East Toronto

East Toronto, Ontario was an incorporated community in what is today a part of the city of Toronto, Canada. It covered much of what is today the Beaches neighbourhood, stretching up to Danforth Avenue in the north. The central street in the community was Main Street, running south from Danforth to Kingston Road. The main commercial centre of the town was located at the intersection of Main and Gerrard. As Toronto's true main street was named Yonge, the name Main Street was maintained even after amalgamation with the city of Toronto. This explains why Toronto's "Main Street" is far from the city centre.

The area was first settled in about 1850, when it was a considerable distance from the city of Toronto. It was incorporated as a village in 1888 when there were about 800 people living in the area. The area began to grown rapidly and in 1903 it was elevated from a village to a town. When it was annexed to city of Toronto in 1908 it had a population of about 5,000 people.

The southern part of the community by the lake became one of Toronto's most popular travel destinations, and became home to hotels and amusement parks. The northern section, by contrast, was an industrial centre, home to the Grand Trunk Railway's main yards. These facilities stretched along most of Gerrard Street, and employed several hundred workers.

References

*Filey, Mike "Why Our Main Street is Nowhere Near the Centre of the City." "Toronto Sun", January 15, 2006
* [http://www.travelandtransitions.com/interviews/gene_domagala2.htm A History Tour of the Beach]