History

On Nov. 11, please join the Leaside Heritage Preservation Society (LHPS) for its 3rd annual Remembrance Day Walk as we visit the residences and review the lives of the young men of Leaside who died …more

Liz Fletcher remembers the Ides of October 1954 for a myriad of reasons, most of them to do with sports and socializing. Fletcher, then Liz Brown, was in Grade 11 at Leaside High School. “It …more

Constance Beresford-Howe (1922-2016) may not be a household name today, but she should be. A professor, creative writing teacher and pioneering feminist novelist, she wrote 10 trail-blazing novels during her career – all of which …more

Before staging, bully offers and virtual tours were commonplace in the housing market, there was Ferguson Real Estate. And in the Leaside of the ’50s and ’60s its president, Ernest J. Ferguson, was the only …more

Like many Leasiders, I had a flooded basement on Tues., July 16th – one of the wettest days in Toronto’s history. I should have expected it. At least three underground streams flow beneath the community …more

By 1960, Leaside had become a bustling town of more than 16,000 people – double the number of residents who lived there during WWII. As the town grew in population and prosperity, so did two …more

Some extraordinary women have called Leaside home over the years: Beth Nealson, Leaside’s first woman mayor; Agnes Macphail, Canada’s first female Member of Parliament; Maureen Kempston Darkes, CEO of General Motors Canada; and novelist Margaret …more

Nostalgia is a funny thing. At best it evokes warm-hearted memories of a bygone era. At worst it clouds our judgment, glossing over harsh histories. The story of the Leaside industrial area is like that: …more

1918 was an eventful year for the Leaside Aerodrome (also known as Camp Leaside), the large military facility north of Wicksteed which trained cadets and airmen for combat during WW1. That was the year, of …more