Category Archives: Downtown Neighbourhoods

Focus on Cabbage Town

In 1840, thousands of Irish immigrants settled in Cabbagetown, fleeing the potato famins in their homeland. Since they were poor, they had to grow cabbages on their front lawns in order to put food on the table, which is how this district got its name. The Depression of the 1930’s hit the working class community [...]
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Focus on Grange Park

Toronto’s first elite neighbourhood was Grange Park. It was built in 1817 and named after Grange House. It is now part of the Art Gallery of Ontario, and it also contains the mansions on Beverley Street. In the late 1800’s, the suburbs in Parkdale were a more attractive location than Grange Park, so Grange Park’s [...]
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Focus on Moss Park

Originally, William Allan (one of early Toronto’s wealthiest citizens) owned the Moss Park neighbourhood, which was part of a 100 acre park lot. He built a huge mansion on his estate in 1830. The name of this mansion was Moss Park. The city park is now where the mansion used to be. Allan left his [...]
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Focus on Downtown

Some of Toronto’s most prominent families were the original settlers of “The Downtown”. The names of the streets are clues to its rich history. In downtown, Jarvis Street is named after the former provincial secretary of Upper Canada, William Jarvis. McGill Street is named after Captain John McGill, and Sherbourne Street commemorates the ancestral home [...]
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Focus On Corktown

Originally settled by working class immigrants in the early 1800’s, Corktown was in high demand by families from Ireland. Specifically, these families were coming from the County of Cork, which explains how this neighborhood became known as Corktown. The local breweries or brickyards were where most of the residents found employment. They were very poor [...]
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Focus On St. Lawrence

The St. Lawrence neighbourhood was built on the original part of the shoreline of Lake Ontario. To the north was the Town of York, which was the forerunner to the City of Toronto. The present day St. Lawrence neighbourhood land was created from landfill in the early 1800’s. The land was originally intended as a [...]
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Focus on Downtown Neighbourhoods

We’re Adding New Features Part of the home buying process is wondering what your new neighbourhood will be like. MyDistilleryDistrict.com will be adding extensive information about different communities in downtown Toronto. With the rapid development of the downtown community history may seem lost, but still plays a part in each area’s character. What types of [...]
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