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Baby Point

Photos by Alan L Brown - Posted July, 2007

At the southwest corner of Baby Point Road and Baby Point Crescent, west of the western end of Annette Street, can be found a 1949 plaque erected jointly by the York Pioneer and Historical Society, the Municipal Corporation and the Board of Education of the Township of York. Here's what it says:

Coordinates: 43.657262 -79.493937

Click here for a larger map

This area includes the site of Taiaiagon Iroquois Village at the foot of the Toronto Carrying Place (Le Portage de Toronto). This way passed Étienne Brûlé, first white man to see Lake Ontario, 1615; René Robert Cavelier de la Salle, explorer of the Mississippi 1680 and 1681; John Graves Simcoe, first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, 1793. These lands now known as Baby Point were purchased by Honourable James Baby, member of the Legislative and Executive Councils, 1820.

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Here are the visitors' comments for this page.

> Posted May 23, 2016
I just came across the November 6, 2014 comment re. #108. My grandfather bought that house in the 30's. My mother lived there as a teen, during the war and after the war when my dad returned from overseas. My sister also lived for awhile in that house. We just recently discovered the number of the house which appears in a photo and, to my surprise, when I checked Google Earth, it still stands exactly as it was then. We have photos of the inside at that time too. I wonder who owns it now!? I now live in Kelowna, B.C. so haven't seen the house for myself.
Regards, Kathleen [email protected]

> Posted June 1, 2015
My name is Alexander (Alex) Hamilton and thanks goes to brother Charles for finding and leading me to this website! Im currently 61 and have very fond memories growing up on Baby Point Road until 1970. Some friends were Jeff and Andy Pollock ****hi Andy, say hi to Jeff for me!***, Monty and David Smith, Robbie Notman, Mike Brown, John Chittick, Wendy Baxter, Jim Grainger, and many others. Other people posting here remember common friends like John Hammond, the Boukes, Paulsons, Walkers- to name a few - I remember them all like it was yesterday! My sister Pat Hamilton was a good friend of Jill Hammond. The rock monument was always a sort of welcoming beacon for me whereby I felt, and still do, feel a sense of belonging and home. Great to step back in time and hear from folks I grew up with!
[email protected]

> Posted November 6, 2014
I grew up in the Baby Point area (107 & 108 Baby Pt. Rd and 1 Lestrange Place) and still have fond memories of that time between 1950 and 1970. It was truly a magical time with the end of world wars and depressed economic times. We were confident, privileged and positive about the future.I was quite friendly with the Baxter family and their son Tim who has sadly passed away. Other family names include: Holt, McLean, Crease, Grass, Murby, Hazelwood, Coulter, Brownlee Paulson, McIntryre, ........
Hockey was a big part of my life at the Baby Point Club. We would often play at the club until dark, move to the rented ice at George Bell Arena and then finish up at Nathan Philips Square until dawn. Toronto was quite safe at that time as I can't imagine that happening today.
University brought an end to my time on Baby Point as I went to live in Waterloo and my parents moved to the Caledon area. I currently spend my summers in Stratford, Ontario and spend the winters sailing. I'll mention this site to my sister Pat and brothers Wayne and Alexander.
Charles Hamilton [email protected]

