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21-590: The site of Thorncliffe Park Raceway was originally owned by John Taylor and members of the Taylor family, who established mills, a brewery and a brickyard along the Don River (Ontario) . Robert T. Davies , the wealthy founder of the Dominion Brewing Company and related to the Taylor family by marriage, acquired the property in the late 19th century and renamed it Thorncliffe Farm . The name of

42-525: A horse racetrack . The track had a simple but small grandstand structure (and covered area) on the northside of the track, stables to the northeast and more stables and parking at the northwest side. Home to thoroughbred horse racing , the track also revitalized harness racing in Toronto following its opening on July 21, 1917. Among its thoroughbred races, the track notably hosted the Prince of Wales Stakes ,

63-477: A member of the first Legislature of Upper Canada. The mill was operated by the Skinners until about 1855, when it was sold to the Taylor family. In 1820, a brewery (Helliwell or Don Brewery) was built next to the mill and operated by Thomas Helliwell and John Eastwood. The Helliwell family operated it until 1855, when it too was sold to the Taylor family. Todmorden Mills acquired its name from John Eastwood, one of

84-491: A near-riotous protest. The track operated until 1952 when it was sold to the Ontario Jockey Club . Thoroughbred racing ended on June 23, 1952, followed by harness racing on August 12, 1953. The property was immediately transferred to a land development company, called Thorncliffe Park Limited . The neighbouring Town of Leaside annexed the nearly 400-acre former raceway in 1954 and demolished it to make way for

105-401: A reward of £1,000 to anyone who could find a cheaper and more abundant substitute for rags as a raw source for paper. A talented mechanic with a gift for invention, John Taylor tested several methods making paper out of wood pulp . The use of wood as a cellulosic feedstock was the first major technological break-through in paper-making in 1,700 years. This advancement dramatically transformed

126-621: A small industrial complex and village before becoming part of East York in the 20th century. Currently the valley site is occupied by the Todmorden Mills Heritage Museum and Arts Centre , which includes the museum, art gallery, a theatre and a forest preserve. In 1795, the settlement of York in Upper Canada was a small but growing community on the shores of Lake Ontario . To supply construction material, Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe granted land on

147-560: The My Dear Stakes , and the Clarendon Cup . On June 5, 1937, W. A. Hewitt was one of the stewards which ordered a rerun, after the race was declared a false start when one horse was missing from its stall and the flag had not been dropped when other horses jumped the barrier. The decision was protested by spectators who stood to lose bets placed on the race, and an angry mob occupied the track for more than two hours in

168-595: The Don River to Aaron and Isaiah Skinner for the purpose of building a mill to supply lumber. Simcoe wrote to a friend "A mill should be build [ sic ] thereon". A third partner to the Skinner's was their Brother-in-Law, Parsall Terry - husband to their Sister, Rhoda Skinner. Parshall was the first Watermaster on the Don and died in 1808 while trying to cross the Don via horseback during floodstage. He had also been

189-554: The West Don in 1846; in 1851 they purchased a water-powered saw mill, and also purchased the York Paper Mill (later named Todmorden Mills ) in 1855. The Taylor mills produced manila paper , newsprint and felt paper, a product used in roofing . The mills were extremely productive and employed 100 people by the 1900s. John, the oldest of the three brothers, was the manager of the mills. In 1854, London, England offered

210-555: The age of sixty-two. His brothers went on to establish the Don Valley Brick Works in 1889. The Taylor name lives on in Toronto as the name of a tributary of the city's Don river, called Taylor Creek . Todmorden Mills Todmorden Mills was a small settlement located in the Don River valley in Toronto , Ontario . It started out as a lumber mill in the 1790s. Originally known as "Don Mills", it grew into

231-447: The banks of the Don River , an area with an already burgeoning pulp and paper industry. The 1850s brought a wave of expansion to the paper industry in Toronto. By this time, Toronto's population had grown to over thirty thousand and this growing community was also becoming more literate, increasing the demand for books and newspapers. The Taylor family business was also expanding: the brothers had already built their first paper mill on

