Community hall, privately owned.
Details of Site Location: In the original village of Malvern at the intersection of Sheppard Avenue and Markham Road.
Boundary History: The boundaries of the lot are shown on the plan of subdivision registered in 1857 by Senator David Reesor.
Current Use of Property: Strip malls and housing.
Historical Description: In registering his plan, Senator David Reesor intended to create a community with a commercial centre in the expectation that it would become the capital of Scarborough Township. The largest public hall in the township was built in the 1860s and gained its name because of its size. Built of wood, it was gutted by fire and rebuilt quickly in 1879. A two storey frame building, it had a number of special rooms, including a ballroom on the second floor and a curling rink on the main floor. For more than forty years, Mammoth Hall was the social, political, and public centre of activity in the township. The Malvern Band and Sons of Temperance shared a room at the east end. The Scarboro Curling Club, and its descendant the Malvern Curling Club, celebrated its 100th anniversary there. The veterans returning from the Boer War were lavishly honoured with a demonstration, concerts, and a banquet at Mammoth Hall. Sir Wilfrid Laurier addressed crowds there. As more villages formed and the administration of the township changed, the old board-and-batten hall was less and less used, and in 1946 it was sold to become a warehouse. Designation by Scarborough could not protect it, and it was destroyed by fire in 1988, as the result of arson.
Relative Importance: The importance of the hall to most of Scarborough is great. It lasted for 120 years, sufficient to warrant designation. It stands in history as the first but unofficial centre of Scarborough and endured through that township’s transformation from a farming area into a modern city.
Planning Implications: Mammoth Hall deserves formal recognition of its importance through a substantial plaque or memorial giving its history and the vision of David Reesor. An important archaeological site on Reesor’s property is under the jurisdiction of TRCA but is not connected to the history of Mammoth Hall.
Reference Sources: Robert R. Bonis, A History of Scarborough (1968); Miles’ Atlas (1878).
Acknowledgements: Scarborough Public Library; Scarborough Board of Education; Scarborough Historical Society; James McCowan Memorial Social History Society.