> Posted April 22, 2014
Mary Norman(nee Coulter) thanks my brother Ron Coulter for sending me to this site. My grandparents, Elsie and Roy Hill (of Hilroy) lived at 75 Baby Point Cres, purchasing the house in the 30's. My mother Bernice, (Bunny) met my father, Jack Coulter, at a garden party across the street at the Milnes, when she was 14. The rest is history! I believe my mother's sister, Grace and her husband Joe Hopper and their children Margo, Roy, Ken And Carol, lived at 75 for a few years before my parents moved in in 1954. I was 3 years old and my sister Nancy and twin Alan were 6, and brother Ron was 9.
Many memories of playing with many of the children already mentioned on this site, down the Humber River before the parks and dams were installed, running over the fossil rocks near the riverside, collecting what we thought were Indian arrowheads, and engraving our initials in our favourite climbing trees! Do any one of you remember the beautiful stone firepit hidden below the famous Tea House in our lower level. We used to cook hot dogs on sticks and mom would let us boil pork and beans in an old pot!
Nursery school at the Baby Point Club house was heaven. Memories include songs, Easter egg hunts and many birthday parties. We were not allowed to step on the bowling green. The only disadvantage to living at the very end of Baby Point was the long walk home for lunch from Humbercrest public school for it took 30 minutes one way. My very first friend was Sara Bythel (sp?). I think she lived at 31 Baby Point Cres., beside where the Campbell's lived. Then once at school, Linda Fleury, Sarah MacLean, Debbie Hoult and Jill Hammond were also great friends, not to mention the ones who did not live on the Point, Susan Phillips, Nancy Ross and Jackie McGillvary, whom I am still very close to.
Also living on the crescent whom I played with were the Donavan's, Inga and Alice and their brothers whose names have left me, and Debbie, Susan and Michael McCroden who lived on LeStrange. I remember in grade 7 my mom let me have the whole class over for lunch, and Michael Holosco jumped off the patio and broke his arm!
Growing up on the "Point" during my teenage years was a blast! My hilarious friend Janet Notman lived close by and we used to sneak out at night and hide under the tree at the Marshall's house and watch the police cars go by. I won't bother with details of many wild parties at many of these households! I remember the house fire at the "5 lights", and everyone was hanging around there, and I met my first boyfriend there, Malcolm Ward, who has since passed away. There was that neat path that took us down the valley, where we watched the fireworks every year.
I will hope my brothers and sister add comments about other familiar neighbourhood names like the Creases, Christies, Hendersons, Peelstickers, Kimbers, Edwards, Bakers, Quances, Paulsons, Davies, Cawleys ...more will come to me ... Some coincidences are starting to come around, like my son Jeffrey has married Sarah, whose parents now live in Conn Smyth's past summer home. I remember Debbie taking us up there for her birthday party when she was about 7 or 8 I will guess! My friends Susan Phillips and Jackie McGillvary and I bumped into Sarah McLean in Florida last year. Sarah recognized Susan's voice right away.
I hope I haven't turned this into a Facebook page too much, but just added some history and memories to this great neighbourhood. Would love to hear from any of you at [email protected]
Mary Coulter

> Posted April 20, 2014
I'm thrilled to have found this site. I grew up on Brumell Avenue just off of Baby Point Road. I went to Humbercrest Public and then Runnymede Collegiate. I have fond memories of Baby Point Road. I used to deliver the old Toronto Telegram along Baby Point Road and Baby Point Crescent. I remember the Fleurys, the Boakes and the Hoults. I used to deliver newspapers to Conn Smythe. At Christmas time I would receive a Toronto Maple Leaf calendar as Christmas gift. I wish I had kept those old calendars.
Brian Peroff [email protected]

> Posted January 25, 2014
Well, here I am. Linda Fleury Yates and now Rudyk. I am David Fleury's sister and also sibling of Nancy, Susan Richard and Cindy. We lived at 21 Baby Point Crescent since 1956. What a magical place to grow up! Skating at the rink and ballet dancing with friends Sarah McLean and Debbie Hoult. Tommy was the caretaker of the clubhouse and we celebrated weddings and funerals. My now husband, Larry Rudyk, captured the FLEURY sign back in the early 70's for the tree in front of the club. The sign, he says, was actually from Aurora where he stopped one night, plucked the sign and put it on the huge oak tree. Eventually the Y fell off and the topographer founded it as Fleur Place. The Y was, by then, missing. That's great because it was my high school nickname. Back in 1972, I married Leon Yates. He was an Englishman and 6 years my senior. We had two daughters, Kara and Trisha, and a son who died a few days after birth. Leon died in 2012. Nancy died about 12 years ago and Richard died in December 2012 where it was that I was reunited with Larry Rudyk, my first lover boy. We married in October 2013. Larry grew up with me at 21 Baby Point and is as much a part of my family as I was, back then. We are so lucky to find each other again. I fell in love with him the first time in 1970 in front of Hoult's playing kick the can. I believe he had his shirt off in the rain. He worked for his Dad in construction so it was no wonder. Anyway, here we are now at 62 and 64 building a new home in Paris, Ontario and still very much in love. What a great story. Hello Mary Coulter. You were always a lovely lady.

