GARRISON CREEK CARRIES STORIES OF TORONTO’S PAST

Garrison Creek was once the largest stream between the Humber River and the Don River. Formed after the Wisconsinan Glacier receded thousands of years ago, it flowed in an area bounded by St. Clair Avenue, Dufferin Street, Bathurst Street, and Lake Ontario. Over time it eroded the sand, clay, and gravel left by the glacier into wide valleys.¹

The creek nourished oak and pine forests in an area where first aboriginal peoples, then early Europeans, hunted, fished, and farmed. Later it supplied water and a protective location for soldiers at Fort York, the military garrison that gave Garrison Creek its current name.²

Alleged image of Garrison Creek (City of Toronto Archives: William James 1246B - Wychwood ravine - 1907)

By the early 1900s, land that had been cleared for farms and estates was subdivided into dense settlements that polluted Garrison Creek with sewage and garbage. As concerns over outbreaks rose in these settlements, the decision was made to bury the creek. Even after its burial, the remaining ravines were used in the 1950s and 1960s as a place to dump garbage, and soil from excavation of the subway line.

Harbord Street bridge before burial c.1917 (City of Toronto Archives: DPW 52-33)

During the Human River walk or on your own travels through Toronto, you will hear Garrison Creek as you pass by a storm sewer grate, and will see its shape in ravines and parks, curving streets, and two buried bridges.

Not too long ago, there were plans to create a park system following the Garrison Creek Ravine and to restore some of the elements of the creek and its history, such as native vegetation and bridges.³ Some work was done but for the most part Garrison Creek remains a secret stream with hidden histories. Join Human River … let’s bring the stream and these histories to the surface!

References

1.  Garrison Creek Lost River Walk, http://lostrivers.ca/GarrisonCreek.htm

2. A River Runs Through Here: Uncovering the Garrison Creek, 1998.

3. Garrison Creek Linkage Project