No Story Too Small has issued a New Year's Challenge: "Have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.”
Today's post is about a few of the places I remember as a child and some of the homes that I lived in with my family in Mimico, Ontario.
Mimico, Ontario
Mimico was the neighbourhood my family lived in before moving to Cooksville, Ontario.
"Mimico is a neighbourhood and a former municipality in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the south-west area of Toronto, along Lake Ontario. It is the south-east corner of the former Township (and later, City) of Etobicoke, and was an independent municipality from 1911 to 1967."
St Leo's School
St. Leo's school was where my brother and I attended from kindergarten through to Grade three. The St Leo's schoolyard adjoined that of John English public school which made for some interesting interactions between the children of working class Irish Catholic families and children of the Irish protestant families.
 |
1964: My brother and I posing on the steps of St Leo's school
for our First Communion photo |
 |
| St Leo's school (with St Leo's church on the right) today |
St Leo's Church
St. Leo's R.C. was the church that my family attended and where my brother and I went daily (my brother was an altar boy).
 |
| St. Leo's Mimico |
Mimico.jpg) |
| The interior of St. Leo's |
 |
| St Leo's school can be seen between the two buildings |
61 Superior Avenue
We lived in the bottom apartment of the triplex at 61 Superior while my father worked as a firefighter at the fire hall nearby (at 13 Superior Avenue).
 |
| 1962: Dad practicing his golf swing on the lawn at 61 Superior |
 |
| 1964: The three of us posing in front of 61 Superior |
 |
| 61 Superior on google maps today. |
Mimico Fire Department
13 Superior Avenue, Mimico
This is the fire station where my father worked in the early years
 |
Mimico Fire Department
(my father in rear row - 2nd from the right) |
 |
| 1929 newspaper clipping: "Police And Firemen Have New Quarters" |
 |
| Plans for Fire Dept. |
In 2011 the Mimico Fire Hall where my father worked was officially the Town of Mimico's last remaining municipal building still standing. Both the Town Hall and Public Utilities Building which were on Church Street (now Royal York Road) were demolished long ago
 |
| Mimico Fire Hall in 2011 |
 |
| Mimico Fire Hall on google maps |
Sussex Drive
Our family lived in a home located on Sussex Drive on the shores of Lake Ontario.
 |
| 1965 |
 |
| Posing on front lawn of Sussex Dr. home |
I was surprised to learn about the architect Harold Watson who designed the homes in this area. I remember the sound of the streetcars as I tried to sleep at night. I had never had to try and sleep with lots of noise outside. The streetcars ran along the Lakeshore.
 |
| New Toronto (507) streetcar |
 |
| Map of Sussex Dr. and Lakeshore Blvd. homes designed by architect Harold R. Watson |
The homes on Sussex Drive show the
skill of it's architect Harold R. Watson. "The homes constitute a little country village, all executed in similar design and materials. Their high pitched roofs and towering chimneys are distinctive, as is his use of brick on the first floor and stucco above. The design employs many of the features he used in his Eighth Street project including exterior walls made of brick on the lower and stucco on the upper floor and small front porches that are covered by an extension of the roof line.....The homes at 8 and 10 Sussex Drive were also part of this project but they were demolished in 2010 as part of the construction of a new house."
 |
| Google map of Sussex Drive today |
Links
 |
| Mimico's famous Pickin Chicken |
Cooksville, Ontario
My family later moved to Cooksville, Ontario.
I will devote an entire blog post to Cooksville Ontario at some point in the future.
|
|
Hurontario Street at Elm Drive. Included in the photograph are the
Britannia School of Trade, Fairview Road and Hansen Road.
Lake Ontario is in the background. Photographed by Bert Hoferichter, MPA.
|
|
|
|