> Posted October 2, 2013
Great to read these articles submitted by my old friends. The Point is still in my blood and our family name is still on two street signs by the clubhouse. It says Fleur place. (the y fell off of the tree where we had put up a Fleury street sign.) It came from Aurora where our family had a world famous plough company from the 1880's to the 1940's) I now live in Caledon but still drive around the point when I am in the city. I work for Colet Packaging in Mississauga, and my E.Mail address is [email protected]. Your friend, Dave Fleury.
P.S. I sat on that rock with the plaque on it almost every night when we played hide and seek. Great memories! We lived at #21 on the Crescent.

> Posted April 6, 2013
Hi to everyone who grew up in Baby Point. I did not grow up there but I did go to school with many of you at Humbercrest PS. I hope you are all doing well and it was great finding this site. My name is Hans Huber, [email protected]

> Posted February 12, 2013
I spent a number of years in Baby Point from 1960-1969 living first at 68 Baby Point Crescent and then 116 Baby Point Road. Our family moved to Nova Scotia in 1969 and I have resided in NS since. We were members of the Baby Point Club playing tennis there in the summer and skating on the flooded rink in winter. I knew Conn Smythe's home and met him several times walking to school. Friends with Stephen Scott, John Cole, Bill Christie, John Hammond, Greg Colucci and many others including the Pollock's. I often go through the neighbourhood when I am in T.O.
Email: [email protected]

> Posted January 22, 2013
Hello, I grew up on Baby Point Road - # 88. I remember the endless games of hide and seek, kick the can and hours of double dutch skipping, riding our bikes around the neighbourhood. I lived there from 1951 - 1967, when we moved to Caledon to live near my grandfather, Conn Smythe who also lived on Baby Point road - not sure about the dates, but I do know he lived there from at least 1935 to 1980 when he passed on.
I went to nursery school and took different classes (ballet being one of my favourites) at the Baby Point Road Club. I can remember skating at the rink after dark and shovelling the snow after a storm. Some years there wasn't much ice because it did depend on the weather.
The street hasn't changed much, I always go back when I am in the neighbourhood. My closest friends - those who I spent the most time with were Sarah McLean, Linda Fleury and Jill Hammond. Other people we associated with on the street were Nancy Boake and Mary Coulter (and if I've missed someone, it is only due to poor memory). We had lots of good times with people from other streets, spent plenty of nights sneaking out and playing on the swings at Cashman Park. Life was very good living in that area, going to Humbercrest Public School and Runnymede Collegiate.
It was a great place to grow up and I had NO idea of the history, thank you for sharing that. The more history there is the more fun...Hopefully I will pass this link along and my siblings, Candace (Hoult) Walton, Hugh Hoult, Trish Hoult and Kelly (Hoult) Lognon will pop in and share their experiences as well. BTW, have been looking for some time for Jill Hammond, would love to reconnect if every someone can provide a link to her - her mother's name was Ruth and her brother's name was Johnny, can't remember her dad's name.
email: [email protected]

> Posted September 23, 2011
Baby Point is a great neighbourhood, but I think it's a shame that the Toronto Portage trail and the probable sites of the First Nations villages and the French Fort Toronto weren't better preserved with beautiful public spaces and monuments so that the significance of the area and our history would be made clear to every Torontonian and visitor. The Baby Point neighbourhood as a place just doesn't convey the significance of these land. It is the starting point of our history and the cradle of civilization here as the site of the first trade route for natives and Europeans at Toronto and the starting point for human settlement. Considering the state of settlement today--a vibrant and cosmopolitan metropolis of a nation--I'd say such history is profoundly significant and should be commemorated in a more monumental way.

