. In 1958, the Presbyterian Church built a new church building beside the old church. A legion hall was established in Mimico in Sir Henry Pellatt's former Bailey House.
The Last Mayor, first elected in 1960 was Hugh Griggs who edited Mimico's official history 'The Mimico Story' the year the Village of Mimico was dissolved. In 1967, while Canada celebrated its Centenary, Mimico tore down the Carnegie Library (the only of Toronto's Carnegie Libraries
to be demolished) and some surrounding buildings to build the larger Mimico Centennial Library. The plaque honouring the towns First World War veterans was removed to a new park named 'Vimy Memorial' at Lake Shore and Queens.
The same year, the Town of Mimico merged with two other lake shore communities (the Town of New Toronto and the Village of Long Branch) and the Township of Etobicoke to form the Borough of Etobicoke. The legion hall that had been in Sir Henry Pellatt's Bailey house moved to Eden Court, the former farm residence of the Stock family, when Bailey house was demolished for a street to serve new industries in Mimico's eastern section. Bailey House's time as the Legion hall is commemorated in the name of the street it was demolished for: Legion Road.
The same year Humber Bay Park
was opened; two artificial peninsulas, one in the east and one in the west (enclosing Mimico's beach to create a harbour), which connect to the main land at the end of Mimico Creek. The creation of the artificial park led to unintended consequences with the naturally sandy shoreline in Mimico quickly eroding away. With declining enrollment at Mimico Public High School, the building was offered to the Catholic board as the number of Catholics had been increasing with many Italian and Polish immigrants arriving in Mimico. This offer was refused and an Adult Learning Center was opened there until that institution swapped schools with John English Elementary School.
An estate on Lake Shore was bought by the Polish government at this time to become their Toronto Consulate. A new station was built to service GO trains on the site of the 1855 station on the north side of the tracks just south of Christ Church on Royal York while the old 1916 Station fell into disrepair.
Recently Mimico's oldest church, Christ Church Anglican experienced two fires within a short period of time and the remains were demolished leaving the old cemetery and a new park where the church once stood. The possibility of Mimico 'gentrifying' is sometimes mentioned in plans for Mimico but this has only taken place on a very small scale. Greater attempts at preserving Mimico's history are also being made with the historical designation of Eden Court (former home of Edward Stock) and the preservation and ongoing repair of Mimico's old train station.
Early Mimico had few buildings and few of these survive. Architecturally, homes in Mimico range from grand lake side estates to bungalows built in the 1920s to 1940s, and low rise apartment buildings built in the 1950s and 1960s. Between Mimico Creek to the west and the Humber River to the east, there is a large area of condominium high-rise tower development along the lake shore.
Lake Shore Blvd is also home to many Eastern European delicatessen
, independent stores and bakeries, giving the area a Eastern European atmosphere.
Businesses in Mimico's commercial strips along Royal York (north of the railway) and Lake Shore Boulevard West (South of the railway) have organised themselves into two Business Improvement Associations
: 'Mimico Village' (along Royal York in northern Mimico) and 'Mimico by the Lake' (the heart of the former 'Mimico Beach' postal area along the Lakeshore in southern Mimico).
Lake Shore Boulevard is a four-lane arterial
that runs parallel to the Lake Ontario waterfront from west to east, and is primarily residential within the Mimico area. The major north-south route is Royal York Road
.
The original naming convention for Mimico side-streets was for English community names: Buckingham, Windsor (now Blue Goose Street), Newcastle, Portland, Burlington, Manchester, Oxford, Dorchester (now in The Queensway), Southampton (Cavell), Salisbury (Park Lawn), Torrington (Grand), Cambridge (to the North became Mendota), Coventry (to the East became Queens).
Some later streets were named for Mimico settlers: O'Donnell, Van Every, Robert Hendry (Wheatfield), George (Hendry), Pidgeon (western part of Stanley), Howland (Ourland), Stock's Side Road (The Queensway); and more recently for former mayors of Mimico: Skelton, Norris. The Griggs and Edwards retirement homes are also named for former mayors.
Near the foot of Park Lawn Road is Humber Bay Park
, land created by infill of the lake, creating an artificial peninsula and enclosing Mimico Harbour at Mimico Creek
. It has a few picnic areas, boat slips
, walking trails and grassland
s for recreational use.
In 1890, a waterfront walkway was planned consisting of The Parade at the bottom of Superior Avenue and Marine Parade starting at the bottom of Royal York Road. This plan had disappeared by 1911 except for a small part of Marine Parade (Sussex Drive). The City of Toronto, along with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority
, is building a publicly accessible waterfront. The first phase of the Mimico Waterfront Linear Park, opened in July 2008, connects three small parks using cobblestone beaches, boardwalk
s and sand dunes, and will eventually connect with Humber Bay Park to the west. As of 2008, construction of the second phase was delayed due to a minority group of property owners who refused to sell their lakefront access. This project has been completed through the Humber Bay neighbourhood with a roadway named Marine Parade after the original in Mimico.
