Scarboro Beach Park was a lakeside

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

the Beaches A beach is a geological formation consisting of loose rock particles along the shoreline of a body of water. Beach, Beaches or beaching may also refer to: Geography Canada * Beaches (federal electoral district), a federal electoral district in ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, from 1907 until 1925. The park was originally in

East Toronto East Toronto is a former municipality, located within the current boundaries of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It covered much of the present-day neighbourhood of the Upper Beaches, stretching up to Danforth Avenue in the north, part of it stretchin ...

until its annexation by the City of Toronto in 1908.

Location

The park operated on a 40 acre-site south of Queen Street East to

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

between Leuty and MacLean avenues It succeeded two east end

trolley park In the United States, trolley parks, which started in the 19th century, were picnic and recreation areas along or at the ends of streetcar lines in most of the larger cities. These were precursors to amusement parks. Trolley parks were often cre ...

s, Victoria Park (1878–1906) and

Munro Park George Monro (1801 – January 5, 1878) was a businessman and political figure in Upper Canada/Canada West. He was also a member of the Orange Order in Canada. He was born in Scotland in 1801 and came to Niagara in Upper Canada with his par ...

(1896–1906), which had closed the previous year.

History

The park was founded by Harry and Mabel Dorsey who purchased the site from the Sisters of St. Joseph for $165,000 in 1906. It has been the site of the Order's House of Providence farm since the 1890s. The

Toronto Railway Company The Toronto Railway Company (TRC) was the operator of the streetcar system in Toronto between 1891 and 1921. It electrified the horsecar system it inherited from the Toronto Street Railway, the previous operator of streetcar service in Toronto. ...

purchased it in 1913 and invested and expanded it as well as extending the TRC's

streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...

network to reach the grounds, making it a

. Previously, Toronto residents had reached the park using a steamship service from the

Toronto Harbour Toronto Harbour or Toronto Bay is a natural bay on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Today, the harbour is used primarily for recreational boating, including personal vessels and pleasure boats providing scenic or p ...

at the foot of

Yonge Street Yonge Street ( ') is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Great Lakes#Geography, Upper Great Lakes. Ontario's first colonial administrator, ...

. The amusement park was built at a cost of $600,000 and opened June 1, 1907. It was modelled on

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

Luna Park Luna Park is a name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks. They are named after, and partly based on, the first Luna Park (Coney Island, 1903), Luna Park, which opened in 1903 during the heyday of large Coney Islan ...

and offered over a hundred attractions including various rides such as a Shoot the Chutes water ride, a Tunnel of Love, a

roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

billed as a scenic train, fun houses, aerial swings, an

athletic field A pitch or a sports ground is an outdoor playing area for various sports. The term ''pitch'' is most commonly used in British English, while the comparable term in Australian, American and Canadian English is playing field or sports field. For mo ...

that hosted sporting events and was the home field for a

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

team, and other attractions such as a

freak show A freak show is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to in popular culture as "Freak, freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual Human#Anatomy and physiology, humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, t ...

, daredevil acts, bathing and dance pavilions, band concerts and other features. In 1909, the park was the site of the first public flight in Canada when Charles F. Willard took off from Scarboro Beach Park on September 7, 1909.

Closure and legacy

The park closed for the last time on Septebmber 12, 1925 after 19 seasons. The Toronto Railway Company's streetcar franchise with the city had ended in 1921 with the creation of the

Toronto Transportation Commission Toronto Transportation Commission (TTC) was the public transit operator in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, beginning in 1921. It operated buses, streetcars and the island ferries. The system was renamed the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in 1954. H ...

. TRC sold its assets to the city in 1924 but the city refused to include the amusement park in the deal so it was purchased instead by the Provident Investment Company which demolished the park and replaced it with a residential

subdivision Subdivision may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Subdivision (metre), in music * ''Subdivision'' (film), 2009 * "Subdivision", an episode of ''Prison Break'' (season 2) * ''Subdivisions'' (EP), by Sinch, 2005 * "Subdivisions" (song), by Rush ...

. Scarboro Beach Boulevard in that subdivision is named after the park.

References

{{Toronto landmarks Defunct amusement parks in Ontario 1907 establishments in Ontario Amusement parks opened in 1907 Amusement parks closed in 1925 Buildings and structures in Toronto Tourist attractions in Toronto 1925 disestablishments in Ontario

Location

History

Closure and legacy

See also

References