A Brief History of High Park Club
| Toronto in the 1890's was a bustling city with a population of around
200,000. The city had four curling clubs (Toronto, Victoria, The Granite
and Queen city) all located in what today would be considered the downtown
core. Surrounding the city were small towns and villages like Parkdale,
Swansea, Lampton, Weston and Mimico. Commuters travelled by rail, horse
driven carriage, bicycle, the tram and by foot. Oil lamps were still the
principle means of lighting and coal was used for heating.
Parkdale at this time was a fairly affluent community with a population
of around 2,000. Many of the industrial and financial tycoons of this period
built their mansions in Parkdale overlooking the lake just north of what
today is Springhurst Ave. Located near the corner of Cowan Ave. and Queen
St. wan an outdoor curling facility called the Parkdale Curling Club. Founded
in 1892, this club enjoyed tremendous success and it's curlers led by William
Scott won many honours.
During the summer , the residents of Parkdale were able to pursue many
sporting activities of which the most popular was lawn bowling. There were
many clubs in the area including the Parkdale Lawn Bowling Club and the
Parkdale Canoe Club. In North Parkdale near the corner of Wright Ave. and
Roncesvalles, the residents could join the High Park Bowling and Tennis
Club.
By 1910, the area of North Parkdale was developing rapidly. It was during this period that most of the homes that you see today were being built by young families in their 20's and 30's. And it was during this explosion of activity that the members of the High Park Bowling and Tennis Club felt that the community might be ready for an indoor curling facility. So, in 1911 the club purchased the current site and restructured itself as the High Park Curling and Lawn Bowling Club with Mr. R. W. Prittie as President. On October 12, 1912 High Park was officially welcomed as a member of the OCA with 76 members. .... to be continue ... |
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