Morningside Heights
Melika Saeeda Artbox
Southeast Corner of Steeles Avenue East and Markham Road
My art is about telling stories that draw on my experiences as an Iranian artist and illustrator. I am inspired by traditional Iranian methods of depiction like the narrative depictions in Persian miniatures.
James Weir Farmhouse
1021 Tapscott Road
*Note: Private property. Please observe the house from the street only. This farmhouse was built in 1861 from stones gathered from the surrounding fields. It is named after James Weir (1814-1897), who came to Scarborough from Scotland in 1833. Weir was a Loyalist who assisted in the dispersion of the rebels under William Lyon Mackenzie in 1837 during the Upper Canada Rebellion, which was an insurrection against the British-led government of Upper Canada. James Weir Farmhouse was restored in 1975 and used as a home for night caretakers at a nearby factory for Titan Wheels. When esteemed Canadian actor Jim Carrey was in his teens, he and his family worked custodial jobs for Titan Wheels and this was their home.
Historic Malvern School
5808 Finch Avenue East
The former Malvern Public Schoolhouse, originally known as S.S. #3, was built around 1872. The nineteenth century school building speaks to the early development of the Malvern neighbourhood, which was one of the earliest developed areas in Scarborough. The building was typical of schoolhouses at that time, a one-room plain brick building with arched windows. Today it is Whitefield Christian Academy.
Islamic Institute of Toronto
*Note: Private property. Please observe from the street only. The Islamic Institute of Toronto was established in 1996. This educational institution offers post-secondary courses in Arabic Language, Islamic Jurisprudence, Ethics and Spirituality, Islamic History and Civilization, Comparative Religion and Civic Engagement. The institute also offers social and recreational programs for youth and adults. Its mission is to nurture and establish Islam as a living reality in the lives of Muslims and to enhance the Islamic identity in society at large.
Birunthan Park
31 Dragonfly Crescent
A 3-hectare park near Moringside Avenue and Neilson Road that features a sports field, basketball courts, splash pad and a children's playground. The park is named after Birunthan Muralitharan Nadarajah, an 11-year old boy who lived nearby. Birunthan died while attempting to save his friend from falling into an icy pond in December 2006. He was posthumously awarded a silver medal for bravery by the Royal Canadian Humane Society.
Evond Blake Mural
Located on railway underpass along Finch Avenue East, south of the intersection with Morningside Avenue
This mural, 'Interoh Gale', combines to mean a gateway to a sustainable future by using renewable resources, such as wind. The artwork illustrates the complex balance of preserving green space while continuing to develop industry and expand urban growth by painting elements of nature and symbols of renewable energy sources amongst a futuristic looking, abstract backdrop.
Brad McMillan Mural
Located on railway underpass along Morningside Avenue, west of the intersection with Old Finch Avenue
This mural celebrates the local community and its diversity through images of iconic local landmarks, such as a large bear, to symbolize the importance of the Toronto Zoo and active people to recognize the area's growing skateboard and cycling culture.
Rouge National Urban Park
1749 Meadowvale Road
The largest urban park in North America, Rouge National Urban Park offers excellent biodiversity, some of the few remaining working farms in the city, Carolinian ecosystems, Toronto's only campground, one of the region's largest marshes, a beach at Lake Ontario, outstanding hiking trails, and over 10,000 years of human history, including some of the oldest known Indigenous sites in the country.
Rouge Valley Conservation Centre
1749 Meadowvale Road
The Rouge Valley Conservation Centre, run by the Rouge Valley Foundation, is dedicated to protecting and restoring the natural heritage of the Rouge Valley, which is the largest urban park in North America stretching from Toronto into Markham and Whitchurch-Stouffville. The Foundation operates environmental restoration projects and research, as well as running educational programming and interpretive walks. The Conservation Centre is housed in a restored historic home that was built in 1893 and owned by the Pearse family, who operated a sawmill on the Rouge River.
Ganatsekwyagon
1749 Meadowvale Road
*Note: Ganatsekwyagon (also known as Bead Hill Historic Site) is not accessible to the public. Please acknowledge this important piece of Indigenous history as you walk through the public trails of Rouge National Urban Park. Rouge National Urban Park includes some of the oldest discovered Indigenous sites in Canada, with human presence dating back to more than 10,000 years ago. Near the mouth of Rouge River, the only known remaining and intact seventeenth century Seneca site in Canada was discovered. It consists of a burial area, a tree covered midden on the hillside and a campsite that dates back to approximately 3000 BCE. The true location of Ganatsekwyagon is unknown. It has been suggested that this in part due to mistakes made by early cartographers, but it was also common practice for Iroquois peoples to move their villages every 10-20 years. Ganatsekwyagon covered, roughly, 10 acres of land and was home to between 500 and 800 people during its peak.
