The Birch Cliff area began to be developed in 1895, when the Toronto Hunt Club relocated here. Fox Hunts were held at this club up until the 1930's, when golf became the memberships preferred activity. In the late 1890's and early 1900's many Toronto residents built summer cottages on the property adjacent to the Toronto Hunt Club. These cottagers were attracted to the area by the magnificent Scarborough
Bluffs. 

The crest of the Scarborough Bluffs was lined with birch trees which prompted a cottager by the name of John Stark to name his cottage "Birch Cliff". The Birch Cliff name was adopted by the local post office, which opened in 1907 in Arthur Mitchell's grocery store. This store formerly stood at the corner of Kingston Road and Birchmount Avenue.

 

Birch Cliff emerged as a year round residential community beginning in the 1910's and 1920's. From 1922 to 1947, it held the distinction of being the meeting place of the Scarborough Municipal Council. Birch Cliff's residential development was completed shortly after World War II.

 

 

Cliffside was formerly known as Mortlake, in reference to an English hamlet outside London. The Mortlake name came into use with the opening of a post office in the Halfway House Hotel, which was situated on Kingston Road. This hotel was moved in 1962, and now assumes a prominent role in Toronto's historic Black Creek Pioneer Village, located at 1000 Murray Ross Parkway.

 

An enduring Cliffside landmark is the St. Augustine Seminary, which opened in 1910. St. Augustine was the first Canadian seminary for the training of English speaking clergy. This large edifice, with its Beaux Arts style architecture and soaring dome, is a powerful visual landmark on Kingston Road.

 

In the early 1900's, the land west of the St. Augustine Seminary began to evolve as a summer cottage community. The first year round residences were built in the 1920's at the south end of Chine Drive. These charming Arts and Crafts style houses set the tone for the present day neighbourhood.

 

 

 

The Cliffcrest neighbourhood was named in the 1960's by city planners who were making obvious reference to the Scarborough Bluffs land formation that skirts the southern boundary of this neighbourhood. The Scarborough Bluffs are a natural wonder that was formed following the last ice age, some twelve thousand years ago. Archaeological evidence gathered in this area during the early 1900's shows that the First Nations people established settlements along the Scarborough Bluffs dating back 10,000 years, making this one of the oldest inhabited sites in Toronto.

 

The Toronto and York Radial Railway established the sixty acre Scarborough Heights Park on the crest of the Bluffs in 1912. This park was created for business purposes by the railway in order to attract more passengers to their line. Scarborough Heights Park closed in 1929 and the streetcar line was discontinued in 1936. Following the dismantling of the streetcar Kingston Road was widened to cater to the automobile age which ultimately led to the residential development of Cliffcrest in the 1940's and 50's.

 

 

 

Clairlea was formerly part of a pioneer crossroads village known as Moffat's Corners. Moffat's Corners is best remembered for the Strangford Post Office which opened in 1863. This post office was situated at the present day intersection of St. Clair and Victoria Park Avenues. The Strangford name given to the post office was probably taken from a small town in Northern Ireland, as most of this area's first settlers were of Irish descent.
When the Strangford Post Office closed in 1873, Moffat's Corners became part of the greater Scarborough Junction community. In the early 1900's, the children in this area attended the Scarborough Junction school which was located at Kennedy and Danforth Roads.

 

The present day neighbourhood began to take shape in the 1950's when furrowed farm fields were replaced by rows of houses. This neighbourhood takes its name from the Clairlea Public School which opened in 1951.

 

 

 

Scarborough Junction received its name in 1873, when a post office using this name was opened in the Bell General Store which stood on the south-west corner of Kennedy Road and St. Clair Avenue. The Junction part of this name referred to the two railways - the Grand Trunk and the Toronto-Nippising - which crossed paths at the south end of this neighbourhood.

In 1896, Scarborough Junction was the most heavily populated village in the former Township of Scarborough. It had its own school, general store, and the Bethel Methodist Church. The historic Bethel Church Cemetery is quietly tucked away off Kennedy Road, south of Eglinton Avenue.

