The Beaches

The Beach was first settled by the Ashbridge family who came to Canada from Philadelphia, in 1793, with a handful of other families, farmed the district until the latter part of the 1800s. The Beach properties were subdivided, at that time, large parcels of land were set aside for local parks.

By the 1920’s, the City of Toronto was expanding eastward and The Beach was subdivided for year round residential development. Over the years The Beach has emerged as one of Toronto’s most popular neighbourhoods.

The neighbourhood is located to the East of Toronto’s downtown, from Coxwell east to Victoria Park. The lakefront is divided into four sections; Woodbine Beach to the west, Kew Beach and Scarborough

Beach in the centre, and Balmy Beach to the east. It is four beaches which give the neighbourhood its name and defining principal characteristic. Until Lakeshore Blvd was extended to Woodbine Avenue in the 1950s, Woodbine Beach was not a bathing beach, but rather a desolate wooded area known as The Cut. And Woodbine Avenue was the western boundary of the neighbourhood. While the official City northern boundary ends at Kingston Road, the area to the north has become known as the ‘Upper Beaches’ according to real estate marketers. The area bounded by Queen Street, Woodbine and Kingston Road is nicknamed the ‘Beach Triangle’.