Mimico (includes Humber Bay Shores)

Jean Augustine Centre for Young Women's Empowerment
101 Portland Street
In 1993, Jean Augustine was the first African-Canadian elected to the House of Commons. Her riding was Etobicoke-Lakeshore, where she held her seat until 2006. Among her many accomplishments in office, she led the motion that allowed for the placement of the 'Famous Five' Women are Persons! monument on Parliament Hill, as well as the motion that created Black History Month in Canada. The Jean Augustine Centre for Young Women's Empowerment was founded in 2014 and runs camps, workshops, after-school and community programs that support the mental, physical and social wellbeing of girls and young women aged 7-17 years of age. Jean Augustine is honored by a park in the very east of this neighbourhood adjacent the Humber Bay Shores Park.

Christ Church Mimico Memorial Gardens and Cemetery
329 Royal York Road
Christ Church St. James Memorial Garden and Cemetery was born of Etobicoke's oldest Anglican congregation. The congregation first met and conducted services at the home of prominent miller John William Gamble in 1827. In 1832, he donated land along what is now Royal York Road for the construction of the first Christ Church Mimico. The church was rebuilt twice, once in 1889 and again in 1956. Sadly, the 1956 structure suffered serious damage in a series of fires in 2006. As a result, it was decided to demolish and deconsecrate the remains of the church and turn the site into a memorial garden and cemetery. In 2010, the new parish of Christ Church St. James resulted from the amalgamation of the historic parishes of Christ Church Mimico and St. James Humber Bay. Many of Etobicoke's notable early European settler families are buried in the cemetery including the Gambles, Fishers, Giles' and Hicks'.

Mimico Railway Station
10 Judson Street
The Mimico Railway Station was originally built around 1916 by the Grand Trunk Railway Line. The station was in operation until the late 1960s, when the Canadian National Railway (CN) ceased service to the station. In 2001, the station was sold to a private owner who intended to demolish the century-old building until the Mimico Station Community Organization (MCSO) formed with the intention of turning the building into a museum and community centre. The building was moved to Coronation Park in 2007 as part of these plans, but the dissolution of the MSCO has put these plans on indefinite hold.

Student Artists of the Lakeshore Area 'Generations' Mural
332-286 Royal York Road
The Student Artists of the Lakeshore Area (SALA) team created this mural, titled 'Generations', in 2005 after completing interviews and community research with Mimico residents. The inspiration of the mural was to show the development of Mimico from pre-settlement to the present.

Mimico Post Office Robbery
285 Royal York Road
The building you see here once served as the Mimico Post Office. It has changed little over the years, but has a past involving armed bandits and kidnapped captives. On March 2, 1929, a truck from the Mimico Post Office made its way towards Mimico's railway station to meet the westbound train. Harold Douglas was helping his father Thomas to deliver mail when suddenly a hard-top sedan stopped in front of their truck, forcing Harold to slam on the brakes. Two armed young men forced the victims into a stolen car and took five mail bags from the truck. The post was an attractive target for criminals since large quantities of valuables were shipped regularly. Eventually, the victims were dropped off in High Park and the robbers drove off. The crime has never been solved

Toronto Public Library - Mimico Centennial Branch & Ron Baird 'The Butterfly'
47 Station Road
Mimico Centennial Library was built in 1966 with funds from Canada's Centennial Commission that aimed to enrich Canada's public life through funding the building of art, culture, recreation and educational facilities throughout the nation. The garden courtyard of the library features 'The Butterfly' by renowned sculptor Ron Baird. Though Baird has worked in printmaking and other media, he is primarily known for his sculptures, which are featured in public parks, civic buildings and other community centred locations throughout Ontario. Many of Baird's sculptures are dynamic - they interact with the wind, are responsive to light, or make musical sounds. Among numerous other accolades, he has received Allied Arts awards from both the Royal Architectural Society of Canada and the Ontario Association of Architects.

Ormscliffe Estate
2523A Lake Shore Boulevard West
*Note: Private property. Please observe the house from the street only. Ormscliffe Estate is the last of the grand waterfront estates that once lined the lake shore in early-twentieth century Mimico. Originally built in 1910 for Albert B. Ormsby, the design of the home was inspired by California bungalows featuring high dormer windows, doors, and balconies to view the lake from. Mrs. Ormsby was involved in both the Temperance and Women's Suffrage movements, and held meetings at the home and in the extensive gardens on the property. Remnants of these gardens still remain within the grounds. The home was purchased by Dufferin Construction founder James Franceschini in 1925, who renamed the estate Myrtle Villa after his daughter. The property was seized at the start of the Second World War, as Franceschini's Italian heritage meant he was arrested and interned as a threat to the Canadian state. The estate was later sold and developed into the current apartment complex.

Alexa Hatanaka and Patrick Thompson Mural
2413 Lake Shore Boulevard West
The visually stimulating and playful underwater scene in this 'Fowl Play' mural was inspired by its lakeshore setting and the bird-friendly, shade-grown, organic coffee shop within the building.