Toronto Zoo
2000 Meadowvale Road
The Toronto Zoo is a popular destination for families and tourists. It is the largest zoo in Canada and has over 5,800 animals. In 1966, the Metropolitan Toronto Zoological Society was formed with the objective of developing a new zoo for Toronto, replacing the antiquated Riverdale Zoo. It was built on 287-hectares of land owned by the Metropolitan Toronto & Region Conservation Authority and is owned and operated by the City of Toronto.
Hillside School
2259 Meadowvale Road
Hillside Public School is a one-room wood frame schoolhouse that was erected in 1853. It was moved to this site three decades later and bricked in. The building is still used for education today, serving as one of the Toronto District School Board's five outdoor education centres, focusing on hands-on outdoor experiences that teach environmental education. Behind the building are a number of raised garden beds used for teaching.
Explore Morningside Heights
Now is the time for residents to experience all that tourists have been raving about for years. Discover shops, stops, places and spaces on city main streets. Stay curious, Toronto.
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Explore FREE Public Art Across the City. Toronto's Year of Public Art 2021-2022 is a year-long celebration of Toronto's exceptional public art collection and the creative community behind it.
We hope that you enjoyed exploring this Toronto neighbourhood and found many other points of interest along the way. While StrollTO highlights some of the 'hidden gems' in the neighbourhood, there may be others that could be included in a future edition. Would you like to share a point of interest that you discovered in the neighbourhood? Email us at [email protected].
Neighbourhood Stroll
This neighbourhood covers a vast portion of the northeastern corner of Scarborough, encompassing some of the most idyllic natural settings in Toronto. Much of the area's natural splendour can be found inside Rouge National Urban Park, the largest urban park in North America, with plenty of trails and human history going back 100,000 years. Some of the other key points of interest found in this stroll include one of Toronto's most popular attractions - the Toronto Zoo - as well as several heritage buildings, cultural sites, and fantastic public art. Great local businesses can be found along Sheppard Avenue East and Morningside Avenue.
- Melika Saeeda Artbox
Southeast Corner of Steeles Avenue East and Markham Road
My art is about telling stories that draw on my experiences as an Iranian artist and illustrator. I am inspired by traditional Iranian methods of depiction like the narrative depictions in Persian miniatures.
- James Weir Farmhouse
1021 Tapscott Road
*Note: Private property. Please observe the house from the street only. This farmhouse was built in 1861 from stones gathered from the surrounding fields. It is named after James Weir (1814-1897), who came to Scarborough from Scotland in 1833. Weir was a Loyalist who assisted in the dispersion of the rebels under William Lyon Mackenzie in 1837 during the Upper Canada Rebellion, which was an insurrection against the British-led government of Upper Canada. James Weir Farmhouse was restored in 1975 and used as a home for night caretakers at a nearby factory for Titan Wheels. When esteemed Canadian actor Jim Carrey was in his teens, he and his family worked custodial jobs for Titan Wheels and this was their home.
- Historic Malvern School
5808 Finch Avenue East
The former Malvern Public Schoolhouse, originally known as S.S. #3, was built around 1872. The nineteenth century school building speaks to the early development of the Malvern neighbourhood, which was one of the earliest developed areas in Scarborough. The building was typical of schoolhouses at that time, a one-room plain brick building with arched windows. Today it is Whitefield Christian Academy.
- Islamic Institute of Toronto
*Note: Private property. Please observe from the street only. The Islamic Institute of Toronto was established in 1996. This educational institution offers post-secondary courses in Arabic Language, Islamic Jurisprudence, Ethics and Spirituality, Islamic History and Civilization, Comparative Religion and Civic Engagement. The institute also offers social and recreational programs for youth and adults. Its mission is to nurture and establish Islam as a living reality in the lives of Muslims and to enhance the Islamic identity in society at large.
- Birunthan Park
31 Dragonfly Crescent
A 3-hectare park near Moringside Avenue and Neilson Road that features a sports field, basketball courts, splash pad and a children's playground. The park is named after Birunthan Muralitharan Nadarajah, an 11-year old boy who lived nearby. Birunthan died while attempting to save his friend from falling into an icy pond in December 2006. He was posthumously awarded a silver medal for bravery by the Royal Canadian Humane Society.