Mimico has had a long had a reputation for supporting both of Canada's national sports. In hockey, Mimico has developed a number of NHL players; there was even a Wayne and Shuster
sketch where Johnny and Frank played for the mythical Mimico Mice against the then-Stanley Cup
champion Toronto Maple Leafs
. Mimico's lacrosse clubs have been in existence for well over 1800 years and has won a number of National Championships.
The area is served primarily with buses along Royal York Road and Evans Avenue connecting with the Bloor-Danforth subway and with streetcars along Lake Shore Boulevard. The City of Toronto is in the process of studying various proposals to increase transit connections in the area to downtown. The Mimico GO Transit station provides regular east-west commuter rail travel to downtown Toronto and to as far west as Hamilton. Along the north of the area is the Gardiner Expressway
, a large 12-lane highway.
Before the building of the Bloor-Danforth Subway, the TTC operated a 'Mimico' bus route along a portion of Royal York and the Queensway from Humber Loop to the foot of Royal York. A second route was the 507 Long Branch streetcar, which was joined in 1995 to the 501 Queen route (the longest streetcar route in the world), and therefore no longer turns at the Humber Loop. Because of poor service on the western section of the route, the TTC is considering reinstating the separate Long Branch route.
Mayors
Politicians
Athletes
Other
George R. Gauld Junior School
George R. Gauld Junior School is a public
elementary school
located on Melrose Street. With increased immigration of working families to the Town of Mimico's northern half, north of the railway, it was felt that a new elementary school was needed to compliment John English. In 1923 George R Gauld Public School was opened being named after a former trustee and superintendent of the nearby Victoria Industrial School (later moved to Guelph, the remains of the older institution becoming the Mimico Correctional Centre
). The school has had two additions, one in 1932 and another in 1959.
John English Junior Middle School
John English is a public
elementary school
located on Mimico Avenue, east of Royal York Road
. The original school, a one-room brick building, opened in 1884 and moved, after a series of renovations and rebuilding, into the former Mimico High School building in 1993. The auditorium, cafeteria, gymnasium, and other specialized areas are shared with the Community School. The school is named after a well known former Mimico Principal.
Since the 1920s, the school has been on the north corner of Royal York Road and Mimico Ave. It was a large 2-story brick edifice that reached to Elizabeth St. Separate playgrounds for boys and girls had a wood fence between them in the early 1950s. The ceilings were ornamented plaster set in a square pattern by the old caretaker (who lived in a small house on the Elizabeth St end) after hours. He was a never-ending source of school and local area history.
David Hornell Public School
David Hornell Public School is located along victoria st. David Hornell is named after a verteran who served in the canadian army for many years and died from world war ||. David Hornell died after a military plane shot the plane down and crashed into a open wide sea. His world are still remembered and to deticate his memory , they name a school after him. David Hornell is on of Mimico's most deticated school. Many great leaders such as Micheal Ignatieff ( the last Liberal Pary Leader ) have visited this school. This school has served education for currently 49 years.
Other schools:
Recreation
Churches
Although they take the name, the Mimico Correctional Centre
(former Victoria Industrial School), the Mimico Yards and the Mimico Lunatic Asylum (former) are not actually located in the neighbourhood, but are a bit further west in New Toronto.
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It is located in the south-east corner of the former Township (and later, City) of Etobicoke, and was an independent municipality from 1911 to 1967.
Mimico is bounded by Evans Avenue, Algoma Street and Manitoba Street to the north, Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
to the south, a line midway between Fleeceline Road and Louisa Street to the East, with the western boundary along a line through Dwight Avenue (south of the railway) and St. George Street (north of the railway). Mimico originally stretched north to what is now The Queensway, but was cut off from this area with the building of the Queen Elizabeth Way
Queen Elizabeth Way
The Queen Elizabeth Way, commonly abbreviated as the QEW, is a 400-Series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The freeway links Buffalo, New York and the Niagara Peninsula with Toronto. It begins at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie and travels around the western shore of Lake Ontario, ending...
.
Mimico is the oldest of the former 'Lakeshore Municipalities'. The former Town of Mimico was sub-divided from the former Township of Etobicoke in 1911. The land area of Mimico was mainly from three estates (former farms): Stock Estate (North of Portland), Hendry Estate (between Royal York and Queens Ave), Van Every Estate (between Royal York Rd and Dwight Ave). Mimico was an independent municipality until 1967, when it became a post office of the new Borough of Etobicoke, which was itself amalgamated in 1998 into the current city of Toronto.
Originally a 'railway town' Mimico is now a 'bedroom community' with two commercial strips; along Royal York Road
Royal York Road
Royal York Road, historically known as Church Street or New Church Street, is a north-south arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, 5 concessions west of Yonge Street, and runs through many residential neighbourhoods, most notably Mimico and the Kingsway...
north of Mimico Avenue and along a straight stretch of Lake Shore Boulevard West, parallel to the shoreline (from Louisa Avenue to Allen Avenue). There is also a former commercial strip along Mimico Avenue connecting Royal York Road and Lake Shore Boulevard West. Some areas of industrial use still exist along the railway corridor.
