Riverdale Farm

Last updated
Riverdale Farm
RiverdaleFarm.jpg
A view of Riverdale Farm
Riverdale Farm
Date opened1978
Location Cabbagetown, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Riverdale Farm

Riverdale Farm is a 3-hectare (7.4-acre) municipally operated farm in the heart of Cabbagetown, an urban neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [1] It is maintained by Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division.

Contents

History

Between 1888 and 1974, this was the site of the Riverdale Zoo. This zoo began with the donation of deer by Toronto Alderman Daniel Lamb. In 1974, the zoo relocated to a much larger facility in Scarborough and became the Toronto Zoo. In 1978, Riverdale Farm opened on the west bank of the Don River adjacent to Riverdale Park. [2] [3] The main barn was first constructed in 1858 in Markham and moved to the present site and rebuilt in 1977. [1] The farm is open to the public all year round. It specializes in pioneer breeds of farm animals that are hard to find on commercial farms. [4] Animals at the farm include poultry, waterfowl, goats, sheep, pigs, cows, donkeys, and horses.

A 2011 consultant's report recommended the closure of the farm, along with the High Park Zoo, as a means to cut cost for the city. [5] In 2013, the W. Garfield Weston Foundation made a CAD $25,000 donation to provide funds to keep the farm operating in the short term. Other corporate and private donors have provided substantial financial injections to allow the Farm to continue operations for current and future generations through 2027. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reptilia (zoo)</span> Collection of zoos in Canada

Reptilia is a collection of Canada's largest indoor reptile zoos, with a combined area of over 84,000 sq ft (7,800 m2) of indoor exhibits featuring over 250 reptiles, amphibians and arachnids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cabbagetown, Toronto</span> Neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Cabbagetown is a neighbourhood in central Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Administratively, it is defined as part of the Cabbagetown-South St. Jamestown neighbourhood. It largely features semi-detached Victorian houses and is recognized as "the largest continuous area of preserved Victorian housing in all of North America", according to the Cabbagetown Preservation Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regent Park</span> Neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Sewell</span> Canadian politician; mayor of Toronto

John Sewell is a Canadian politician and lawyer who served as the 58th mayor of Toronto from 1978 to 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church and Wellesley</span> LGBT-oriented settlement in Canada

Church and Wellesley is an LGBT-oriented enclave in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is roughly bounded by Gerrard Street to the south, Yonge Street to the west, Charles Street to the north, and Jarvis Street to the east, with the core commercial strip located along Church Street from Wellesley south to Alexander. Though some LGBT-oriented establishments can be found outside this area, the general boundaries of this village have been defined by the Gay Toronto Tourism Guild.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto Zoo</span> Largest zoo in Canada

The Toronto Zoo is a zoo located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Encompassing 287 hectares, the Toronto Zoo is the largest zoo in Canada. It is divided into seven zoogeographic regions: Indo-Malaya, Africa, Americas, Tundra Trek, Australasia, Eurasia, and the Canadian Domain. Some animals are displayed indoors in pavilions and outdoors in what would be their naturalistic environments, with viewing at many levels. It also has areas such as the Kids Zoo, Waterside Theatre, and Splash Island. It has one of the most taxonomically diverse collection of animals on display of any zoo worldwide; it is currently home to over 5,000 animals representing over 500 species. The zoo is open to the public every day of the year except December 25.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto Centre</span> Federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada

Toronto Centre is a federal electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1872 to 1925, and since 1935, under the names Centre Toronto (1872–1903), Toronto Centre, Rosedale (1935–1997), and Toronto Centre—Rosedale (1997–2004).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riverdale Park (Toronto)</span>

Riverdale Park is a large park spanning the Lower Don River in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, between Cabbagetown to the west and Broadview Avenue in Riverdale to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheppard Avenue</span> Road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Sheppard Avenue is an east–west principal arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The street has two distinct branches near its eastern end, with the original route being a collector road leading to Pickering via a turnoff, and the main route following a later-built roadway which runs south to Kingston Road. To avoid name duplication, the Toronto portion of the northern branch was renamed Twyn Rivers Drive. The section of the street entirely in Toronto is (34.2 km) in length, while the Pickering section and Twyn Rivers Dr. is (5.4 km) long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Jail</span> Former jail in Toronto, Canada

