1819
John Lea Senior, his wife
Mary
Lea and their son William arrived from Lancashire,
England via Boston, United States. At that time Town of
York had
1,174 residents, 91
one-storey dwellings, 68 two-storey houses and 21 shops.
John Lea bought 200 acres at a cost of 200
guineas
on
lot 13 Concession 3 from the bay
on high ground east of Yonge Street ( Bayview Avenue to Leslie Street, half
a mile south of Eglinton). It was an expensive purchase.
The land was partly cleared, well drained, and there was a
road from existing log house over to Yonge Street. This
road, called later William Street, ended where present
day Glebe Road meets Yonge. Shortly after
settling
John bought cows, grew
vegetables and planted an orchard of Northern Spy
apples. In Canada The Leas had another son, John Junior, and a
daughter, Mary Margaret who later married John Playter.
1829
John Lea built - the first of
its kind in York - a large two storied brick house
with four chimneys near the site of the log house
(currently the junction of Laird Drive and Lea Avenue).
1841 William Lea bought an additional 130 acres to the
south and built an octagonal home which he named
Leaside. It was located close to the present site of the
Leaside Memorial Gardens. William Lea also built a tomato cannery
and maintained a large apple orchard. A laneway called
William Lea's Lane (later William Street) connected the property to Yonge
Street
where now Glebe Road meets Yonge Street.
1854 When John Lea Sr. died at age 81, the
farm was divided between the sons. The brick home and 110 acres were left
to John Jr. and 91 acres were left to the eldest son
William
to which he already added
130 acres just south of his fathers farm.
1870
William's brother, John Jr. built a house
near St Cuthbert's Church (current location of
Humphrey's Funeral Home).
1881
William sold a parcel of land to the
Ontario and Quebec Railway for the line to
Peterborough and Ottawa for a train station and gave 1/2 acre to the
Anglican Church for the original St Cuthbert's Church on
Government Road (now Bayview Avenue).
The
rail line now know as the
Canadian Pacific Railway
(CPR) was built through the Lea
farms.
1884 When CPR encountered financial difficulties the
railway line was taken over by Canadian Northern
Railway.
1892
The Don Branch was built
1893
William Lea dies at age 78. He served as a township
councilor, holding office for 7 years and was appointed a Justice of
the Peace. When he died his eldest son
Joseph took over the cannery and lived in the octagonal
house.
1894 Leaside Junction Station is built in
1894. This is when LEASIDE became a name and a
location on the map.
1909 The most famous house in Leaside located at 201
Sutherland Drive was built by James Lea.
1912 CNR
announced
its plan to establish a sizeable residential community
and engaged a town planner to prepare a detailed street
and lot plan.
Laid out by
Frederick G. Todd of Montreal, Leaside occupied 1,000 acres of fairly
flat land between Bayview Avenue and Leslie Street, extending a mile and
a half from Moore Avenue to north of Eglinton Avenue. Todd, a former
student of F.L. Olmstead, was Canada’s one the first, if not the first, resident
landscape architect.
1913, April 23, the
new community was incorporated, becoming the Town of
Leaside with the population of 43.
As the Canadian Northern Railway planned an
expansion, its principals Sir William Mackenzie and Sir
Donald Mann accumulated land to build a large
residential community. Plans were drawn separating
the residential and industrial areas. The mayor was
Randolph McRae supported by 4
councilors.
The provisional council had approved Todd’s
plan for a grid of curvilinear streets, several of
which were named for people connected with the
Canadian Northern Railway, including Hanna, Laird
and Wicksteed. Development was delayed, however, by
poor connections with the Toronto and by the outbreak of
the First World War. As part of the war effort, a
munitions plant and an airfield for pilot training were
established on the east side of Laird Drive. As late
as 1929, there were only 68 dwellings within the
town’s limits.
1914 During World War I, the Canadian Government
set up several airfields to train pilots, mechanics and maintenance
crews for the Royal Flying Corps, one of which was in
Leaside. Growth was slow until the late 1930s. The Leaside
Airfield made Canadian aviation history for its first airmail flight in Canada
(Montreal to Toronto).
1917 an airfield
was added for pilot training. Industry prospered and
the town was built later to house the workers.
Canada Wire and Cable built 60 homes on Airdrie,
Rumsey and Sutherland for its workers after the war.
The first air mail delivery in Canada was to Leaside
on June 24, 1918 and a commemorative plaque is
located at the intersection of Brentcliffe and
Broadway.
1919 under the Ontario Housing Act the Leaside
Housing Company received a provincial loan to build
working class houses but building was stalled until
the 1930's due to transportation problems. In 1927 a
high level bridge the LEASIDE VIADUCT was built
across the Don Valley and an underpass was built
below the railway line. Residential construction
began in the 1930's and continued to the 1950's.
1939
201 Sutherland Drive in 1909. It became a nursery
school from 1939 to the 1950's
1940
The Leaside Station was destroyed by a fire in the
1940's and was rebuilt in 1946. It was one of
Toronto's busiest stations for 75 years.
1939 the population exceeded 5,000. This boom
resulted in a harmony of housing design that is
remarkable today. Street after street is flanked by
handsome boulevard trees and tidy single-family
homes in stripped-down Georgian or Tudor
style, each set back from the road an identical
distance, on a comfortable lot with a private
driveway. Although Leaside ceased to exist as a
separate municipality in 1967 and many of the large
factories east of Laird have been demolished more
recently, the area remains a desirable neighbourhood
to live in.
1946 During WWII the establishment of defence
industries such as
Research Enterprises Ltd. resulted in significant growth and by 1946
the population had passed ten thousand.
1950
Millwood Park is renamed to Trace Manes Park. Trace Manes was a former Mayor of Leaside from 1948 to 1950
1956, Eglinton Avenue was extended eastward
across the Don Valley to Don Mills and Scarborough
and traffic volumes increased to problem levels.
1967 When it was merged with the Township
of East York to become part of The Borough of East York
1997 The Borough was abolished and
amalgamated into the new mega city of
TORONTO.
|
1.1M
8 Sultan
$4.5M Bayview
$324,917
$339,000
High End Living In Trendy Yorkville. 
$399,000
$419,000
Luxurious Yorkville. Sub-Penthouse Loft, 
575,000
Yorkville The Lotus . 2br/2wr 800sf terrace.
$500,000-1,500,000
The Domus / 3 MacAlpine, S2br/2wr 
$1,000,000-3,500,000 One Post Road at Bayview, Lush gardens,
King
West & Queen West Lofts from low $200's
$400,000-15,000,000 1 St.Thomas,
Yorkville
$200,000
- $2,000,000 College Park Condos at Bay &
College. 
$300,000-2,000,000
The Thornwood, 20 & 25 Scrivener.
$2875/mo, The Courtyards of Rosedale
Townhouse. 2-3br/3 wr.