Interwar Worker's Cottages
14-20 Alexander Street
*Note: Private property. Please observe the houses from the street only. The onset of the First World War spurred a period of residential development in Mimico. Industries critical to the war effort relocated here due to its proximity to the railyards, bringing factory and service industry workers with them. The worker's cottages on Alexander Street are typical of the interwar period with their compact plan, twice as deep as they are wide, covered with a low hipped roof and fronted with an enclosed porch. These workers likely lived within walking distance of the factories they worked at such as Ontario Sewer Pipe Co. Ltd., which was formerly located on Burlington Street. After the First World War, there was a significant expansion of municipal infrastructure in Mimico including the establishment of a Fire Brigade in 1918, the construction of sewer and water main infrastructure, and the acquisition of land for schools and parks.

Flight Lieutenant David Ernest Hornell, V.C. Plaque
32 Victoria Street
The David Hornell Public School is named for Mimico-born-and-raised Flight Lieutenant David E. Hornell who won a Victoria Cross for his bravery leading an air assault on a German submarine during the Second World War. After spotting a German submarine off the coast of Scotland, his own plane came under heavy attack. Nevertheless, he persisted and destroyed the submarine before his own plane crashed. He survived the wreckage, but succumbed to his injuries a short time afterwards.

Former Pickfair Restaurant
2282 Lake Shore Boulevard West
The Pickfair Restaurant was named after Toronto-born silent film star Mary Pickford and husband Douglas Fairbanks' grand Hollywood estate. The restaurant was built at some point in the late 1920s or early 1930s and features Art Deco styling evocative of its era. It was originally conceived as a drive-in restaurant (both a novelty and luxury for 1930s Mimico residents), which explains why so much parking around the building remains.

Mimico Creek
225 Humber Bay Park Road West
The name Mimico is an adaptation of the Anishinaabemowin term Omiimiikaa, which means 'place of the wild pigeon'. It describes how the area was once home to many thousands of passenger pigeons. This large population was sustained by an equally large supply of seeds, acorns, and other nuts available within the vast Black Oak savanna just East of Omiimiikaa in the area of the Humber River, High Park, and Roncesvalles. Because the savannas were maintained and expanded by First Nations people through controlled burns, the historic presence of the passenger pigeons here can be linked directly to First Nations gardening practices and land stewardship. The passenger pigeon, in turn, formed a significant part of local First Nations diets and Omiimiikaa was thus an important hunting ground. It is estimated that at the peak of their population there were five billion passenger pigeons across Turtle Island, roughly forty percent of the continent's entire bird population! Passenger pigeons were migratory, but would return to the same nesting places, like Omiimiikaa year after year. In these nesting areas, trees would sometimes have so many nests that their branches would break under the weight. Sadly, passenger pigeons became extinct in a stunningly short period of time. With colonial expansion, so many birds were killed every season that their numbers became fewer every year. Unfortunately, at the time of settlement, they began to be hunted in excess to feed the growing population. The recognition of their endangered state came too late and the efforts to save the species were unsuccessful. The passenger pigeon was officially announced extinct in 1914.

Humber Bay Park East
100 Humber Bay Park Road West
Humber Bay Park East sits on an expansive peninsula that spreads out into Lake Ontario and allows you to take fantastic photographs of the Toronto skyline from its eastern shores. The park has plenty of parking space, for those who may be hauling a big family picnic; two seasonally available drinking fountains and a public washroom. Use the trails to explore the native flora and fauna, the pond and butterfly habitat, and the peninsula's many great beaches and picnic spots! This park is also the location of the Air India 182 Memorial, which features a sundial, gardens and a wall with the names of all the victims of the June 23, 1985 attack.

Humber Bay Butterfly Habitat
100 Humber Bay Park Road West
The Humber Bay Butterfly Habitat (HBBH) is an ecological restoration project that provides a critical habitat for a variety of native butterfly species. Located along the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto's west end, HBBH incorporates a diversity of native wildflowers, shrubs, trees, grasses, hedges and a variety of physical features known to support butterflies throughout their life cycles. Interpretive features explore the relationship between butterflies and their natural habitat. The goal of the HBBH is to establish a self-sustaining native plant community, which will support a variety of butterfly species while educating park users about the value of urban conservation.

Humber Bay Pedestrian Bridge
Martin Goodman Trail
The Humber River, known to the Anishinaabeg as Kabechenong, has been the site of Indigenous trade, travel, and commerce for thousands of years. The mouth of the river marks the southern end of the Carrying Place Trail, an Indigenous trail system of portage and foot paths that acted as a highway system between Lake Ontario and Lake Simcoe. The significance of Kabechenong as part of an existing Indigenous trade route attracted French and later British settlement. The Humber Bay Pedestrian Bridge, sometimes referred to as the Gateway Bridge, rests above the mouth of the Humber River where it opens into Lake Ontario. It was completed in 1994, is 139 meters long, 6.5 meters wide and cost $4,050,000 to build. The structure of the bridge includes a visual reference to the spiritual beings known to the Anishinaabeg as Thunderbirds. The steel superstructure connecting the two ribs of the tied arch is patterned in an abstract version of the Thunderbird. Turtles, canoes, and salmon are represented beneath the bridge, which act to commemorate the enduring presence of First Nations people in this area, as well as the other beings who have called this land and water home for time immemorial. Renowned Ojibwe artist Ahmoo Angeconeb was the First Nations art consultant for this project. He was a residential school survivor and a member of Lac Seul First Nation who was known for his printmaking and sculptures.