> Posted August 18, 2011
I was brought up at 67 baby point crescent. We were the Marshall family. My mother was Mariette, my father was Lorne. The house was bought or built in the late 30's. We skated in the winter at the club house and played tennis in the summer when we weren't at the cottage on Balsam Lake. My father owned Marshall's Co. Ltd. My siblings are Elenore,Lorna Andy and Michele. we sold the house in 1972 I think. That house and my life there was wonderful. Jeannine Marshall Taylor now living on Vancouver Island.

> Posted September 11, 2010
During the summer of 1682, three Frenchmen, Leduc, Abraham and Lachapelle, were attacked at Teiaiagon by the Iroquois. Their trading goods were stolen, but they survived. This Antoine Leduc is my family's ancestor. He was a "coureur de bois" and we have numerous Notary Documents of his life and travels. Based on these records I have written an historical novel entitled "Antoine coureur de bois", describing his adventures. Perhaps some day, someone, may be interested in making a film about his travels; crossing Teiaiagon and numerous places in Canada, and part of the USA.
Adrienne Leduc

> Posted September 9, 2010
Well, this is interesting! I was looking for some old Baby Point friends and somehow saw this site. We lived at at 123 Baby Point Road from 1965-1969. Dave Fleury, John Davy, Jamie Blanshard, Linda Tulving, Elizabeth Boake, Greg Colucci, Tricia Holt, and John Hammond were all friends of mine. I might be one of the Pollock's that Gordon Wilson is looking for. My name is Andy and my older brother is Jeff. My email is [email protected] Cheers!
Andy Pollock

> Posted March 31, 2010
Hello.although I didn't actually live on Baby Point, I did grow up just around the corner on St. Mark's Rd., and always felt we lived on the wrong side of the tracks, given the mansion appeal of those homes. I did however, have many, many friends on those streets and had a wonderful childhood playing in the surrounding Humber park. The last names of the kids I played with were Davy, Fluery, Blanchard, Coluccci, Hammond, Edwards, Radcliffe, Tulving, Holt, Pollock & Boake to name a few. If anyone could provide any info on any of these families, I would greatly appreciate a chance to tap into my past. Thank you for your help.
Gordon Wilson

> Posted March 31, 2010
I'm looking for anyone who may have known the Skillen family who likely lived in the Baby Point area in the early 1930s- My grandfather was as U of T and used to talk about visiting friends in Baby Point. Now that I actually live here, I'd love to find out where, exactly, he visited.

> Posted August 19, 2009
Hi everyone who lives on Baby Point now. I am writing from the Highlands of Scotland, whisky country. My father, Tommy Butterworth lived on Baby point with a lady called Gladys some 16 years ago now and died there. His Grand daughter came over to take him home and scatter his ashes on Gleneagles golf course as he had wished. If anyone remembers him or Gladys and can let me know what happened to Gladys it would be much appreciated.
Thank you. Barbara Butterworth

> Posted March 30, 2009
I live on Baby Point Crescent and our family has been here since 1968. Its a great place to live and of course play!

> Posted September 26, 2008
I live on L'estrange and I love it

> Posted July 30, 2008
I resided on Le Strange Place from 1934 to 1949. I enjoyed playing tennis at Baby Point Club, went to nursery school there , skated in the winter with all my friends, and at one time, my father was on the board of the club. I have so many happy memories of my years of growing up in Baby Point. I vaguely remember your name and wonder if you had children whom I might have played with.

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