By DAVID VAN DYKE Pat Buchanan’s great grandfather, Herbert Waters, immigrated to Canada from England in 1888. He was a florist and had greenhouses at Elmer and Norway avenues. At this point in time Elmer ended at Norway, and Norway was just a footpath to Lee Avenue. If any of our readership has a photo […]
By DAVID VAN DYKE I love this unique storefront on Queen Street East, just east of Elmer Avenue. So did Ann Patterson, who ran a camera store across the street. Ann took many photos on Queen Street during her breaks. The photo of Nelsons (heavy emphasis on the Nelsons) was taken in the late 1970s. […]
By DAVID VAN DYKE The Donald D. Summerville Olympic Pools opened on June 1, 1963. The facility sits at the bottom of Woodbine Avenue at Lake Shore Boulevard East. Laura Harrison’s father, John Leslie Harrison, often took long strolls along the lake when he lived at the Beaches Lions Centennial Apartments on Norway Avenue in […]
By DAVID VAN DYKE The Beaches Public Library was opened in December of 1916. This archival photograph above was taken in the following year. For me, the Beaches Library has always been a focal point for the community. If you have a photograph you would like to share with our readership, please contact me gdvandyke61@gmail.com
By DAVID VAN DYKE Local historian Clyde Robinson dropped off a bundle of photographs taken in the 1980s on Queen Street East between Balsam and Beech avenues. Things were changing along this stretch of Queen Street East at this time. A condo was being built and photographer Chris DeBoer was documenting the construction, along with […]
By DAVID VAN DYKE Clyde Robinson, from the The Beach and East Toronto Historical Society, was kind enough to drop off a parcel of photographs at the Beach Metro News office for me recently. The images document a teardown and build up of a condominium and also several house front photos, all taken on Queen […]
By DAVID VAN DYKE This image above was anonymously forwarded to me a little while ago. I am very thankful that you thought to share this pic, Jane Doe! The view is on Queen Street East, looking north on Elmer Avenue. Keep in mind, in 1899, the top of the street ended where Norway Avenue […]
By DAVID VAN DYKE The above image of a pavilion in Woodbine Beach Park at the foot of Kippendavie Avenue is another photograph in a series taken by John Leslie Harrison. In the late 1980s, John moved to the Beaches Lions Centennial Apartments on Norway Avenue. Daily he would walk down to the Woodbine Beach […]
By DAVID VAN DYKE Recently, my son Michael and I spent an hour walking around Woodbine Park looking for the two trees depicted in the photo above. Really, how much does a tree grow in just more than 32 years? The tree on the right had been felled and we did find its stump to […]
By DAVID VAN DYKE This postcard above depicts the house designed and built by Herbert Wellard Waters in 1908-1909 at 75 Elmer Ave. The Waters family arrived from Croydon, England to the Beach in 1888. The house was situated half way up the street to Norway Avenue, which was just a footpath at this time. […]
