Lambton Baby Point

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Lambton Baby Point is a residential neighbourhood in west end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was formerly in the City of York, and was two independent municipalities prior to that. It is bounded on the west by the Humber River from Bloor Street to the CPR lines north of Dundas Street, the CPR lines on the north to Dundas Street, Gooch Street south-east to Jane Street and Jane Street south to Bloor Street, and Bloor Street west to the Humber.

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[edit] History

Baby Point enclave

The Baby Point enclave was originally a Seneca village. James Baby, prounounced 'Babby', was a member of a prominent Quebec fur trading family and a former politician in Upper Canada. He settled at Baby Point in 1816, after discovering the abandoned village. A lush apple orchard covered the area and salmon swam in the Humber River, giving it an Eden-like quality. Water from a fresh spring nearby was bottled and shipped worldwide.

Baby's heirs lived at Baby Point until 1910, when the government acquired the land with the intention of establishing a military fortress and barracks at the site. The government eventually changed their plans and sold the land to a developer named Home Smith, who began developing a subdivision in 1912. Home Smith would later develop a residential area across the Humber, The Kingsway.

Lambton Mills

The area bounded by Dundas Street, Jane Street, Bloor Street and Humber River in the northern part of the neighbourhood was known as Village of Lambton Mills. The name was linked to the mills (grist, saw mills, woolen mills) that operated along the Humber River from 1850 to 1915. Originally called Cooper's Mills (c. 1806) after William Cooper's Grist and Saw Mill, it was renamed in 1838 in honour of John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham (High Commissioner and Governor General of British North America, who visit to the area.

Besides the mills, Lambton Mills had it's own church, school, and post office.

[edit] Character

A set of historic stone gates at the intersection of Jane Street and Baby Point Road mark the entrance to the Baby Point enclave, which could be said to be a precursor to modern gated communities. Baby Point is situated on a peninsula of land -- or a 'point' -- overlooking the Humber River. It is surrounded by ravines and parkland and is only accessible through the gates. The larger homes tend to back onto the Humber Valley ravine and are found along Baby Point Road and Baby Point Crescent, while the smaller homes are found near the Jane Street and Baby Point Road entrance. Most of the homes in the enclave were built in the 1920s and 1930s.

To the north and south of Baby Point are single-family residential neighbourhoods established about the same time as the Point. There is very little commercial store fronts in the neighbourhood and is mostly on Jane Street. Infill in the Lambton area continued until the 1960s. The historic Lambton House inn in the northern area of the neighbourhood is now surrounded by modern single-family homes and and apartment tower.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


Rockcliffe-Smythe
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