Agricultural and industrial site.

Details of Site Location: Both sides of Victoria Park Avenue, beginning from two blocks north of the Danforth north to Medhurst Street.

Boundary History: The farm occupied an area of 240 acres within the area described.

Current Use of Property: Mainly a golf course and playing field.

Historical Description: This property is part of the history of the illustrious and accomplished Massey family. In this case, it is the story of Walter Edward Hart Massey, born 4 April 1864 on his father’s property in Newcastle. Walter was educated and trained as a Methodist minister in the eastern United States. He married Susan Marie Denton in 1888 and they had three daughters and a son. When one of Walter’s brothers, Charles Albert, died in 1884, Walter had to return to Toronto to help run the family business, which had moved to the city from Newcastle. The Massey Manufacturing Company, making farm equipment, became an international business. When his father, Hart Massey, died in 1896, Walter became president of the company. In 1897, he assembled a 249-acre farm, which he named Dentonia Park, honouring his wife’s family name. It was, he considered, “beautifully situated on the highlands just northeast of Toronto and one of the healthiest spots in Ontario.” Both he and his brother built summer houses, and expense was no obstacle. The buildings were architect-designed. At Dentonia, Walter developed a model farm where he carried on agricultural experiments and, eventually, a scheme to provide a safe milk supply for Toronto through pasteurization, selling the milk through the company he founded, City Dairy. He imported herds of pedigreed Jersey, Ayrshire, and Shropshire cattle, and built a four-storey barn into a steep hillside with facilities for driving in at each level. The barn was a model of ingenuity with many of its inventions being Walter’s own ideas and designs. All the milking attendants were required to wear white coats, and music was piped in to soothe the cows as they were being milked. He set up a laboratory, completely sanitary with tiled walls, asphalt floor, glass tables and shelves, and a porcelain sink; here, milk was “modified” according to a process used in the Walker-Gordon Laboratories of Boston, to make it easier for infants to digest. Walter’s nephew, Raymond Massey, later an actor, had fond recollections of the farm, which he described in some detail in his memoirs. Dentonia was also open to the public and a visit to the farm became an event. Welcome any day of the week except Sunday, visitors were met at the terminus of the street railway by tally-ho’s drawn by four spirited horses. The family enclave was considered “private Chautauqua where sports and scientific experiment was cheerfully blended.” In September of 1901, Walter contracted typhoid and died at the early age of 37 at Dentonia Park. In addition to their many other gifts, the Masseys donated the area that is now known as Dentonia Park to the City of Toronto.

Relative Importance: The Masseys were an important family and Walter, for all his short life, gave much to the city.

Planning Implications: There should be a plaque in the park telling the story of the farm and the Walter Massey family. The University of Toronto should be requested to mount a plaque at the site of the City Dairy, with reference to Dentonia and Walter Massey.

Reference Sources: Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol XIII (1907–1910); The Golden Years of East York (1976); City of Toronto Archives.

Acknowledgements: Maps Project.