Discover Toronto's history as told through its plaques

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Trethewey Airfield

Photos and transcription by contributor Wayne Adam - Posted October 2017

This 2017 Heritage Toronto plaque can be seen in a park near 59 Hearst Circle. Here's what it tells us:

Coordinates: 43.699355 -79.497585

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In 1910, from July 8 to 16, the Ontario Motor League sponsored the first aviation show in the Toronto area, held in a grass field here on mining entrepreneur W.G. Trethewey's model farm. On July 13, thousands watched French pilot Jacques de Lesseps in his Blériot XI Le Scarabée become the first to fly an airplane over the city of Toronto. Afterward, this site remained popular with early aviators and became a licensed airfield, often called the de Lesseps Aerodrome. Landing lights were installed for night flying, and mail service to Montreal and Detroit was established. In 1928, the de Havilland Aircraft Company of England opened its first Canadian assembly plant here. In the 1930s, the airfield was the base for the Royal Canadian Air Force No. 10 Squadron, later the No. 110 (City of Toronto) Squadron, now the 400 Squadron. The airfield was closed in the mid-1940s and homes were built for Second World War veterans and their families.

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