Sports and entertainment facility

Details of Site Location: In the Beach area on the south side of Queen Street East, west of Woodbine Avenue.

Boundary History: The property was extremely large and originally consisted of nearly 100 acres.

Current Use of Property: The land is being developed with housing, some commercial buildings, a little park, and a gambling centre.

Historical Description: In 1870, Joseph Duggan bought 95 acres in Lots 6 and 7 south of Kingston Road from the Small family. Four years later, Duggan had a hotel at the north end of his property on the east side of Kingston Road, which bent northward. That year, he sold the property south of the hotel to William J. Howell of Toronto and Dennis S. Pard, who was a stock breeder from New York. These men then laid out a trotting and running track on the property and, on 19 October 1875, the Woodbine Riding and Driving Club opened with a four-day racing meeting. It featured trotting, thoroughbred, and hurdle racing. Howell owned Woodbine Saloon on Yonge Street, which may account for the name given to the track. This track was not too successful, for after a few years, Duggan alone owned the property and proceeded to improve the facilities. By 1885, he had “erected on the grounds a magnificent club-house and stabling for a large number of horses.” The founding of the Ontario Jockey Club occurred in 1882. In 1888, Duggan leased the course to the Ontario Jockey Club, which held its annual race meetings there. In 1907, after Duggan’s death, the Club bought the track from his daughter, Annie Dixon. Thoroughbred racing in Ontario gained prestige in 1859 when the Toronto Turf Club sent a petition to Queen Victoria, soliciting an annual prize for a sporting event. The Queen responded with a purse of 50 guineas and a decree that the Queen’s Plate was to be run at Toronto or any place in Upper Canada that the Queen might appoint. Numerous race courses hosted this event; however, in May of 1883, the Queen’s Plate moved to Queen Street’s Woodbine track, where it remained until 1956 when Woodbine moved to Malton. The race is held there today. Besides horse racing, Woodbine Park held many events such as greyhound racing, bicycle racing, polo matches, horse auctions, and pigeon shoots. In 1885, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show was held there from 22 to 24 August. In 1956, the new Woodbine track north of the airport was opened and the name of the track at Queen Street was changed to Greenwood. The Jockey Club next closed the track and sold the property to developers. In the 1990s, the buildings were all demolished, despite much acrimonious debate within the local community and protests from across the city. The area is still under redevelopment.

Relative Importance: The racetrack has a long record in Toronto’s racing and sports history and has drawn many royal visitors over the years – among them, the present Queen Mother. It also provided to the local area a source of both employment and entertainment.

Planning Implications: It is recommended that a plaque be mounted in the little park to be developed, and that it reveal not only the history of the racetrack and players in that history, but also of the pond and the Small property with its creeks.

Reference Sources: Files of Beach and East Toronto Historical Society; Barbara Myrvold and Mark Campbell, The Beach in Pictures (1988).