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252-643: The camp buildings were destroyed by fire, likely set by vandals. Between 1930 and 1967, the property housed a collection of horse riding schools and light industry. In the 1930s, the Windermere Riding Academy used the property. Don Vale Textiles occupied the property in the late 1940s. From 1950 and 1963, the Whitewood Riding School was housed at the stables. During the building of the Don Valley Parkway ,

273-432: The farm, and later the racetrack, was inspired by Thorn Cliff , a house built on the west side of the Don River by a member of the third generation of the Taylor family. An avid participant in horse racing , under the banner of Thorncliffe Stable, Davies raced both thoroughbred and standardbred horses. After his death in 1916, Davies' estate sold the property to a group of investors from Baltimore, Maryland who built

294-452: The industry and earned Taylor a place as a pioneer in the technical development of Canada's paper industry . Brothers Thomas Taylor (1813–1880), William Taylor and George Taylor went on to create Toronto Brick . Thomas died April 21, 1880, and George on May 17, 1894. The Taylor family held onto the business until George's son William Taylor sold interest to his Robert T. Davies in 1909. John Taylor died unexpectedly on May 13, 1871, at

315-453: The original brewery owners. His family had emigrated from Todmorden , a town then straddling the two counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire in England . The Taylors owned a number of industrial mills in the neighbourhood including the Don Valley Brick Works . Under their ownership the mill was converted to produce felt paper. The mill continued to operate until the 1920s when the building

336-581: The planned community of Thorncliffe Park . Today, the old racetrack site is commemorated by local streets called Thorncliffe Park Drive, Grandstand Place, and Milepost Place, as well as a number of residential buildings that took on racetrack stable names like Churchill, Maple Glen, and Willow Glen. Thorncliffe's Leaside Park and a wooded area cover the area to the south of the original racetrack. 43°42′11″N 79°20′49″W  /  43.703°N 79.347°W  / 43.703; -79.347 John Taylor (paper manufacturer) John Taylor (1809–1871)

357-413: The site was extensively modified. The river which used to pass through the site in a wide meander was straightened so that it was entirely cut off from the site. The former riverbed was turned into a pond and the bridge that used to cross the river is now only used to reach a parking lot. In 1965, the mill site was proposed as a centennial project by East York's mayor, True Davidson . On May 22, 1967, it

378-475: Was a British-born Toronto -area businessman and a pioneer in the pulp and paper industry . The Taylor family immigrated to Upper Canada (via Cherry Valley, New York ) in 1821 from Uttoxeter, Staffordshire . By 1834, John Taylor and his brothers, Thomas and George, moved from the village of Vaughan to the Township of York , north-east of the newly created city of Toronto. The brothers set their sights on

399-510: Was converted into a riding stable. In the early 1940s, the site became the location of a small German prisoner of war camp. The camp housed men from the German merchant marine who were interned in Allied ports at the start of the war. The prisoners often worked as labourers at the nearby Don Valley Brick Works. In 1945, the prisoners were repatriated and the camp was shut down. Soon afterwards,

420-492: Was moved to Roundhouse Park . In the near future, the museum is hoping to re-restore Helliwell House to resemble its appearance in the 1890s. In 1991, two local naturalists, Charles Sauriol and Dave Money proposed that a small forested area adjacent to the museum site be turned into a nature preserve. A committee was formed and the Todmorden Mills Wildflower Preserve was created. Since then

441-500: Was opened as the Todmorden Mills Historic Site and started to function as a community museum. Davidson remained as an honorary curator until her death in 1978. Currently the museum maintains four buildings from the original settlement including the old paper mill which dates from 1825, a brewery and two homes. The Don railway station was moved to Todmorden in 1969, and remained at Todmorden until 2009 when it

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