Hoggs Hollow | |
---|---|
Neighbourhood | |
Country | Canada |
Province | Ontario |
City | Toronto |
Municipality established | 1850 York Township |
Changed municipality | 1922 North York from York Township |
Changed municipality | 1998 Toronto from North York |
Hoggs Hollow is a residential neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located to the south of York Mills Road, east of Yonge Street, and the western branch of the upper Don River flows through it.
Hoggs Hollow is named after the Hogg family. James Hogg (1797–1839), a Scotsman, settled in the area in 1824. [1] He operated a whisky distillery and a grist mill, and he was viewed as the most successful of all the millers in the valley. The name of the neighbourhood is usually written without an apostrophe as Hoggs Hollow, but it sometimes appears with an apostrophe as Hogg's Hollow.
In 1856, John and William Hogg, sons of James Hogg, subdivided their father's estate under the name "Hoggs Hollow". The subdivision included one hundred and forty-one lots. With the area full of quick sand, swamps and bogs, only a few houses were actually built at this time, however Sebastian and Carson were among the first settlers to arrive in Hoggs Hollow with the Hogg family. The subdivision stood in close proximity to the historic village of York Mills. A school, post office, pottery, blacksmith, livery, stable, store, golf links and clubhouse, hillside cemetery (at Yonge Street and Mill Street) and St. John's Anglican Church served the community, one largely made up of Scottish, Irish and English immigrants.
In 1805 Cornelius van Nostrand and his large family, settled in this area to farm. He was the first Canadian van Nostrand and played a significant role in the building of the nearby St. John's Anglican Church, where a large family monument is situated. The family went on to operate a grist mill and distillery. [2]
Development of the present-day Hoggs Hollow neighbourhood began during the 1920s with the creation of lots, layout of roads, and design of homes reflecting the aesthetic of the English countryside. In 1925, a two-room elementary schoolhouse named the Baron Renfrew School opened to replace an earlier structure at 45 York Mills Road (formerly Mercer Avenue and/or concession road 19) that was destroyed by fire. In 1929, the Loretto Sisters Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary moved their Motherhouse and Loretto Abbey Catholic Secondary School to the area.
The neighbourhood grew in stages and was finally completed during the 1960s. Both St. John's Anglican Church and Baron Renfrew School (renamed to York Mills Public School) grew in size, with various additions. Agricola Finnish Lutheran Church was built in 1967, serving Toronto and area's Finnish Lutheran community.
In 1982, York Mills Public School was decommissioned and renovated as office space for the Metro Toronto school board (used until 1998). The historic two-room schoolhouse exterior was restored. The school was demolished in 2004, and bricks from it were used to create a memorial.
The Miller Tavern (formerly the Jolly Miller Tavern), c. 1857, located at the bottom of Hoggs Hollow Hill, 3885 Yonge Street, was closed for many years, but re-opened in 2004 after many battles between developers, the city and groups that wanted to preserve the historical landmark. The George S. Pratt House, c. 1886, located at 17 Mill Street, is another historic landmark in Hoggs Hollow. In need of funds, The York Mills Public School building was sold by the school board and demolished. Many of the original estate homes and modern movement residences of the early to mid-20th century are being demolished in favour of large new homes. With a densely developed business area, many businesses and services are available, and while church attendance has diminished at St. John's, other churches and synagogues now serve the people of the area.
Periodically, attempts have been made to reconnect portions of the valley with new roads to the higher-set neighbourhoods of the ridges above.
In 1892, the Metropolitan Street Railway extended streetcar service along Yonge Street from Toronto (Summerhill) to the southern rim of Hoggs Hollow near today's Glen Echo Road, [3] and then through the valley to Richmond Hill in 1897. [4] This radial railway service through the valley ended in 1948. [5] However, the Yonge streetcar line continued to operate service from Glen Echo Road to downtown Toronto until 1954. [6] Since 1973, Hoggs Hollow has been served by York Mills subway station. [7]
On October 15, 1954, the valley was inundated by Hurricane Hazel, and many attempts have since been made to manage water in the natural watershed of a valley, though many homes are still prone to moisture and flooding from the water table. A steel truss bridge carrying Yonge Street across the river was damaged and temporarily replaced by a Bailey bridge until a new bridge was built.
