Past
History of the Toronto Island
Toronto Island was formed by sands, which were carried by wind and water currents from Scarborough Bluffs, deposited into the bay and shaped the land as a peninsula. Afterwards, two huge storms, first in 1852 and then in 1858, permanently created a big channel and transformed the peninsula into islands (Marie, 2022).
Toronto Island was a hotspot for campers pitching their tents for the entire summer. In 1912, there were 685 campers in total summering on Ward’s Island. The island was a prosperous place divided into residential areas with cottages, resort hotels and amusement areas. At the time of World War II, going camping was prohibited. In 1956, due to lots of construction of expressways and loss of green space, the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (Metro) decided to expropriate lands for creating a regional, enormous park. By the end of the 1960s, 400 houses on Halan’s Point and Centre Island were demolished as well as shops. The opening of Centreville Amusement Park in 1967 also intensified the idea to transform the land from residential to recreational use. However, islanders on Ward’s and Algonquin Islands continued to fight with Metro and tried to save the remaining houses. This battle lasted for 30 years until in 1993, residents were granted their rights to stay in the houses with a 99-year lease (DH Toronto staff, 2021).
In Toronto Islander's words
References
- Marie, D. (2022, September 2). Toronto island - the sandbars that influenced the founding of York. TorontoJourney416. Retrieved December 6, 2022, from https://www.torontojourney416.com/toronto-island/
- Staff, D. H. T. (2021, July 9). Everything you need to know about the history of the Toronto Islands (photos): Curated. Everything you need to know about the history of the Toronto Islands. Retrieved December 6, 2022, from https://dailyhive.com/toronto/history-toronto-islands