- Evond Blake Mural
Located on railway underpass along Finch Avenue East, south of the intersection with Morningside Avenue
This mural, 'Interoh Gale', combines to mean a gateway to a sustainable future by using renewable resources, such as wind. The artwork illustrates the complex balance of preserving green space while continuing to develop industry and expand urban growth by painting elements of nature and symbols of renewable energy sources amongst a futuristic looking, abstract backdrop.
- Brad McMillan Mural
Located on railway underpass along Morningside Avenue, west of the intersection with Old Finch Avenue
This mural celebrates the local community and its diversity through images of iconic local landmarks, such as a large bear, to symbolize the importance of the Toronto Zoo and active people to recognize the area's growing skateboard and cycling culture.
- Rouge National Urban Park
1749 Meadowvale Road
The largest urban park in North America, Rouge National Urban Park offers excellent biodiversity, some of the few remaining working farms in the city, Carolinian ecosystems, Toronto's only campground, one of the region's largest marshes, a beach at Lake Ontario, outstanding hiking trails, and over 10,000 years of human history, including some of the oldest known Indigenous sites in the country.
- Rouge Valley Conservation Centre
1749 Meadowvale Road
The Rouge Valley Conservation Centre, run by the Rouge Valley Foundation, is dedicated to protecting and restoring the natural heritage of the Rouge Valley, which is the largest urban park in North America stretching from Toronto into Markham and Whitchurch-Stouffville. The Foundation operates environmental restoration projects and research, as well as running educational programming and interpretive walks. The Conservation Centre is housed in a restored historic home that was built in 1893 and owned by the Pearse family, who operated a sawmill on the Rouge River.
- Ganatsekwyagon
1749 Meadowvale Road
*Note: Ganatsekwyagon (also known as Bead Hill Historic Site) is not accessible to the public. Please acknowledge this important piece of Indigenous history as you walk through the public trails of Rouge National Urban Park. Rouge National Urban Park includes some of the oldest discovered Indigenous sites in Canada, with human presence dating back to more than 10,000 years ago. Near the mouth of Rouge River, the only known remaining and intact seventeenth century Seneca site in Canada was discovered. It consists of a burial area, a tree covered midden on the hillside and a campsite that dates back to approximately 3000 BCE. The true location of Ganatsekwyagon is unknown. It has been suggested that this in part due to mistakes made by early cartographers, but it was also common practice for Iroquois peoples to move their villages every 10-20 years. Ganatsekwyagon covered, roughly, 10 acres of land and was home to between 500 and 800 people during its peak.
- Toronto Zoo
2000 Meadowvale Road
The Toronto Zoo is a popular destination for families and tourists. It is the largest zoo in Canada and has over 5,800 animals. In 1966, the Metropolitan Toronto Zoological Society was formed with the objective of developing a new zoo for Toronto, replacing the antiquated Riverdale Zoo. It was built on 287-hectares of land owned by the Metropolitan Toronto & Region Conservation Authority and is owned and operated by the City of Toronto.
- Hillside School
2259 Meadowvale Road
Hillside Public School is a one-room wood frame schoolhouse that was erected in 1853. It was moved to this site three decades later and bricked in. The building is still used for education today, serving as one of the Toronto District School Board's five outdoor education centres, focusing on hands-on outdoor experiences that teach environmental education. Behind the building are a number of raised garden beds used for teaching.
Accessibility information: Most of the points of interest on this stroll are viewable from the street. Please note that the Toronto Zoo and Rouge National Urban Park include steep hills, stairs, and unpaved areas. The Hillside School does not have sidewalk immediately surrounding it, but can be viewed from the intersection of Old Finch Road and Meadowvale Road on the sidewalk.
The StrollTO itineraries may follow routes that do not receive winter maintenance. Please review winter safety tips and for more information contact 311.
Soundtracks of the City
From global superstars to local favourites and ones to watch, the Soundtracks of the City playlists all feature artists who have called Toronto home. Whether it’s a lyric about the neighborhood, an artist representing a cultural community, or a tie-in to the StrollTO itinerary itself, all the music reflects connections to an individual ward or the City as a whole.
Music was chosen based on an artist’s Spotify presence and each song’s broad appeal, as well as its associations with the cultures, languages and ethnicities that reflect Toronto’s neighborhoods and diverse music scene. Soundtracks of the City combines 425 songs that feature more than 500 different local artists or acts, showcasing songs in 23 different languages.