The ARA's History of the Annex

	The Annex Residents' Association		History of the Annex
The History of the Annex The story of the Annex begins in the 1790's, and here it is touched with the glamour associated with Little York and its possibilities. The Annex is included in the area officially designated as lots 22-25, 2nd concession, Township of York. Lots were numbered east to west. Davenport Road, which dissects the area diagonally, was laid out on the path of an old Indian Trail and is one of the few roads in Toronto which does not follow the rigid grid pattern laid out from Alexander Aitken's survey in 1792. Its name derives from Davenport, England, home of Joseph Wells, an early arrival in York. Except for a few holdings along Bloor Street, the area remained underdeveloped until into the 1880s. Walmer Road was planned as a sort of retreat for a few Torontonians who could afford the lengthy carriage drive from the city. Dr. Scadding had this interesting note in his diary for July 20th, 1874: "I met Robert Baldwin on Yonge Street...he wanted a name for a road he is laying out under Spadina Hill". Walmer Road was thought of, after Walmer in England, birthplace of Robert Baldwin's son. It was laid out some time before the area was incorporated into Toronto and residents do not appear in contemporary directories until the 1880s. At that time there were 13 residences, most with extensive surrounding private grounds. The most important area in our story remains the comparatively underdeveloped lands between the fast growing town of Yorkville to the east, and Seaton Village to the west. From the 1850s, the northern limits of the city were Bloor Street. Toronto to the south was ripe for expansion. By the 1870s, Yorkville and Toronto had met and the Bloor Street boundary was a mere technicality. In 1883 the town of Yorkville became incorporated with Toronto and in another four years the Annex was gathered in. The motion on May 11th, 1886, at the Toronto City Council meeting proposed the annexation, and set the boundaries. From the beginning the Annex was favoured as a residential area. John Ross Robertson said in his Landmarks of Toronto "The locality has been much built up during the decade ending 1885, with, for the most part, a high class style of residences and is evidently destined to be one of the principal residential districts of the city". From the ARA Archives Spadina at Lowther looking North 1949 What is the Annex? The geographical boundaries of the Annex are Avenue Road on the east, Bathurst Street on the west, Bloor Street on the south, and the Canadian Pacific railway tracks on the north. Before 1883, the eastern part of the Annex was part of the Village of Yorkville, thus some of the earlier houses, particularly on the south side of Elgin and Lowther still retain a dignified and remote "small town" appearance. After 1883 this section of Yorkville, with Village to the west as far as Bathurst, was developed in a handsome residential area known as the "Annex".
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The story of the Annex begins in the 1790's, and here it is touched with the glamour associated with Little York and its possibilities. The Annex is included in the area officially designated as lots 22-25,
2nd concession, Township of York. Lots were numbered east to west. Davenport Road, which dissects the area diagonally, was laid out on the path of an old Indian Trail and is one of the few roads in Toronto which does not follow the rigid grid pattern laid out from Alexander Aitken's survey in 1792. Its name derives from Davenport, England, home of Joseph Wells, an early arrival in York.

Except for a few holdings along Bloor Street, the area remained underdeveloped until into the 1880s.
Walmer Road was planned as a sort of retreat for a few Torontonians who could afford the lengthy carriage drive from the city. Dr. Scadding had this interesting note in his diary for July 20th, 1874:
"I met Robert Baldwin on Yonge Street...he wanted a name for a road he is laying out under Spadina Hill". Walmer Road was thought of, after Walmer in England, birthplace of Robert Baldwin's son. It was laid out some time before the area was incorporated into Toronto and residents do not appear in contemporary directories until the 1880s. At that time there were 13 residences, most with extensive surrounding private grounds.

The most important area in our story remains the comparatively underdeveloped lands between the fast growing town of Yorkville to the east, and Seaton Village to the west. From the 1850s, the northern limits of the city were Bloor Street.

Toronto to the south was ripe for expansion. By the 1870s, Yorkville and Toronto had met and the Bloor Street boundary was a mere technicality. In 1883 the town of Yorkville became incorporated with Toronto and in another four years the Annex was gathered in. The motion on May 11th, 1886, at the Toronto City Council meeting proposed the annexation, and set the boundaries.

From the beginning the Annex was favoured as a residential area. John Ross Robertson said in his Landmarks of Toronto "The locality has been much built up during the decade ending 1885, with, for the most part, a high class style of residences and is evidently destined to be one of the principal residential districts of the city".

From the ARA Archives

What is the Annex?
The geographical boundaries of the Annex are Avenue
Road on the east, Bathurst Street on the west,
Bloor Street on the south, and the Canadian Pacific
railway tracks on the north.
Before 1883, the eastern part of the Annex was part of the Village of Yorkville, thus some of the earlier houses, particularly on the south side of Elgin and Lowther still retain a dignified and remote "small town" appearance. After 1883 this section of Yorkville, with Village to the west as far as Bathurst, was developed in a handsome residential area known as the "Annex".