Maple Leaf Forever Park | |
---|---|
![]() Maple Cottage and the trunk of the fabled maple tree (right) | |
Type | Urban park |
Location | 62 Laing Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Coordinates | 43°39′47″N79°19′40″W / 43.662957°N 79.327804°W |
Owned by | City of Toronto |
Operated by | Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation |
Public transit access | 501 Queen, 502 Downtowner and 503 Kingston Rd |
Website | Maple Leaf Forever Park |
Maple Leaf Forever Park is a municipal park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The park is named after the song "The Maple Leaf Forever" composed by Alexander Muir. The park was created in 1933 by public subscription to honour the composer, [1] and is located in Leslieville south of Queen Street East between Leslie Street and Greenwood Avenue.
The main features of the park, all related to Alexander Muir, are:
In the front yard of Maple Cottage, there is a plaque commemorating Muir and his song. It was erected in 1958 by the Grand Orange Lodge to replace an earlier plaque erected in 1930. [3]
According to legend, Alexander Muir was the owner of Maple Cottage when he composed the song "The Maple Leaf Forever" in 1867. He was inspired to write the song when he saw a leaf fall from the silver maple tree standing in front of the cottage. [4]
Unlike local residents, historians are skeptical that the 150-year-old tree at Maple Cottage was the inspiration for Muir's song. [3]
George Leslie, after whom Leslieville is named, wrote in a local newspaper that he and Muir were walking together when a maple leaf landed on Leslie's arm. Leslie turned to Muir and suggested he write a poem about the maple leaf. Leslie recalled the location was on Queen Street East rather than on Laing Street where the alleged tree of inspiration grew. In January 1909, Muir's widow told a similar version of the story to John Ross Robertson, who wrote a chapter on Muir in his book "Landmarks of Toronto". [4]
According to Robin Elliott, editor of the Institute for Canadian Music, the 1930 Orange Lodge plaque may be the first mention of the Maple Cottage tree being the inspiration for "The Maple Leaf for Ever." [4]
Elliott casts doubt that Muir ever lived at Maple Cottage citing John Ross Robertson's 1914 book Landmarks of Toronto which details Muir's residences from the age of three to his death but makes no mention of 62 Laing Street. However, the book cited 2 nearby residences where Muir dwelled between 1863 and 1869. [5]
Also, according to the Toronto Historical Board, the cottage was built in 1873 – 6 years after the song was composed in October 1867. [4]
In 1991, the provincial Conservation Review Board recommended the "designation of the property at 62 Laing Street as a property of historical value or interest"; however, it noted that Maple Cottage was built in 1871 after the composition of the song. The board also wrote: "In assessing the evidence that was presented in favour of designation, this Board is aware that there are many gaps that cast some doubt on the historical testimony". [2]
In 1991, John J.G. Blumenson, Preservation Officer, Toronto Historical Board, described Maple Cottage as: [2]
Maple Cottage became a community centre in 2002. At that time, the cottage had a large meeting room, two offices, a kitchen, and a smaller room. [4]
"The Maple Leaf Forever" is a Canadian patriotic song written by Alexander Muir (1830–1906) in 1867, the year of Canada's Confederation. He wrote the work after serving with the Queen's Own Rifles of Toronto in the Battle of Ridgeway against the Fenians in 1866.
Mount Pleasant Cemetery is a cemetery located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries. It was opened in November 1876 and is located north of Moore Park, a neighbourhood of Toronto. The cemetery has kilometres of drives and walking paths interspersed with fountains, statues and botanical gardens, as well as rare and distinct trees. It was originally laid out by German-born landscape architect Henry Adolph Engelhardt, inspired by the European and American garden cemeteries of the 19th century, and with influences from Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston.
Aurora is a town in central York Region in the Greater Toronto Area, within the Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario, Canada. It is located north of the City of Richmond Hill and is partially situated on the Oak Ridges Moraine. In the Canada 2021 Census, the municipal population of Aurora was the 92nd largest in Canada, compared to 95th for the 2016 Census and 97th for the 2006 Census. Aurora is twinned with Leksand, Sweden.