History
EtymologyThe name 'Mimico' is derived from the Mississauga word omiimiikaa meaning "abundant with wild pigeons" (c.f. 19th century Mississaugas omiimii, "pigeon"). The 'pigeon' after which Mimico was named was the Passenger Pigeon
Passenger Pigeon
The Passenger Pigeon or Wild Pigeon was a bird, now extinct, that existed in North America and lived in enormous migratory flocks until the early 20th century...
thought to have been the most numerous species in the world at the time European colonization began in North America; it is now extinct.
Mill settlement
Elizabeth Simcoe
Elizabeth Simcoe was an artist and diarist in colonial Canada. She was the wife of John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada.-Biography:...
, wife of Upper Canada's first Governor and the founder of Toronto, refers to the large number of (passenger) pigeons after which Mimico is named. The area known as "Mimico" originally extended up the Mimico Creek
Mimico Creek
Mimico Creek is a 33 km watercourse with its headwaters in Brampton, Ontario, and its mouth in Toronto, Ontario.The watershed lies between the Humber River to the east and Etobicoke Creek to the west....
to include Dundas Street
Dundas Street (Toronto)
Dundas Street, also known as Highway 5 west of Toronto, is a major arterial road connecting the centre of that city with its western suburbs and southwestern Ontario beyond...
, Upper Canada's early highway connecting Toronto to the west. One of Etobicoke's most prominent businessmen, William Gamble, opened a sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
west of the mouth of the Mimico Creek and a small settlement for the mill workers was built nearby. With Mr Gamble's patronage Etobicoke's first church, Christ Church (Anglican), was opened on Church Street (Royal York Road). At this time, Mimico was in Etobicoke Township, which had been meeting with the other townships in the southern part of the County of York (what would become Metropolitan Toronto) as the Township of York (excluding the Town of York, later City of Toronto). Mr. Gamble eventually moved his business away, but with the addition of a school at the foot of Church St (Royal York Rd), southern Mimico would not disappear.
First plan for Mimico
The Canadas
The Canadas is the collective name for Upper Canada and Lower Canada, two British colonies in Canada. They were both created by the Constitutional Act of 1791 and abolished in 1841 with the union of Upper and Lower Canada....
, Etobicoke was formally recognised as a Township and the Great Western Railway (originally chartered as the Toronto & Hamilton Railway) was built through the southern part of the Township. The railway opened the Mimico Station Mimico Station in 1855, just north of the tracks beside Christ Church on Church St. (now Royal York Rd.) and commissioned a subdivision plan with side-streets for the 'Town of Mimico'. Mimico was advertised as being '8 minutes' from Toronto (by train), then bordered by Dufferin St. In 1858, a Mimico post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
had been opened just south of the Railway Station on Church St. (Royal York Rd.) where St. Leo's church is today and in 1863, the Wesley Methodist Church was established.
Second plan for Mimico
At this time Mimico was defined as North of Lake Ontario, West of the Humber River, South of North Queen Street (Delroy Drive) and East of Mimico Avenue (now Kipling Avenue). A year later a Presbyterian Church was built on Mimico Avenue. Mimico was expected to grow quickly and a second post office was established in what is now New Toronto. A small number of Victorian buildings were built on the newly laid out streets assuring that this time they would not simply disappear. Mimico and the other lakeshore communities west of the Humber River were eventually linked by an independent streetcar line run by the Toronto and Mimico Electric Railway and Light Company, which was intended to link with a line from Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
. However, the eastern end was never completed past Port Credit
Port Credit, Ontario
Port Credit is found at the mouth of the Credit River on the north shore of Lake Ontario, within the southcentral area of the city of Mississauga...
.
The line travelled along Lake Shore to Roncesvalles Avenue
Roncesvalles Avenue
Roncesvalles Avenue is a north-south arterial street in Toronto, Canada. It connects Queen Street West, King Street West and runs north to Dundas Street West. Roncesvalles Avenue takes its name from the Battle of Roncesvalles, which took place in the Roncesvalles gorge in Spain in 1813...
where it climbed a bridge to the Roncesvalles Yard meeting the end of Toronto's 'Queen' streetcar line. The 1950s building of the Queensway in the western end of Toronto moved the transfer point to Humber Loop. The streetcar line brought many of Toronto's wealthy to the Lake Shore in Etobicoke where several large estates were built, first and most impressive of which was the Featherstonaugh Estate shaped like a castle at the bottom of Royal York Rd. This period in which Mimico took shape was also the period in which Mimico's namesake, the passenger pigeon, disappeared from the area, the last known bird dying near the beginning of the next century in the United States. A Mimico resident, Mr. John Kay on noticing the disappearance of this species donated a stuffed passenger pigeon to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto to preserve some of the last evidence of what had been Mimico's namesake.
