Toronto’s Kensington Market is one of the older neighbourhoods in the city. After serving for the British in the War of 1812, George Taylor Denison purchased a plot of land that extended from Queen West to Bloor Street, between what are now Augusta and Lippincott Streets. The Denison estate was subdivided in the 1850s, and into the 1880s, houses were built on small plots for Irish and Scottish immigrant labourers coming to the city. With an influx of Eastern European Jewish immigrants in the early twentieth century, the area became known as the Jewish Market before taking on the name of one of the neighbourhood’s main streets, Kensington Avenue—which in turn was probably named after London’s Kensington district. Source: The Culture Trip
S T R E E T A R T in Toronto is now soooo much easier to track down! The incredible team in the city’s StreetARToronto department have created an online map. The new web-based map helps residents and visitors explore street art located throughout the city. The current map provides a sampling of murals created as part of the StART suite of programs from 2012 to 2018. View the map at http://streetart.to StreetARToronto (StART) is an innovative city building initiative that is an integral part of the City’s Graffiti Management Plan, StART has been successful in reducing graffiti vandalism and replacing it with vibrant, colourful, community-engaged street art. Find them on Instagram @start_streetartoronto and on Facebook http://facebook.com/StreetARToronto. Photo Source:
Leslieville started as an independent village during the 1850s. The community was oriented around the Toronto nurseries, an important gardening business owned by George Leslie (1804–1893), with many of the area’s residents employed as gardeners or working at the nearby brick factory. Leslie’s home at Queen and Leslie no longer exists but the general store remains on Queen east of Jones Avenue. Source: The Culture Trip
“F A I R warning for water fowl! Ducks wintering on Grenadier Pond can ignore the warning sign but you had better not.” The Grenadier Pond Ice Monitoring Program started on Jan 1, 2019. Ice thickness is measured on a daily basis. To check the flag status, visit “Find an Outdoor Rink” on the City of Toronto website and then scroll to the very bottom of the page. Grenadier Pond in High Park has been a recreational skating surface since the early days of Toronto but temperature changes, water currents, salt run-off and other factors can make it dangerous. For 12 weeks in winter, the City will monitor ice thickness and place a flag at the pond: RED FLAG = Not safe YELLOW
