The Leuty Lifeguard station is one of the last remainings structures south of The Beach boardwalk. Built in 1920 on the side of "old" City of Toronto it is said to have played a role in saving over 6,000 lives during its occupation along Kew Beach.
At one time the beach front was crowded with private boat houses and small commercial buildings with food venders, boats and canoes for hire. But eventually the threat of water erosion forced the city to remove the remaining structures in order to stabilize the beach front with wooden pilings and sand. The Leuty Lifeguard Station is the last echo to a bygone era.
Along the Shore examines the Toronto waterfront, past and present, through the lens of four lakefront communities and districts ? the Scarborough shore (including the Bluffs), the Beach, the Island, and the Lakeshore (New Toronto, Mimico, Humber Bay, and Long Branch). Each retains a direct and immediate connection with Lake Ontario and the natural world.
Glenn and Jean Cochrane have lived in Toronto?s Beach area for thirty-eight years ? which sounds like a lifetime but really leaves them as a relative newcomers. Like many of the area?s residents, the Cochranes are convinced that once someone moves to the Beach, they?ll never leave.
In this rare combination of history and memoir, Lorraine O'Donnell Williams details life within Toronto's Beach community in the 1930s and '40s from the vantage point of her front verandah, which abutted the boardwalk. Her extensive research has uncovered numerous hidden facets of the heritage of this exceptional neighbourhood, including the stories of what was in its time one of North America's most remarkable amusement parks, the popular dance hall, and how the area was transformed from cottage to urban living.
Tours featuring this location.
Welcome to Toronto's The Beach neighborhood. Located on the east side of "Old Toronto", it fits inside the boundaries of Kingston Road, Victoria Park Ave., Woodbine Ave., and Lake Ontario. Originally heavily wooded and spotted with homes, the area's popularity grew in the 1900's and land was appropriated for parks, boardwalks, and public gardens.