Incorporation
Carnegie Library
Carnegie Library, Carnegie Public Library, Carnegie Free Library, Carnegie Free Public Library, Andrew Carnegie Library, Andrew Carnegie Free Library or Carnegie Library Building may refer to any of the following Carnegie libraries:- California :*Carnegie Library , listed on the National Register...
in which the town council met at first. The first immigrants began to arrive in Mimico and at this time Etobicoke's first Catholic Church was built in Mimico, St. Leo's
St. Leo's Roman Catholic Church, Mimico
St. Leo's Roman Catholic Church on Royal York Rd at Stanley, Mimico in Toronto , Ontario, is the oldest Catholic church in Etobicoke and the only Catholic church in Mimico.-History:First church...
.
Mimico's largest employer was traditionally the railway, but as New Toronto grew and left more space for industrial use, larger industries became more associated with that town. Nevertheless, a new station was built on the south side of the tracks just east of Church St (Royal York) and a hotel was established beside the railway called the Windsor Hotel (today the Blue Goose Tavern). Although other 1890s subdivisions in Toronto at Roncesvalles and the Beaches were entirely built up in the pre-war years Mimico's growth was slow with no street being fully built and some still without any residences built on them. Nevertheless many foursquare houses
American Foursquare
The American Foursquare or American Four Square is an American house style popular from the mid-1890s to the late 1930s. A reaction to the ornate and mass produced elements of the Victorian and other Revival styles popular throughout the last half of the 19th century, the American Foursquare was...
were built mostly in south-central Mimico in this period. In 1916, a referendum was held on the question of New Toronto joining Mimico, this was accepted by Mimico voters but rejected in New Toronto.
World War I and the Depression
During the First World War, in 1917, Mimico became a Town and elected its first Mayor, John Harrison, by acclamation. The town also reacted to the sensational execution of British Nurse Edith CavellEdith Cavell
Edith Louisa Cavell was a British nurse and spy. She is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from all sides without distinction and in helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during World War I, for which she was arrested...
by naming Mimico's old Southampton Street in her memory in 1916. Another street was also given this name in Toronto's East End leading to recent attempts by Toronto to rename Mimico's Cavell Ave. At the end of the war, the local Daughters of the Empire, who met at the Carnegie Library, presented the town with two plaques honouring all those from the town who had enlisted and another honouring those who had died.
With the union of the Methodist, Congregational and many Presbyterian churches, the old Wesley Methodist Church on Church St (Royal York Rd) became vacant as a new United Church was built on Mimico Ave. The Town of Mimico purchased the old Methodist Church which served as the Town Hall. In 1922, Mimico's Baptist Church was built. Many bungalow style -story homes were built in the interwar years, especially south of Mimico Avenue, and most notably, the tree-lined 'crescent' streets (Lake Cres, Eastbourne Cres, Dartmouth Cres and Lake Shore) were developed with large cottage–style homes. In 1928 the local streetcar line merged with the Toronto Transit Commission
Toronto Transit Commission
-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...
(TTC) which at first combined the line with Toronto's 'Queen' line.
Doubts about Mimico's survival appeared during the Great Depression when the Town went deeply into debt and many businesses disappeared. The depression also bankrupted some of Toronto's wealthiest including Sir Henry Pellatt
Henry Pellatt
Major-General Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, C.V.O. was a well-known Canadian financier and soldier....
(builder of Casa Loma
Casa Loma
Casa Loma is a Gothic Revival style house in midtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that is now a museum and landmark. It was originally a residence for financier Sir Henry Mill Pellatt. Casa Loma was constructed over a three-year period from 1911–1914. The architect of the mansion was E. J...
) who had already built a house in Mimico (Bailey House) which stood at the bend in Lake Shore near Fleeceline overlooking the commercial stretch on Lake Shore. Just before the outbreak of war, Canada's first 'Limited Access' Highway, the Queen Elizabeth Way
Queen Elizabeth Way
The Queen Elizabeth Way, commonly abbreviated as the QEW, is a 400-Series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The freeway links Buffalo, New York and the Niagara Peninsula with Toronto. It begins at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie and travels around the western shore of Lake Ontario, ending...
, was opened by Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
. Several blocks of houses were demolished through northern Mimico for the Highway which separated the creeping development on the Queensway from Mimico.
World War II
Mimico's longest serving Mayor (at different periods from 1936–1948) was Amos Waites who alternated in this post with Mayor Archibald Norris. About the time of the Second World War many 1-story houses were built, filling in most of the gaps in the housing especially in northern and western Mimico. Smaller industries moved into areas around the railway tracks. Many new immigrants came to Mimico in the 1950s. In 1953, Mimico became one of thirteen cities and towns in the new Metropolitan TorontoMetropolitan Toronto
The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was a senior level of municipal government in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada area from 1954 to 1998. It was created out of York County and was a precursor to the later concept of a regional municipality, being formed of smaller municipalities but having more...
. The next year Hurricane Hazel
Hurricane Hazel
Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest and costliest hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm killed as many as 1,000 people in Haiti before striking the United States near the border between North and South Carolina, as a Category 4 hurricane...
struck and while communities around Mimico were some of the worst affected, the storm left Mimico largely untouched. The Town saw its future in attracting many more small families and working people to the area and began to tear down older homes that stood on large lots and filled in these and the last remaining empty lots with apartment buildings.
