Category: Bedford Park History

It’s a beautiful spring day in 1850, so what could be nicer than walk up Yonge Street, starting at the Fifth Concession (today’s Lawrence Avenue). For more than half a …

In the five years following 1846, the population along Yonge Street between the Fourth Concession (Eglinton) and Sixth (York Mills) would double. There was little evidence of that at the …

Yonge Lawrence Village – the business improvement area stretching up Yonge Street, from Lawrence to Yonge Boulevard – boasts more than 300 merchants and businesses. In the early 1800s, the …

  As angry farmers trudged out of Hogg’s Hollow on their way to Montgomery’s Tavern for the primary battle of Upper Canada’s Rebellion of 1837, it’s unlikely they were stopped …

In the first week of December 1837, community residents watched as a growing number of rebels streamed down Yonge Street — recently paved with crush stone — for an inevitable …

For nearly 100 years, various members of the Lawrence family played prominent roles as farmers and merchants at the corner of Yonge Street and the Fourth Concession. So, it’s not …

The Bedford Park neighbourhood didn’t acquire its first public school until 1911 — conveniently enough, called Bedford Park School. So, what exactly did not-so-eager young minds do about getting a …

For nearly 20 years, the settlers around the town of York expected an invasion by the Americans. Yonge Street had been conceived in 1793 as a way for British troops …

Thomas Hill opened the neighbourhood’s first tavern – near today’s Toyota dealership on Yonge south of Lawrence – in 1811. It was the latest in a string of inns that …

As the pioneer farmers continued to push the treeline back from Yonge Street, they were faced with a persistent problem: how to turn the fallen trees into lumber. Without any …