Boundaries: the area south of the Subway line and north of Mack Ave between Warden and Birchmount.
(I fabricated the name of this area, as some maps attach it to Clairlea, others to Scarborough Junction, aka Kennedy Park, and still others to neither.)
Much of this land was occupied by a dairy farm, one of the first in Scarborough. In the 1830s, a distinctive farmhouse was built here off Warden Avenue for the farm owners, the Thornbeck family. Major renovations were made to the house by after a massive fire gutted the interior by the Bell family which obtained the property in 1882. In 1931 the Bell family established Bell’s Scarboro Dairy which prospered until it was sold to Donland’s dairy in 1943. The farm was sold in the 1950s but the home survived and thanks to the efforts of Scarborough and Toronto Preservation groups the home is being restored as a heritage designated home.
Numerous industries sprang up in this area starting the 1950s, including a Becker’s Milk Plant on Warden near the Bell home, and on Danforth Road, Patterson Industries, involved with design engineering and custom manufacturing of industrial equipment, Lily Cups, a manufacturer of paper cups and food containers, with its iconic giant paper cup front façade, and the sprawling Pilkington Glass Company – all closed down in recent times as globalization pressures forced consolidations and relocations. The Centennial College Warden Woods campus also closed in 2004. In their place new housing developments have sprung up in the areas these establishments once occupied.
Scarborough Southwest’s major library is located on Birchmount just north of Danforth Road. The Albert Campbell Library opened in 1971. It was named after Albert Campbell, last reeve of Scarborough Township (1957-67), and first mayor of the Borough of Scarborough (1967-69).
References:
Scarborough Historical Society Bell Estate: Bell house restoration begins this year Mar 24,2013
http://scarboroughhistorical.ca/?tag=bell-estate
Merlin Blogs Raising the future without razing the past
http://www.merlinwrites.com/toronto-sun-raising-the-future-without-razing-the-past/
Ian Harvey Boom town Toronto Star May 24 2008
http://www.thestar.com/life/homes/2008/05/24/boom_town.html
Jim Rodgers Ghosts of Raillines Past – The GECO / Kingston Extension The Railfanning Runner Aug 18, 2012
http://therailfanrunner.blogspot.ca/2012/08/ghosts-of-raillines-past-geco-kingston.html