Smaller 3-story apartment buildings went up on almost every street while larger apartments appeared along much of the Lake Shore on the south side. More commercial space was also built especially on the northern side of Lake Shore from Mimico to Burlington. A period of church expansion occurred with Christ Church Anglican and St. Leo's Roman Catholic Church building new Churches at this time for larger congregations. St. Leo's new church was built on the site of Mimico's 1858 Post Office which was demolished and shortly after the postmaster's home (Werner House) was purchased to become the new rectory. In 1958, the Presbyterian Church built a new church building beside the old church. A legion hall was established in Mimico in Sir Henry Pellatt's former Bailey House.
Postwar growth
Carnegie Library
Carnegie Library, Carnegie Public Library, Carnegie Free Library, Carnegie Free Public Library, Andrew Carnegie Library, Andrew Carnegie Free Library or Carnegie Library Building may refer to any of the following Carnegie libraries:- California :*Carnegie Library , listed on the National Register...
to be demolished) and some surrounding buildings to build the larger Mimico Centennial Library. The plaque honouring the towns First World War veterans was removed to a new park named 'Vimy Memorial' at Lake Shore and Queens.
The same year, the Town of Mimico merged with two other lake shore communities (the Town of New Toronto and the Village of Long Branch) and the Township of Etobicoke to form the Borough of Etobicoke. The legion hall that had been in Sir Henry Pellatt's Bailey house moved to Eden Court, the former farm residence of the Stock family, when Bailey house was demolished for a street to serve new industries in Mimico's eastern section. Bailey House's time as the Legion hall is commemorated in the name of the street it was demolished for: Legion Road.
Slow decline
Mimico began slowly to decline as the children of families who lived in the small houses of the 1940s moved to the growing outer suburbs and the apartments did not live up to the hopes they had generated as they quickly deteriorated. Businesses also continued to fail and many of the small industries moved out. In 1984, Etobicoke became a city and a plan was prepared to rejuvenate Mimico which called for limiting the amount of commercial space by rezoning Mimico Avenue as non-commercial.The same year Humber Bay Park
Humber Bay Park
Humber Bay Park is a waterfront park located in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada. The park consists of two landspits situated at the mouth of Mimico Creek. The park is on Lake Shore Boulevard West at Park Lawn Road. Humber Bay Park East, connecting to the Humber Bay neighbourhood that existed there...
was opened; two artificial peninsulas, one in the east and one in the west (enclosing Mimico's beach to create a harbour), which connect to the main land at the end of Mimico Creek. The creation of the artificial park led to unintended consequences with the naturally sandy shoreline in Mimico quickly eroding away. With declining enrollment at Mimico Public High School, the building was offered to the Catholic board as the number of Catholics had been increasing with many Italian and Polish immigrants arriving in Mimico. This offer was refused and an Adult Learning Center was opened there until that institution swapped schools with John English Elementary School.
An estate on Lake Shore was bought by the Polish government at this time to become their Toronto Consulate. A new station was built to service GO trains on the site of the 1855 station on the north side of the tracks just south of Christ Church on Royal York while the old 1916 Station fell into disrepair.
Attempts at rejuvenation
In 1998, Etobicoke was amalgamated with Metro Toronto and its five other municipalities into the new City of Toronto. Much of the former industrial land was subdivided for 'Monster Homes' in the 80s and later for townhouses, a process that continues today. Old plans for rejuvenating Mimico and its waterfront are also slowly being realized. In recent years the tide of condominium development along the Lakeshore has closed in on Mimico.Recently Mimico's oldest church, Christ Church Anglican experienced two fires within a short period of time and the remains were demolished leaving the old cemetery and a new park where the church once stood. The possibility of Mimico 'gentrifying' is sometimes mentioned in plans for Mimico but this has only taken place on a very small scale. Greater attempts at preserving Mimico's history are also being made with the historical designation of Eden Court (former home of Edward Stock) and the preservation and ongoing repair of Mimico's old train station.
Character
Lake Shore Blvd is also home to many Eastern European delicatessen
Delicatessen
Delicatessen is a term meaning "delicacies" or "fine foods". The word entered English via German,with the old German spelling , plural of Delikatesse "delicacy", ultimately from Latin delicatus....
, independent stores and bakeries, giving the area a Eastern European atmosphere.
Businesses in Mimico's commercial strips along Royal York (north of the railway) and Lake Shore Boulevard West (South of the railway) have organised themselves into two Business Improvement Associations
Business improvement district
A business improvement district is a defined area within which businesses pay an additional tax or fee in order to fund improvements within the district's boundaries. Grant funds acquired by the city for special programs and/or incentives such as tax abatements can be made available to assist...
: 'Mimico Village' (along Royal York in northern Mimico) and 'Mimico by the Lake' (the heart of the former 'Mimico Beach' postal area along the Lakeshore in southern Mimico).
