Elmbank, Ontario
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elmbank, Ontario | |
|---|---|
Ghost town | |
 Looking north toward the former Hamlet of Elmbank, now occupied by the de-icing facility at Pearson Airport | |
 | |
| Coordinates: 43°40′27″N 79°37′33″W / 43.67417°N 79.62583°W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Ontario |
| Regional municipality | Peel |
| City | Mississauga |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| NTS Map | 030M12 |
Elmbank is a ghost town in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
The hamlet at the intersection of Fifth Line East (now Torbram Road) and Britannia Road was once a thriving 19th century rural community. It was later cleared for expansion of the Toronto Pearson International Airport.
A part of the original Britannia Rd. still exists, now as a street east of the airport named "Elmbank Road". Nothing remains of the former community.
Land in the area was cleared for farming beginning in the mid 1820s.[citation needed] The first resident was John Grubb, who emigrated from Scotland in 1831. Grubb built a home overlooking Etobicoke Creek, and named the place Elmbank.[1]
Other settlers followed, and the Elmbank community soon had a blacksmith, store, inn, schoolhouse, cheese factory, carriage maker, and Sons of Temperance Society Hall. No mills were located there.[2]
The Elmbank Post Office operated from 1873 to 1915, and the first postmaster, William McKay, operated out of his store.[2]
Shell's Chapel was built south of the community in 1831, named after Jacob and Henry Shell. The chapel was renamed Bethany Wesleyan Methodist Church and Cemetery, and then Bethany United Church in 1925. The last service was held in 1956, and the graves were relocated to Riverside Cemetery in Etobicoke.[2]
Elmbank was noted for its importance to Toronto's Catholic community. The Catholic Mission and Cemetery, a log church constructed in 1833, was located in Elmbank and parishioners would travel from Toronto for mass or funerals. In 1885, a red brick church and rectory replaced the log church. The last recorded mass took place in 1915, and the church was torn down in 1932. Materials from the church such as pews, bricks and stained glass windows were reused in neighbouring churches.[2][3]
Residents of Elmbank had a close association with the community of Malton, located a short distance northeast. The Elmbank soccer team, composed of young men from Elmbank and Malton, won the Peel league championship.[2] Residents of Elmbank also participated in Malton's day-long Callithumpian Parade, held annually beginning in 1896. The Sons of Temperance Society Hall was also used occasionally for lectures organized by the Malton Women's Institute, founded in 1906.[1]
Elmbank's population peaked at 300 in 1886, and had declined to about 30 by 1926.[2]
In 1937, the Toronto Harbour Commission selected Malton as the site for Toronto's airport. The rural land near Elmbank was expropriated and its buildings demolished for successive expansions of the airport. By the 1950s, the only visible remnant of the Elmbank community was the Catholic cemetery.[2]
