An independent municipality until 1967
Forest Hill
Named for a summer estate at Eglinton and Old Forest Hill Road, this neighbourhood stayed a self-governing village longer than almost anywhere else in the city, before becoming one of its wealthiest addresses.
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Before it was Forest Hill, the area was known as Spadina Heights. It took its later name from the summer residence of John Wickson, built in 1860 at what's now Eglinton Avenue and Old Forest Hill Road. The area was incorporated as the independent Village of Forest Hill in 1923.
A village split by Eglinton
Forest Hill developed in two distinct phases divided by Eglinton Avenue. Lower/South Forest Hill was fully built out by the 1930s with large, architect-designed houses on curving streets; Upper/North Forest Hill developed more slowly. Forest Hill Village remained an independent municipality until January 1, 1967, when it was annexed to the City of Toronto alongside the Village of Swansea — the last two independent villages absorbed into the city. Today Forest Hill is consistently ranked among Toronto's wealthiest neighbourhoods and is home to several of the city's most prominent private schools.
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