Main streets
Arterial road
An arterial road, or arterial thoroughfare, is a high-capacity urban road. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector roads to freeways, and between urban centres at the highest level of service possible. As such, many arteries are limited-access roads, or feature...
that runs parallel to the Lake Ontario waterfront from west to east, and is primarily residential within the Mimico area. The major north-south route is Royal York Road
Royal York Road
Royal York Road, historically known as Church Street or New Church Street, is a north-south arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, 5 concessions west of Yonge Street, and runs through many residential neighbourhoods, most notably Mimico and the Kingsway...
.
The original naming convention for Mimico side-streets was for English community names: Buckingham, Windsor (now Blue Goose Street), Newcastle, Portland, Burlington, Manchester, Oxford, Dorchester (now in The Queensway), Southampton (Cavell), Salisbury (Park Lawn), Torrington (Grand), Cambridge (to the North became Mendota), Coventry (to the East became Queens).
Some later streets were named for Mimico settlers: O'Donnell, Van Every, Robert Hendry (Wheatfield), George (Hendry), Pidgeon (western part of Stanley), Howland (Ourland), Stock's Side Road (The Queensway); and more recently for former mayors of Mimico: Skelton, Norris. The Griggs and Edwards retirement homes are also named for former mayors.
Recreation
Recreation options in Mimico include the Mimico Tennis Club, the Mimico Cruising Club and the Etobicoke Yacht Club.Near the foot of Park Lawn Road is Humber Bay Park
Humber Bay Park
Humber Bay Park is a waterfront park located in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada. The park consists of two landspits situated at the mouth of Mimico Creek. The park is on Lake Shore Boulevard West at Park Lawn Road. Humber Bay Park East, connecting to the Humber Bay neighbourhood that existed there...
, land created by infill of the lake, creating an artificial peninsula and enclosing Mimico Harbour at Mimico Creek
Mimico Creek
Mimico Creek is a 33 km watercourse with its headwaters in Brampton, Ontario, and its mouth in Toronto, Ontario.The watershed lies between the Humber River to the east and Etobicoke Creek to the west....
. It has a few picnic areas, boat slips
Slipway
A slipway, boat slip or just a slip, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats. They are also used for launching and retrieving small boats on trailers and flying boats on their undercarriage. The...
, walking trails and grassland
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
s for recreational use.
In 1890, a waterfront walkway was planned consisting of The Parade at the bottom of Superior Avenue and Marine Parade starting at the bottom of Royal York Road. This plan had disappeared by 1911 except for a small part of Marine Parade (Sussex Drive). The City of Toronto, along with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority or Office de protection de la nature de Toronto et de la région is one of 36 conservation authorities in Ontario, Canada...
, is building a publicly accessible waterfront. The first phase of the Mimico Waterfront Linear Park, opened in July 2008, connects three small parks using cobblestone beaches, boardwalk
Boardwalk
A boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden walkway for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles, often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments....
s and sand dunes, and will eventually connect with Humber Bay Park to the west. As of 2008, construction of the second phase was delayed due to a minority group of property owners who refused to sell their lakefront access. This project has been completed through the Humber Bay neighbourhood with a roadway named Marine Parade after the original in Mimico.
Mimico has had a long had a reputation for supporting both of Canada's national sports. In hockey, Mimico has developed a number of NHL players; there was even a Wayne and Shuster
Wayne and Shuster
Wayne and Shuster were a Canadian comedy duo formed by Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster. They were active professionally from the early 1940s until the late 1980s....
sketch where Johnny and Frank played for the mythical Mimico Mice against the then-Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
champion Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
. Mimico's lacrosse clubs have been in existence for well over 1800 years and has won a number of National Championships.
Transportation
Gardiner Expressway
The Frederick G. Gardiner Expressway, colloquially referred to as "the Gardiner", is a municipal expressway in the Canadian province of Ontario, connecting downtown Toronto with its western suburbs...
, a large 12-lane highway.
Before the building of the Bloor-Danforth Subway, the TTC operated a 'Mimico' bus route along a portion of Royal York and the Queensway from Humber Loop to the foot of Royal York. A second route was the 507 Long Branch streetcar, which was joined in 1995 to the 501 Queen route (the longest streetcar route in the world), and therefore no longer turns at the Humber Loop. Because of poor service on the western section of the route, the TTC is considering reinstating the separate Long Branch route.
Notable residents
Settlers- James Stock, Edward & Harriet Stock
- William & Catherine Van Every (Loyalists)
- George & Margaret Hendry
- Robert Skelton (Reeve) 1911–1914
- Caesar Coxhead (Reeve) 1915
- John Harrison 1914, 1916–1918 (Mayor from 1917)
- Louis West 1919–1920
- John Doughty 1921–1925
- William Savage 1926
- Arthur Edwards 1927–1929
- Robert Waites 1930–1932
- Archibald Norris 1933–1935, 1941–1942, 1946, 1949–1954
- Amos Waites 1936–1940, 1943–1945, 1947–1948
- Arthur Edwards 1955–1960
- Hugh Griggs 1961–1966
Politicians
- Patrick BoyerPatrick BoyerJ. Patrick Boyer is a university professor, author and a former Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament ....
