Posts tagged with “Port Union”
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Heritage: Discover The Colourful History of West Rouge

West Rouge, Centennial, and Port Union are three of Toronto’s most picturesque east end neighbourhoods with an abundance of natural landscapes and waterfront access, and strong community ties. Keep reading to learn more about the unique history behind these three areas.

West Rouge

West Rouge was primarily farmland in 1926, when real estate developer Cecil White created the “Rouge Hills” subdivision. This development was intended to be a unique summer playground, with grand country estates spread out along the Rouge River. There were even plans for an elaborate canal system and private boathouses to service these estates.

“Rouge Hills” was never completed, however a few of the cottages on Rouge Hills Drive and Ridgewood Road are legacies of this subdivision. Year-round residential development of the West Rouge neighbourhood began in the 1940s, with individual lots being purchased by homeowners. Large parcels of land were subsequently developed by builders through the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. More housing was added in the 1980s when the former Rouge Hills Golf and Country Club located in the Rouge Valley was sold to developers.

Centennial/Port Union

In the 1800s, Port Union was a booming waterfront village with thriving ship building and commercial fishing industries, two hotels, a commercial wharf, and a variety of small businesses. In 1856, the Grand Trunk Railway opened a station in Port Union which added to the importance of this waterfront village.

By 1865, Port Union’s population had reached 100 people and it was granted its own post office. The two hotels that operated in Port Union during these boom times were said to have served “knock-em stiff” whiskey and “40 Rod Whiskey”.

By the late 1800s Port Union’s shipping industry had lost most of its business to the railway and subsequently shut down. Port Union then went into a period of decline that lasted until the late 1940’s, when the return of industry to this area sparked a residential housing boom. In the 1990’s, Port Union reclaimed its waterfront with a new housing subdivision that has helped connect this neighbourhood to its illustrious past.

The area south of Lawrence Avenue is now referred to as Port Union Village. The area north of Port Union Village is now referred to as Centennial, which makes reference to the north-south street which runs through the centre of this community. Centennial Street was named after Centennial Church (circa 1891), which still stands at the north end of Centennial Road off Kingston Road. The west portion of Centennial was settled first, with larger properties and homes. By the early 1960s, Centennial East had also become a popular residential area with new homes being built steadily through the ’60s and ’70s.

The communities of West Rouge, Centennial, and Port Union are now thriving, highly sought-after residential neighbourhoods that cater to the laid-back, nature-immersed, waterfront lifestyle residents come to East Toronto to find.

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West Rouge Community Centre 1970s

West Rouge before 1972 which is when we moved there and the pool was gone. - Posted to Facebook by my Mom.

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Old West Rouge Aerial View 1950

This was posted to Facebook by William Jossa. I lived most of my younger life in what was Port Union, or the West Rouge community.

Yes, most of the fertile land encompassing West Rouge proper was used for agriculture. Crops, orchards and a bit of mix-farming (with livestock) was commonplace.

While most of the undeveloped property in the “Rouge Hills” portion of West Rouge was owned by the C. White Company since the 1920’s; it would only make sense that they would lease out productive land to farmers, prior to redevelopment.

I’ve attached a sepia photograph of West Rouge (from the winter of 1956) where you can see the worked farmland. I also placed six markers of interest for your consideration.

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What is the GTA (Greater Toronto Area)?

Currently Metropolitan Toronto includes a lot of other small cities and towns. Metropolitan Toronto now reaches out to areas beyond the original borders and far beyond it's own city limits. This large mass of area has become known as The Greater Toronto Area - the GTA for short.

I grew up in a small town which was on the edge of the big city of Toronto. When I was still a kid the town was called Port Union. By the time I was in high school our town of Port Union had become part of Scarborough, absorbed into the suburbs of the city of Toronto. Scarborough is the eastern suburbs of Toronto. People sometimes refer to it as Scarberia because it is over an hour's drive from downtown Toronto to the edges of Scarborough.

I never quite liked the loss of identity from our smaller town, forgotten in history. Port Union lost it's place on the map and become a non-town. If you drive out there you can still find one long street named Port Union Road, but that's all you will find remaining from the early days of the area being independent from the suburbs of Toronto.

However, that's how big cities grow. Toronto has grown a lot from the days of being known as York (Muddy York) over 100 years ago.

The GTA combines the regions of the City of Toronto, York, Durham, Peel and Halton.

I don't live in the GTA now. I moved farther north and I live in Simcoe region, just outside the reaches of the northern part of the GTA. Someday this may become absorbed too, but I'm pretty sure that will be far into the future. Not everyone is eager to move farther north after all. Most of the population density seems to be heading east and west of the Toronto area.

The History of the GTA - The MegaCity of Toronto

In 1998 the sprawling suburbs of Toronto: York, North York, East York, Scarborough and Etobicoke became part of the municipality of the city of Toronto. The megacity, The Greater Toronto Area came into being. Toronto became the largest city in Canada and the fifth largest in North America.

The addition of Halton, Peel, York and Durham is unofficial, as far as I can tell. Sometime after the forming of the megacity people began referring to locations by how far they were from Toronto. For instance, if you were thinking to drive out to Richmond Hill from Toronto you decide it's not too far because it's still in the GTA. But, if someone is thinking to drive out to Barrie, they might rethink it. Barrie is outside the GTA, at least another half hour drive.

The whole GTA thing is usually a way of measuring the distance of any place from Toronto. "How far is it, is it still in the GTA?" When you meet people online and think about getting together there is an imaginary line around the GTA and few people want to cross it. If you are in the GTA you think anything outside of the area is too far. If you are outside of the GTA you think about driving through the GTA traffic and usually look elsewhere to meet people.