The Don Jail was a jail in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located to the east of the Don River, on Gerrard Street East in the Riverdale neighbourhood. The original building was completed in 1864 and was reopened in 2013 to serve as the administrative wing of Bridgepoint Active Healthcare, a rehabilitation hospital located adjacent to the jail. Prior to its adaptive reuse as part of a healthcare facility, the building was used as a provincial jail for remanded offenders and was officially known as the Toronto Jail. The jail originally had a capacity of 184 inmates, and it was separated into an east wing for the men and a west wing for the women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adamson Estate</span> Estate in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

The Adamson Estate, which forms the eastern boundary of the Port Credit neighbourhood of Mississauga, Ontario, was purchased from the family of Agar Adamson by Credit Valley Conservation Authority in 1975 upon the urging of the local ratepayers group known as Project H21 after a proposed real estate development which would have changed the character of the neighbourhood. It is now a public park on the Waterfront Trail. It was recognized as a Historic Place in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Street (Toronto)</span> Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

John Street is a street in Downtown Toronto. It runs from Stephanie Street and Grange Park in the north to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Front Street in the south. It is home to a number of Toronto's cultural institutions, including buildings for the CBC, CTV, Toronto International Film Festival. The National Post has described it as "Running directly through the entertainment district, its spine connects many great cultural institutions, popular retail outlets, restaurants and soon-to-be-built condos." The City of Toronto has dubbed the street a "Cultural Corridor" and a report calls it "the centrepiece of the Entertainment District."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Henry Medcalf</span> Canadian politician

Francis Henry Medcalf was a Canadian millwright, iron founder, and Mayor of Toronto during the periods 1864–1866 and 1874–1875. He was also a member of the Orange Order in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of neighbourhoods in Toronto</span>

Throughout its history, Toronto has been a city divided into many districts and neighbourhoods. As the city has grown, new neighbourhoods have been created by expansion of the city into the countryside. Over time, the neighbourhoods within existing areas have also been altered and rearranged.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trefann Court</span> Neighbourhood in Canada, Ontario, Toronto

Trefann Court is a small neighbourhood in the eastern part of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north side of Queen Street between Parliament Street and River Street. It extends north only a short distance to Shuter St.

Thomas William Thompson (1913–1985) is best known as Metropolitan Toronto's first Commissioner of Parks. He is known and recognized nationally and internationally for his work and his sign "Please Walk on the Grass."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">De Grassi Street</span> Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

De Grassi Street is a side street located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was named after Captain Filippo "Philip" De Grassi, an Italian-born soldier who immigrated to Canada with his family in 1831 and settled in York, Upper Canada. He later became a member of the Family Compact.

Vincenzo Pietropaolo is a photographer known for photographs that display an empathy for his subjects, who has focussed on documentary photography. In 2011, Satu Repo wrote about the first of Pietropaolo's photographs to be published in 1971, in This Magazine. The photos were of immigrant workers on strike outside Artistic Woodwork. She described the photos as being "...remarkable in both their intensity and intimacy. You were face-to-face with these men, solemn but determined, exercising their right to organize. You couldn't help but share the photographer's clear empathy for them."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church (Toronto)</span> Church in Toronto, Ontario

Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church is a Serbian Orthodox church located in the Cabbagetown neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

References

  1. 1 2 Bell, Bruce; Penn, Elan (2006-01-28). Toronto: A Pictorial Celebration . Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. p.  116. ISBN   978-1-4027-2389-6 . Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  2. Penina Coopersmith, Vincenzo Pietropaolo (1998-01-01). Cabbagetown: the story of a Victorian neighbourhood. James Lorimer & Company. p. 77. ISBN   978-1-55028-579-6 . Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  3. Time Out Toronto. Time Out Guides. 2005-05-31. p. 81. ISBN   978-1-904978-32-9.
  4. Penina Coopersmith, Vincenzo Pietropaolo (2003-04-01). Toronto. Formac Publishing Company. p. 100. ISBN   978-0-88780-584-4 . Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  5. "Riverdale Farm, park zoos move to chopping block | The Star". thestar.com.
  6. "Toronto's Riverdale Farm gets $25,000 donation". CBC/Radio-Canada. CBC News . February 18, 2013. Retrieved September 3, 2021.

43°40′02″N79°21′41″W / 43.667111°N 79.361294°W / 43.667111; -79.361294