, M.P. - Hon Forbes Elliott GodfreyForbes Elliott GodfreyForbes Elliott Godfrey was an Ontario physician and political figure. He represented York West in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Conservative member from 1907 to 1932....
, Provincial Minister of Health. - Morley KellsMorley KellsMorley Kells is a longtime politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on two separate occasions, and was briefly a cabinet minister in the government of Frank Miller...
, M.P.P. - Ken Robinson, M.P.
Athletes
- Dave Bolland, NHL ice hockeyIce hockeyIce hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
player. - David Clarkson (ice hockey)David Clarkson (ice hockey)David Clarkson is a Canadian ice hockey forward who currently plays for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League. Clarkson won a Memorial Cup in 2003 with the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League.- Playing career :...
, NHL ice hockeyIce hockeyIce hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
player. - Jerome DraytonJerome DraytonJerome Drayton is a former long-distance runner who competed internationally for Canada. He was born as Peter Buniak in Germany. A prominent runner in the 1970s, he won the Fukuoka Marathon on three occasions, in 1969, 1975, and 1976...
, Canada’s top male marathon runner of all-time (1999) and Canada’s top male distance runner of all-time (2005) - Brendan ShanahanBrendan ShanahanBrendan Frederick "Shanny" Shanahan is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey winger who currently serves as the National Hockey League's Vice President of Hockey and Business Development and head disciplinarian. Originally drafted by the New Jersey Devils second overall in the 1987 NHL Entry...
, NHL ice hockeyIce hockeyIce hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
player. - Joey VottoJoey VottoJoseph Daniel "Joey" Votto, is a Canadian Major League Baseball first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds. He is the 2010 NL MVP, the recipient of the National League Hank Aaron Award for 2010, and won the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's athlete of the year in 2010.-Early life:Votto was born on...
, Major League Baseball player and standout rookie. - Elliott Richardson, CFL Defensive Back (Edmonton Eskimos)
Other
- Sir Ernest MacMillanErnest MacMillanSir Ernest Alexander Campbell MacMillan, CC was an internationally renowned Canadian orchestral conductor and composer, and Canada's only "Musical Knight". He is widely regarded as being Canada's pre-eminent musician, from the 1920s through the 1950s...
, orchestral conductor and composer, recipient of the Order of CanadaOrder of CanadaThe Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
. - Sir Henry PellattHenry PellattMajor-General Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, C.V.O. was a well-known Canadian financier and soldier....
, businessman. Died in Mimico. - David Ernest HornellDavid Ernest HornellDavid Ernest Hornell, VC was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:...
, V.C.Victoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
, Second World War Pilot (killed). - Edwin Ernest Eland, founder of The Advertiser (now the Etobicoke GuardianEtobicoke GuardianThe Etobicoke Guardian is a two times a week tabloid format newspaper that publishes each Thursday and Friday. The newspaper is published by Toronto Community News, a division of Metroland Media Group, a Torstar company, which also publishes The Scarborough Mirror, The East York Mirror, The...
) - Theodore LoblawTheodore LoblawTheodore Pringle Loblaw was a Canadian grocer who spent his entire life in the province of Ontario. He became the founder of Loblaws supermarkets, which is now a nationwide retail empire....
, founder of LoblawsLoblawsLoblaws is a supermarket chain with over 70 stores in Canada, headquartered in Brampton, with stores across Ontario and Quebec. Loblaws is a division of Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada's largest food distributor... - Les StroudLes StroudLes Stroud is a Canadian musician, filmmaker, and survival expert best known as the creator, writer, producer, director, cameraman and host of the television series Survivorman...
, Musician, survival enthusiastSurvivalismSurvivalism is a movement of individuals or groups who are actively preparing for future possible disruptions in local, regional, national, or international social or political order...
and filmmaker, host of Discovery ChannelDiscovery ChannelDiscovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
's SurvivormanSurvivormanSurvivorman is a Canadian-produced television program, broadcast in Canada on the Outdoor Life Network , and internationally on Discovery Channel and Science Channel... - Wayne & Shuster, 1950s-1980s Canadian standup comedy team who appeared frequently on the Ed Sullivan Show, performed a routine about a fictional hockey team they called the Mimico Mice.
Schools
George R. Gauld Junior School
George R. Gauld Junior School is a public
Public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individuals, and the public is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the Öffentlichkeit or public sphere. The concept of a public has also been defined in political science,...
elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
located on Melrose Street. With increased immigration of working families to the Town of Mimico's northern half, north of the railway, it was felt that a new elementary school was needed to compliment John English. In 1923 George R Gauld Public School was opened being named after a former trustee and superintendent of the nearby Victoria Industrial School (later moved to Guelph, the remains of the older institution becoming the Mimico Correctional Centre
Mimico Correctional Centre
The Mimico Correctional Centre is a provincial medium-security correctional facility for adult male inmates serving a sentence of 2-years-less-a-day or less in Ontario, Canada. Its history can be traced back to 1887...
). The school has had two additions, one in 1932 and another in 1959.