The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is most widely recognized as the national symbol of Canada.
Events from the year 1960 in Canada.
Leslieville is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated east of the Don River. It is bounded by the Canadian National railway line and Gerrard Street to the north, McGee Street to the west, Eastern Avenue to south, and Coxwell Avenue to the east.
Riverdale is a large neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bounded by the Don River Valley to the west, Danforth Avenue and Greektown to the north, Jones Avenue, the CN/GO tracks, Leslieville to the east, and Lake Shore Boulevard to the south.
Scarborough Village is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the larger namesake Scarborough district. It was one of the earliest settlements in the former township of Scarborough with the distinction of being the site of the township's first post office. Despite this, it was not the town centre from where the later City of Scarborough grew, with mass urbanization of the former municipality actually having began as spillover growth from the old City of Toronto at Birch Cliff in the district's southwestern extremity. Today, the neighbourhood is composed of private and public housing, apartment complexes, schools, a few condominiums, and strip mall plazas. The neighbourhood lies along the Scarborough Bluffs escarpment.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were a high-level minor league baseball club located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which played from 1896 to 1967.
The Metro Junior A League was a junior ice hockey league created in 1961 by Toronto Maple Leafs owner Stafford Smythe in an attempt to rival the OHA, and act as a farm system for his NHL team. The league operated for two seasons from 1961 to 1963. For those two seasons the Metro Junior A League champion won the Father John Conway Memorial Trophy and went on to play the OHA champion for the J. Ross Robertson Cup, and the right to continue on the road to the Memorial Cup.
The West Toronto Nationals were a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) from 1929 to 1936. Prior to that time, the team was known as the West Toronto Redmen, due to their red colour sweaters. Home games were played at Mutual Street Arena and later Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
Alexander Muir was a Canadian songwriter, poet, soldier, and school headmaster. He was the composer of "The Maple Leaf Forever", which he wrote in October 1867 to celebrate the Confederation of Canada.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Toronto:
Andrew Scott Irving was a Scottish-born Canadian bookseller and publisher.
Draper Street is a street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a north-south street located to the west of Spadina Avenue, from Front Street West north to Wellington Street. Draper Street is notable for its collection of 28 nineteenth-century row cottages of the Second Empire style. They were designated by the City of Toronto government in the 1990s to have heritage status. The entire street is designated as a Heritage Conservation District as a way to preserve its heritage for posterity.
Alexander Muir Memorial Gardens is a municipal park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The park was created in 1933 by public subscription to honour Alexander Muir, who composed the song "The Maple Leaf Forever". The park was originally located opposite Mount Pleasant Cemetery on Yonge Street, but was moved to its present location in 1951 due to the construction of the Yonge subway. Today the park is in Toronto's Lawrence Park neighbourhood south of Lawrence Avenue with an entrance on the east side of Yonge Street.
Burke Brook is a small stream in Toronto, Ontario. It is part of the Don River watershield, a major river that flows into Lake Ontario. The north end of the stream begins near Glenview Senior Public School.
The Paul Kane House is a heritage structure in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Paul Kane, an important early Canadian artist, purchased the property in 1853 and built a cottage on the site.
The Maple Leaf Forever Guitars are two guitars, one acoustic and one electric, made from the tree that inspired Alexander Muir to write "The Maple Leaf Forever". The guitars are kept in a trust and are loaned to a different musician each year.
John Ross Robertson in "Chapter 36: Arthur Muir's life," Landmarks of Toronto, series 6 (Toronto: J.Ross Robertson, 1914): 496-586 provides detailed information about Muir's places of residence from the time he arrived in Scarborough township (from his native Scotland) at the age of three up to his death in Toronto in 1906. It is clear from Robertson's account that Muir never lived at 62 Laing Street, although he did live nearby in two different homes between 1863 and 1869.