On March 17, 1960, the incident popularly known as the "Hoggs Hollow Disaster" occurred. Five young Italian immigrant workers were killed while constructing a tunnel for a water main at Hoggs Hollow. The details of the accident, where they were trapped 35 feet underground in a cramped, dimly lit tunnel, sparked a public outcry over the lack of safety standards in construction. Ultimately, the outcry led to an improvement in working conditions, such as the passing of the Industrial Safety Act. [8]
Yonge Street is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes.
Yonge–Eglinton is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at the intersection of Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue. It is central to the area of Midtown Toronto, one of four central business districts outside Downtown Toronto. The City of Toronto defines its boundaries as Briar Hill Avenue to the north, Yonge Street to the east, Frobisher Avenue and a line in that direction west to Elmsthorpe Avenue, then north to Eglinton Avenue, east to Avenue Road and north to Briar Hill.
North Toronto is a former town and informal district located in the northern part of the Old Toronto district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Currently occupying a geographically central location within the city of Toronto, the Town of North Toronto was incorporated in 1890, when much of the area was still farmland, and annexed by Toronto in 1912. The name is still used to refer to the area in general, although Yonge–Eglinton and Midtown Toronto are officially used.
St. Clair Avenue is a major east-west street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was laid out in the late 18th century by the British as a concession road, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of Bloor Street and 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of Queen Street.
York Mills is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is centred around Yonge Street and York Mills Road located in the district of North York. In 2010, it encompassed the fourth and seventh most affluent postal codes in Canada. It is recognized as a millionaires' mile, alongside the other Toronto neighbourhoods of The Bridlepath, Forest Hill, and Rosedale.
York Mills is a subway station on Line 1 Yonge–University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 4015 Yonge Street at the intersection of Wilson Avenue and York Mills Road in the neighbourhood of Hoggs Hollow.
The Toronto and York Radial Railway was a transit operator providing services to the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was a subsidiary of the Toronto Railway Company. The company was created by merging four Toronto-area interurban operations. The company was part of the empire of railway entrepreneurs Sir William Mackenzie and Donald Mann which included the Canadian Northern Railway and the parent Toronto Railway Company. The line was abandoned by the TTC in 1948.
The Metropolitan line in the Toronto area, operated by the Metropolitan Street Railway, started out as a local horsecar line and transformed itself into an electric radial line extending to Lake Simcoe, following an old stage coach route. In 1904, the railway was acquired by the Toronto and York Radial Railway (T&YRR) and became the T&YRR Metropolitan Division. In 1922, the City of Toronto acquired the T&YRR and contracted Ontario Hydro to manage the four T&YRR lines including the Metropolitan. In 1927, the TTC took over the operation of the Metropolitan Line to Sutton, and renamed it the Lake Simcoe line. In 1930, the TTC closed the Metropolitan Line but shortly reopened the portion between Glen Echo and Richmond Hill operating it as the North Yonge Railways until 1948.
The North Yonge Railways was a radial railway line operated by the Toronto Transportation Commission from 1930 to 1948 between Glen Echo (Toronto) and Richmond Hill. The line was created by reopening the southern portion of the TTC's Lake Simcoe radial line that had closed in 1930.
Hoggs Hollow Bridge, originally known as the Yonge Boulevard Viaduct, is a set of four separate highway bridges that span the West Branch of the Don River Valley in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and carries 14 lanes of Highway 401. The four structures are the busiest multi-span bridge crossing in North America, surpassing the Brooklyn Bridge.