John English Junior Middle School
John English is a public
Public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individuals, and the public is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the Öffentlichkeit or public sphere. The concept of a public has also been defined in political science,...
elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
located on Mimico Avenue, east of Royal York Road
Royal York Road
Royal York Road, historically known as Church Street or New Church Street, is a north-south arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, 5 concessions west of Yonge Street, and runs through many residential neighbourhoods, most notably Mimico and the Kingsway...
. The original school, a one-room brick building, opened in 1884 and moved, after a series of renovations and rebuilding, into the former Mimico High School building in 1993. The auditorium, cafeteria, gymnasium, and other specialized areas are shared with the Community School. The school is named after a well known former Mimico Principal.
Since the 1920s, the school has been on the north corner of Royal York Road and Mimico Ave. It was a large 2-story brick edifice that reached to Elizabeth St. Separate playgrounds for boys and girls had a wood fence between them in the early 1950s. The ceilings were ornamented plaster set in a square pattern by the old caretaker (who lived in a small house on the Elizabeth St end) after hours. He was a never-ending source of school and local area history.
David Hornell Public School
David Hornell Public School is located along victoria st. David Hornell is named after a verteran who served in the canadian army for many years and died from world war ||. David Hornell died after a military plane shot the plane down and crashed into a open wide sea. His world are still remembered and to deticate his memory , they name a school after him. David Hornell is on of Mimico's most deticated school. Many great leaders such as Micheal Ignatieff ( the last Liberal Pary Leader ) have visited this school. This school has served education for currently 49 years.
Other schools:
- Mimico Adult Learning Centre formerly Mimico High School; has switched buildings with John English
- St. Leo Catholic Elementary School, MimicoSt. Leo Catholic Elementary School, MimicoSt. Leo is an elementary school in the former town of Mimico, Etobicoke, now a part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is operated by the Toronto Catholic District School Board. Recently the name of the school, originally St. Leo's Separate School, has been written as St. Leo Catholic...
is a Catholic elementary school located on Stanley Avenue. - St. Louis Catholic Elementary School, MimicoSt. Louis Catholic Elementary School, MimicoSt. Louis is an elementary school in the former town of Mimico, Etobicoke, now a part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is operated by the Toronto Catholic District School Board.- History :...
is a Catholic elementary school located on Morgan Avenue
Institutions
General- Mimico Town Hall (Demolished) Former Wesley Methodist Church
- Mimico Post Office (Now in a Pharmacy) Original site is now St. Leo's Church, the Postmaster's home (Werner House) is now St. Leo's Rectory
- Mimico Police & Fire Station (Closed)
- Mimico Centennial LibraryMimico Centennial LibraryMimico Centennial Library is the public library of Mimico in Canada. It began as Mimico Carnegie Library after the Village of Mimico held a plebiscite in 1913 to request funds for a Carnegie Library, several already having been built in Toronto...
Former Mimico Carnegie Library. - Mimico Station
- Connaught Masonic Hall, Mimico
- Mimico Legion Hall (Closed) Joined with New Toronto Legion Hall
- Hogle Funeral Home (former Methodist Manse)
Recreation
- Mimico Arena also known as the Drummond Bowl to many former lacrosse players.
- Mimico Tennis Club
- Mimico Yacht Club
- Amos Waites outdoor Park and Swimming Pool
- Vimy Memorial Park
Churches
- Christ Church Anglican (Burnt down) First Church in Etobicoke
- Wesley Mimico United ChurchWesley Mimico United ChurchWesley Mimico United Church is a church created by the union of the former Wesley Methodist Church, Mimico and St. Paul's Presbyterian Church in 1927 of which the Methodist church was the larger partner.-History:Methodist Heritage...
1927 Union of Wesley Methodist Church (1863) and St. Paul's Presbyterian Church - Mimico Presbyterian Church Built 1891, a new church building built beside the old in 1958
- Mimico Baptist Church Built 1922
- St. Leo's Roman Catholic ChurchSt. Leo's Roman Catholic Church, MimicoSt. Leo's Roman Catholic Church on Royal York Rd at Stanley, Mimico in Toronto , Ontario, is the oldest Catholic church in Etobicoke and the only Catholic church in Mimico.-History:First church...
First Catholic Parish in Etobicoke, Also home of the Lakeshore Beavers, Cubs and Scouts - Martin Luther Evangelical Lutheran Church
- Mimico Gospel Hall
- Mimico United Pentecostal
Although they take the name, the Mimico Correctional Centre
Mimico Correctional Centre
The Mimico Correctional Centre is a provincial medium-security correctional facility for adult male inmates serving a sentence of 2-years-less-a-day or less in Ontario, Canada. Its history can be traced back to 1887...
(former Victoria Industrial School), the Mimico Yards and the Mimico Lunatic Asylum (former) are not actually located in the neighbourhood, but are a bit further west in New Toronto.
External links
- Mimico neighbourhood profile
- Mimico Residents Association
- Mimico Village and Mimico-by-the-Lake BIA
- http://www.etobicokehistorical.com/Stories/Mimico/body_mimico.html
- Asylum by the Lake - web site dedicated to the history of Mimico Asylum