Moore Park

Moore Park was subdivided starting in 1889 by developer John Thomas Moore, who envisioned an exclusive residential enclave along the ravine edge north of Rosedale. Moore was also a key backer of the Toronto Belt Line Railway, a commuter loop that opened in 1892 to connect new suburbs — including his own — to downtown and drive lot sales, and he personally oversaw the design of the ornate Moore Park station set in the ravine.

A railway's collapse, and a slow recovery

The timing proved disastrous: shortly after opening, Toronto was hit by the depression of the early-to-mid 1890s, the Belt Line went bankrupt, and passenger service ended after only about two years, in November 1894. Moore had staked much of his personal capital on the railway drawing buyers to Moore Park, and its failure set the neighbourhood back for years. Moore Park sits along the Moore Park ravine, a Don River tributary valley that threads through Mount Pleasant Cemetery and connects to the Rosedale ravine system. At the top of the ravine, Chorley Park was once the site of Ontario's Government House, demolished in 1960; the grounds are now city parkland. Moore Park filled in gradually through the early-to-mid 20th century into the low-density, affluent residential neighbourhood it remains today.

Sources

• Toronto Railway Historical Association — Moore Park Station
• Spacing Toronto — Throwback Thursday: The Belt Line Railway