The Garden District is a neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The name was selected by the Toronto East Downtown Residents Association (TEDRA) in recognition of Allan Gardens, an indoor botanical garden located nearby at the intersection of Carlton and Jarvis Streets. The Garden District was officially designated by the Mayor and Toronto City Council in 2001, while TEDRA has since been renamed the Garden District Residents Association. Part of the neighbourhood is within official City of Toronto neighbourhood of Moss Park.
The Toronto and Mimico Electric Railway and Light Company was incorporated in 1890, and operated the Mimico radial line in the Toronto area. The line started operation in 1892 as a short suburban line that later was extended to Port Credit. In 1904, the railway was acquired by the Toronto and York Radial Railway (T&YRR) and became the T&YRR Mimico Division. In 1922, the City of Toronto acquired the T&YRR and contracted Ontario Hydro to manage the four T&YRR lines including the Mimico line. In 1927, the TTC took over the operation of the Mimico line and extended its service eastward to Roncesvalles Avenue. In 1928, the TTC double-tracked the line from Humber to Long Branch and made that portion part of the Lake Shore streetcar line. The portion beyond Long Branch to Port Credit became the Port Credit line, and continued operation as a single-track radial line until its closure on February 9, 1935.
The Queensway–Humber Bay, known officially as Stonegate–Queensway, is a neighbourhood in the southwest of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the southeast area of the former City of Etobicoke.
York Mills GO Bus Terminal is located at 4023 Yonge Street, near the northeast corner of York Mills Road, in the North York area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The terminal mainly supports GO Transit's bus services east and west across the Highway 401 corridor and is adjacent to York Mills station on the Yonge-University-Spadina line of the Toronto Subway.
The Schomberg and Aurora Railway was a 36 km long railway in Ontario, Canada, running from the town of Schomberg to Oak Ridges, just south of Aurora. It connected Schomberg to the Metropolitan Line of the Toronto and York Radial Railway (T&YRR) tram service running along Yonge Street, and from there into the Toronto city proper. The service ran for 25 years between 1902 and 1927; the rails were pulled up shortly thereafter.
King's Highway 11A, commonly referred to as Highway 11A, was the highway designation for an alternate route of Highway 11 in the Canadian province of Ontario. The north-south route paralleled Highway 11 within Toronto, serving as a secondary access to Downtown Toronto. It began at the York exit of the Gardiner Expressway (Highway 2) and travelled north on York Street to Front Street, where it transitioned onto University Avenue. It continued north on University Avenue to Queen's Park, where Highway 11A followed Queen's Park Crescent, encircling the Ontario Legislative Building, before continuing along Avenue Road. Highway 11A travelled along Avenue Road to Upper Canada College. It followed Lonsdale Road, Oriole Parkway, and Oxton Avenue around the campus and back to Avenue Road, which resumes north of the school. It continued north along Avenue Road to Highway 401, ending just north of the highway at Bombay Avenue.
Beginning operation in 1861, the Yonge streetcar line was the first streetcar line in Toronto and the first in Canada. It started off as a horsecar line and closed in 1954 operating two-unit trains of Peter Witt motors pulling a trailer. Under the Toronto Transportation Commission, the Yonge line was the busiest and most congested streetcar line in the city leading to its replacement in 1954 by the Yonge Subway line, also Toronto's first and the first in Canada.
Toronto-gauge railways are tram and rapid transit lines built to Toronto gauge, a broad gauge of 4 ft 10+7⁄8 in. This is 2+3⁄8 in (60 mm) wider than standard gauge of 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in which is by far the most common track gauge in Canada. The gauge is unique to the Greater Toronto Area and is currently used on the Toronto streetcar system and the Toronto subway, both operated by the Toronto Transit Commission. As well, the Halton County Radial Railway, a transport museum, uses the Toronto gauge so its rail line can accommodate its collection of Toronto streetcars and subway trains. Several now-defunct interurban rail systems also once used this gauge.
Chapter 1 - The Spinal Cord of Yonge Street
Chapter 2 - The Mighty Metropolitan Moves North
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