Educational facility.

Details of Site Location: What is now the northeast corner of Dufferin Street and Briar Hill Avenue.

Boundary History: The site is a rectangular lot of nearly 2 acres, bounded on the west side by Dufferin, on the south by Briar Hill, on the east by housing, and on the north by commercial properties.

Current Use of Property: Briar Hill Junior School.

Historical Description: The school’s history begins in the 1840s when land was donated by Mrs. Joseph Watson (nee Caroline Matilda McKay), youngest daughter of Jacob McKay, who came as a United Empire Loyalist from Oswego, New York, and bought land in the area for farming. A one-room red brick schoolhouse was erected in 1863, replacing the log building, and it was called the Fairbank Community School. (Fairbank is an original community in the city, but it never became incorporated.) An addition was made at the front in 1908. The bricks used to build the school were made by Matthew Parsons on his farm on the west side of Dufferin on the third lot north of Eglinton Avenue. The bricks were originally made for James Anderson, whose farm was next north of Parsons. But Parsons sold them for school construction instead. Inside were desks, hand made, which seated two. The blackboards were of painted wood. Regular Sunday church services were held in the school, and Joseph Watson was a trustee for the school, superintendent of the Sunday School, and a bible class teacher. He was also Deputy Reeve of York Township and a member of York County Council. C.B. Parsons, grandson of Matthew, attended the school and later became a trustee when the one-roomed brick school was replaced by the eight-roomed Briar Hill Public School in 1928.

Relative Importance: This school’s history helps all to understand the evolution of the educational system in the Toronto area, from the pioneer log schoolhouse to the modern era. In the sprawling metropolis of today, it is hard to realize that log schools in pioneer farming areas are a fact of the city’s history and not just something that happened out west or in the United States.

Planning Implications: It is recommended that a plaque be placed on the exterior wall of the school, and that an exhibit be developed within the school about its history, teachers, and pupils. The latter is a project that the schoolchildren might develop, but the information should be put into permanent form.

Reference Sources: Joseph Buchanan Watson, editor, The Watsons of West York (1933); Bill Bailey, Stories of York (1980); Christopher Watson and His Descendents, A Canadian Pioneer Family.

Acknowledgements: Watson Family; Bill Bailey; Heritage York.