Lost Rivers of the Beach
Q3. Where did Mr. Ryan, former owner of Ryans
Hardware Store find a lost river?
Q4. What is the Baymouth bar? (hint, it is not a restaurant!)
Q5. Where might you find signs of a lost river at Kew Gardens?
Q7. Where would you look for houses in the Beaches designed by Eden Smith
of Arts & Crafts fame?
are some very good reasons why the Beaches is unique compared to the rest
of the city. Streets and parks are distinguished by curious topography; steep
hills, small gullies and deep valleys. There are back yard ravines and steep
walls around gardens. Many streets are curved, twisted or dead ended, and
some ravines reach as high as 60 – 100 ft.
The Beaches landscape is built on a sandbar (Baymouth) that existed
over 11.5 million years ago as part of ancient Lake Iroquois. When
the last glacier melted, carving up the land, a multitude of rivers, ponds
and small creeks seeped through the sandy soil to create an area similar
to today’s Toronto Island.
Most of these rivers have been “lost” — either dried out, directed underground, or filled in as
the area developed. But evidence of the former topography is still apparent. Feel the sandy garden soil in your back yard and
think of the Don River or perhaps prehistoric beaches!
It is this neighbourhood of ponds, creeks and rivers that long-time Beaches
residents remember from the early 1900’s. Although three large major ravines
in the Beaches still exist, only a few above ground waterways remain. We can
still uncover the location of many lost rivers and creeks through landforms,
local history, and place names. See if you can find an older map that shows
topography and watercourses. Look for low spots that mark the remnants of
former creek beds. Walk about and observe the lay of the land along city streets,
city parks, vacant and private lots (where possible!)
Let’s start our own discovery walk!
Starting from east of Victoria Park we find Falling Brook. This waterway used to run alongside
the dramatic ravine that sets off the Hunt Club and the estate homes on Fallingbrook Road. It emptied
over the cliffs, forming a cascade down to the Lake.
“What a delightful name and what a merry little brook
it was! Years before this area east of Falling Brook was developed, hikers who traveled along the waterfront …
were greeted by a pretty little waterfall.”
NEVILLE PARK RAVINE AND ‘CUL-DE-SAC’
The next lost creek started just to the north east of Neville Park Blvd with a spring on the
site of where old St. John’s School stood, what is now Neil McNeil School.It flowed due south
down the east side of Neville Park Blvd. on the north side of Queen St.,
and through to the ravine south of Queen St. between the houses on Neville Park and Nursewood Rd.
It may have been filled in at the spot where Victoria Park turns east. Several local residents have described the beauty of this ravine,
the birds, butterflies and wild flowers there, while remembering the kindness of the local farmers at the school.
Everyone who walks along Neville Park north of Queen St. notices the stairway that reaches the houses on the west side of
the street. This is because houses on the west side were built on two layers, but three layers on the east side. The middle layer of
houses on both sides of the street has no direct street access.
One long time Beaches resident remembers throwing bread to swans swimming in a
pond that was a part of the Glen Manor Ravine sometimes around 1930.
“The pond at Glen Manor and Queen Street certainly was one of the most
picturesque of the Beach ponds and its location alongside the Queen Street
sidewalk gave it prominence”.
NO NAME CREEK
Proceeding west, we find evidence of a very small creek that created a shallow ravine between Beech
Ave. and Willow Ave. on the south side of Cedar Ave. Mr. Ryan, owner of Ryan’s hardware Store
at Queen and Willow, swears there was an underground stream beneath the foundation of his
store. Some local residents still remember crossing a plank bridge on Sundays in order to reach the east bank and attend
St. Aidan’s Anglican Church.
GLEN STEWART RAVINE
The large and beautiful Glen Stewart ravine is a local gem. A stream still exists here, creating a
sylvan retreat in the midst of the city. Some of the most desirable houses in the neighbourhood are perched atop its
walls, many designed by Eden Smith, famous architect of the Arts and Crafts movement.
“Another pond a half acre in size was created by a picturesque dam located
just east of where the creek goes underground. The dam existed until
a local boy drowned and public protest forced its removal.”
KEW GARDENS BROOK
The lost creeks west of Glen Stewart flowed into Ashbridge’s Bay, once the “bottom” of Toronto harbour. These
include a tiny stream that sprang from the hillside at Lee Ave. and flowed past the Beaches Library. The only visible
remnant of this tiny brook is a low spot of land in Kew Gardens where the bandstand now sits.
NORWAY CREEK (TO BE NAMED) AND AMES POND
The main creek that joined with the Lee Ave Creek flowed out of Ames Pond, east of Lee and Juniper, from its cul-desac
on Long Crescent, down Norway and along the twisting Kenilworth Ave., to Pantry Park near the waterfront.
Here it joined Kew Gardens Brook and entered the farthest easterly finger of Ashbridge’s Bay. One of the tiniest lost
streams crossed Queen St. between Lockwood and (wait for it!) Brookmount Rd.
Tom use to fish for catfish at the end of Ashland Ave in the
20’s in a pond that was gradually filled in with furnace ash.
CREEK, SMALL’S CREEK, CAIRNS BROOK AND SERPENTINE
No history of the Beaches is complete without stories about Small’s Pond,
located in the present Orchard Park on Dundas, west of Kingston Rd. The
easterly arm of the pond is what was frequently referred to as the Serpentine,
presumably because it was long and sinuous.
Three streams fed the pond: Tomlin’s Creek, which flowed down from a Cul-de-dac on top of Glen Davis
Crescent, then along Love Crescent, Corley Ave., through the Norway Public School grounds the low lying land of
St. John’s Norway Cemetery, then into the Serpentine.
Small’s Creek, which still flows freely through Williamson Park ravine at Wembley
Tiny Cairns Brook, between the two, to be found at the south end of Highcroft Road, where it meets Cairns
Ave. trickled south from Eastwood Road in a small ravine between Highcroft and Edgewood Roads.
“I recall, perhaps about 1920, crossing a wooded footbridge,
spanning a creek and watching young couples skating on the frozen surfaces on Small’s Pond.”
The last lost creek crossed Queen St. on the grounds of the lovely gingerbread
Ashbridge family estate at 1444 Queen St. East, just east of the family
house. Not surprisingly, it has been dubbed Ashbridge’s Creek, and is most remarkable.
It once drained much of East York from East General Hospital to Donlands Ave. One branch flowed through Monarch Park,
another through the current Torbrick development off Greenwood
Ave. The branches met at Gerrard St., just west of Little India.
Discovering the lost creeks of the Beaches not only helps us understand the landscape in our neighbourhood but through
it we also learn how our city and many communities were built. Admire the large houses that back onto magnificent ravine
lots and once and overlooked bubbling brooks and forest trails. Lower lands, on
the other hand, were often designated for building schools, churches, and working
class homes. For this reason, many houses in the neighbourhood still do not have
basements. We also find that churches and schools were built between water channels,
creating their own small communities in the valleys.
These are just a few of the rivers and streams “lost” now as waterways, but forever
forged into the history of the area. If you are curious about the ancient topography
of the Beaches and many other areas in the Greater Toronto Area, there are some
excellent local resources available, including Lost River Walks, www.lostrivers.ca.
Information in this article was provided by John Wilson, Chair of the Task Force to Bring Back the Don and
Helen Mills, the founder of “Lost River Walks”. Both John and Helen have done extensive research on the creeks that once flowed
through our neighbourhood.