 

The urbanization of Scarborough Junction took place in the late 1940's and the 1950's when farm fields were replaced with rows of war veterans' housing and cosy little bungalows. These houses sold very quickly to young families that were looking for affordable houses in what was then the outskirts of Toronto.

 

 

 

History
Scarborough Village began in the 1830's as a crossroads village, centred around Markham and Kingston Roads and Eglinton Avenue. In 1832, it became the first community in the former Township of Scarborough to have its own post office. 

Robert R. Bonis, in A History of Scarborough describes Scarborough Village in 1896 as "consisting only of a brick schoolhouse, a general store, a blacksmith shop, a building for the sale of farm implements, the Methodist parsonage, less than a dozen dwellings, and a large railway hotel converted to other uses."

 

Historical Scarborough Village landmarks include the Washington Manse, circa 1875 which is located at 14 Centre Street, and the Fred S. Cornell House, circa 1850, which was relocated to Thompson Memorial Park in 1962, when the present day neighbourhood was being developed.

 

 

 

History
The history of Guildwood revolves around The Guild Inn which was founded in 1932 by Rosa and Spencer Clark as a retreat for artists and craftsmen. "The Guild of All Arts," as it was then known featured workshops and studios, in a picturesque setting atop the Scarborough Bluffs.

During World War II, The Guild Inn was used as an official naval base called "HMCS Bytown II, and then later as a specialized military hospital known as "Scarborough Hall." After the war, The Guild Inn was returned to the Clarks and its popularity rose to new heights.

 

In the 1950's rising taxes forced the Clarks to sell 400 acres of their property to the developers who built the present day Guildwood neighbourhood. In 1978 the Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation Authority purchased the remainder of the Guild Inn estate, thus preserving its beauty for future generations to explore and enjoy.

 

 

 

History
West Hill's history began in 1879, when it was granted a post office by the federal government. Prior to the opening of the post office West Hill was considered part of the neighbouring Highland Creek community. 

West Hill's earliest settlers were Irish immigrants from the County of Cork, who arrived here in the 1840's seeking refuge from the potato famine in their homeland. They settled mostly in two-room shacks in the Morningside and Lawrence Avenue area, which for a time was called "Corktown". Many of these new Canadians found work in the building of the Grand Trunk Railway along Toronto's waterfront in 1856.

 

In 1906, the radial streetcar line connected West Hill to the rest of Toronto. The streetcar attracted many families to this area, which culminated in the opening of the West Hill Public School in 1921. The present day neighbourhood was developed largely between the 1940's and 1960's.

 

 

History
The history of the Oakridge neighbourhood is centred around the Oakridge Public School, which was built in 1913 on Danforth Road where Oakridge Park is now situated.

This school was demolished in 1967, and replaced by a modern school on Byng Road. A datestone memorial to the old Oakridge school stands at the Danforth Road entranceway to Oakridge Park. 

Oakridge's development was largely influenced by Danforth Road, one of Toronto's oldest thoroughfares. Danforth Road had its own bus service as early as 1918, which helped to attract many homeowners to this area. Oakridge's growth was further enhanced in the 1950's, when the Bloor-Danforth subway line was extended east to Warden Avenue.

 

 

 

History
Bendale was settled in 1796 by David and Mary Thompson, who were the first Europeans to reside in the former Township of Scarborough. David Thompson's brothers, Andrew and Archibald, also settled nearby. Thompson Memorial Park is named in honour of this pioneer family.

 

Historical landmarks at Thompson Memorial Park include the "Springfield House," built in 1840 by Andrew Thompson's son James, and the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, built in 1849 on land donated by David Thompson. For directions to these historical sites visit the Scarborough Historical Museum located just inside the entrance to this park, off Brimley Road.

 

Bendale was originally known as Benlomond, which was the name given to the local post office in 1878. However the Benlomond name had already been in use elsewhere and in 1881, this community was renamed Bendale. When the development of the present-day neighbourhood took place in the 1950's the Bendale name was adopted by Bendale Public School, Bendale Park, and Bendale Boulevard.