- Southwest corner of Dovercourt Park
- Photo: © Dougal Bichan
Looking out over the park, try to imagine this area a forest, broken only by the occasional meadow or marsh. It is thought that a spring may have started near this spot, feeding a stream that eventually emptied into Garrison Creek, which once flowed just east of here. It was common for early settlers to use the creeks and waterways that ran through the city as places to dispose of garbage and sewage. With the rapid growth in settlement in the early 1900s, the creek became so polluted that it was converted into a sewer. By the mid 1920s, Garrison Creek was completely buried.
In the years that followed, the creek was nearly forgotten. Recently, however, there has been a renewed interest in Toronto’s lost waterways thanks to the group Lost Rivers, who work to highlight the history of the city’s buried creeks and streams. Every October, the Toronto Public Space Committee partners with Lost Rivers for a commemorative walk of the Garrison called the Human River. Dressed in blue, participants walk through the parks, alleys, and streets where the creek once flowed, creating the visual effect of a river flowing through the city.
- Previous stop: A tree-of-heaven busts-a-move
- Return to map of: Dovercourt Park
Funding for the program is generously provided by:
