Many Leasiders know that Divadale Drive takes its name from the magnificent Bayview estate once owned and occupied in the late 1930s-early 1940s by the millionaire American oil executive and soldier of fortune, Captain James …more
A few years ago, Geoff Kettel wrote an excellent article for Leaside Life about a sensational armed robbery in 1951 of the Royal Bank on Laird Dr.1 Over 10 years earlier, in 1940, an equally …more
Sunnybrook Plaza was a community landmark for more than 70 years. Scores of retailers operated there – many of them familiar to Leasiders – Power Food Market, Scott Hardware, Ira Berg, Northway, Hunts Bakery, Town …more
In contrast to the long-delayed opening of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, past capital projects in Toronto often went far more smoothly – and quickly. The TTC’s original Yonge Street subway line took only five …more
Beth Nealson is rightfully celebrated as Leaside’s first female mayor. But she wasn’t the first woman elected to local office in Leaside. That achievement belonged to an independent and unconventional woman named Lenore Sibbald. Here’s …more
Remembering Ernest A. Wilson: Leaside’s World War I overseas fatality When World War I began in 1914, Leaside was sparsely populated and almost totally rural, so the number of young men who enlisted from the …more
Many readers of Leaside Life know Jane Pitfield’s excellent history, Leaside (1999). The book’s cover shows a painting of William Lea’s iconic and historic octagon house, after which Leaside is named, and which burned down …more
This photo at right shows the groundbreaking ceremony for Leaside High School. The much-anticipated event took place on May 30, 1946. Leasiders had long desired their own high school. For years, local teenagers had been …more
I loved the 1966 photo in last month’s Leaside Life showing three-year-old Mitch Bubulj at the old Trace Manes wading pool. It triggered fond memories of when I would take my daughter, Maddy, there 20 …more
Three years ago, I wrote how Leaside’s Research Enterprises Ltd. (REL) helped defeat Hitler and fascism by becoming one of the largest producers of radar equipment for the Allied war effort [“How Leaside helped win …more
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