Leslieville

Leslieville is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada east of the Don River bounded by the Canadian National railway line and Gerrard Street to the north, Empire Avenue to the west, Eastern Avenue to south, and Coxwell Avenue to the east.HistoryThis east-end neighbourhood forms part of the broader neighbourhood of South Riverdale. Leslieville began as a small village in the 1850s, which grew up around the Toronto Nurseries owned by George Leslie (1804-1893) and sons, after whom the community is named. Most of Leslieville's residents were gardeners or were employed at one of the brick-making factories in the area. Leslie's home at Queen and Leslie no longer exists but the general store remains on Queen east of Jones Avenue.Alexander Muir, the composer of The Maple Leaf Forever, was the first principal of the Leslieville Public School, one of the first buildings in the village. Muir was inspired when a brilliant maple leaf fell on his jacket from a Leslieville tree. That tree fell on July 19, 2013, and only its trunk exists today in front of Maple Cottage within Maple Leaf Forever Park. Its offspring still grows in the park behind the cottage.For decades, South Riverdale was home to light industry, particularly along Eastern Ave. south of Queen St. Metal processing and tanning were notable industries which, along with other industrial activity, left Leslieville and South Riverdale with a legacy of contaminated land. In 2000, the A.R. Clarke Tannery(c.1876 and now C.C. Leather Inc) went up in flames, burning for days and unleashing toxic ash on the surrounding neighbourhood. Almost all these industrial areas have now been abandoned and are being redeveloped.