Withrow Park

Withrow Park sits in the heart of Riverdale, near Leslieville, a large block of green space the City of Toronto purchased in 1910 as the surrounding streets were being built up with houses, at a time when city planners were increasingly conscious of setting aside parkland before residential development consumed all the available space. The park is named for John Jacob Withrow, a 19th-century Toronto builder and civic figure who had served as president of the Industrial Exhibition Association, the organization behind what became the CNE.

A neighbourhood anchor

Over the following century, Withrow Park grew into one of the east end's central gathering spaces, hosting a farmers' market, sports fields, an off-leash dog area, and a wading pool that make it a daily fixture for the surrounding Riverdale community. Its scale and central location within a dense, largely residential neighbourhood have made it one of Toronto's most consistently used park spaces outside the downtown core.

Sources

• City of Toronto — Withrow Park
• Wikipedia — Withrow Park

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