 |
| ca. 1942, looking northwest onto Main St. S. at St. John's Rd. click to enlarge |
Of course, the residents of Edmund Avenue could have asked again but I deemed it unlikely as I had a 1924 and a 1935 map that still had the St. John's Rd. boundary. In my new search I did find a resolution to all this. On page 34 of the 11 November 1930 Toronto Daily Star was an article on Walter Pollett running for Weston's 1931 mayoralty:
"Mr. Pollett was elected to the [Weston] council a year after he became eligible, since previously his home on Edmund Ave. had been in Mount Dennis. Seven years ago this month a portion of Mount Dennis bounding the southern part of the town of Weston was annexed and Mr. Pollett was one of the most active supporters of this step."
So the boundary expansion happened in November 1923. The 1924 map might have missed the news, being too soon after. A close look at the 1935 map could find no year that was part of the map itself. I now feel that the 1935 may have been a library misidentification.
Looking further, I found a 1923 map of York Township that I had not previously come across. And yes, this map clearly excluded Edmund Avenue from the township:.jpg) |
| York Township (1923) click to enlarge |
So, as a small slice of Mount Dennis was added to Weston, would there have been any effort to move the entrance-to-Weston sign south? No. The section that was annexed is entirely on the west side of Weston Rd. One block later we reach the old-border line and Weston is now on both sides. Reference the more recent Welcome-to-Weston sign that is only a few meters south of the same St. John's Rd. — but now renamed — Clouston Ave.:
The tortured history of St. John's Rd. and Clouston Ave.
 |
| Welcome to Weston (2019) click to enlarge |
When did St. John's Rd. become Clouston Ave.? The answer is slightly more complicated than I expected. Might's (greater Toronto) city directory for 1929 suggests that Clouston Ave. is entirely in Mount Dennis: west from Jane St. to Weston Rd. and west of Centre Rd. to the Humber River. That, one might think, leaves St. John's Rd. as the connecting, in-between part. However, St. John's Rd. is the old border of the town of Weston, where the properties north of the road were part of Weston and properties south, part of Mount Dennis. It seems that in 1929, there's a St. John's Rd. East that is the same roadway as Clouston Ave. (as far as the railroad tracks) but only for the north side of it. There's a St. John's Rd. West running west from Main St. S. to the Humber River that, because of the annexation of that part of Mount Dennis, is on both sides of the roadway until we get to Centre Rd. At that point, St. John's Rd. West uses the same roadway as Clouston Ave., but only for the north side of it.
In 1937, Might's directory noted that the part of Clouston Ave. from Jane St. to Weston Rd. now ran from Weston Rd. to only the railroad tracks. Also in 1937, the name of the part of Clouston Ave. from Centre Rd. to the Humber River became St. John's Drive. This change was still being declared in 1949, but the last actual listing I have found for a St. John's Drive is 1945. To further complicate things, in 1950 the section of Clouston Ave. east of Weston Rd. was renamed Gibson Park.
There's no further mention of Clouston Ave. in Might's, 1951-1955. Then it reappears (1956-1960) with a bracketed Weston and the description: west from St. John's Rd. West. Wait, isn't this St. John's Drive? Well, no. The building names leave little doubt that they are describing Gibson Park (which has its own separate, tandem entries). There is no Gibson Park mention in 1960. Then in 1961, Clouston Ave. reappears with the proper east-of-Weston-Rd. location. Someone figured out the error! They also note that this Clouston Ave. is the south side of the street as the north side is St. John's Rd. East.
Finally, in 1965, St. John's Rd. East and St. John's Rd. West were renamed Clouston Ave., likely in preparation for the 1967 amalgamation of Weston and the Township of York. I grieve for St. John's Drive which died without anyone noticing. I expect that it is buried somewhere in St. John's Cemetery on the Humber!
