Industrial site

Details of Site Location: The northeast corner of Yonge and Davenport.

Boundary History: The property occupied several acres and was bounded by Yonge, Davenport, and on the north and east by Castle Frank Creek.

Current Use of Property: Canadian Tire store, a small park to the east, and a commercial/residential building to the north.

Historical Description: John Severn ran the largest of Yorkville’s breweries and was a major employer. He was a Yorkshireman, in common with many other Yorkville residents, and was born in 1807. By 1830, he was working as a blacksmith in the Town of York. John Baxter had built a stone and brick brewery at the intersection on 9 acres close to Castle Frank Creek. The building was formidable in size, 40 by 200 feet rising four storeys; a drawing of the time shows balconies running the length of the building at the third- and fourth-storey levels. The main floor had an open continuous porch for loading. Beside the brewery building was a three-storey malt house, connected to the brewery by rail. At first, water was drawn from Castle Frank Creek, but that was affected by the huge brickyards upstream. When Severn bought the brewery around 1835, he was dissatisfied with the water quality and had a wooden pipeline built to draw water from a little tributary of Castle Frank Creek. The tributary is now called Severn’s Creek and flowed south from today’s Crescent Road. Severn introduced steam power into the brewery operations, which allowed him to reduce his brewery staff while increasing his overall production to around 7,000 gallons per week. To deliver his ales and porters in wooden barrels he had teamsters with horses and wagons. The brewmaster and some brewery hands lived in a cottage row across Davenport on a lane that came to be called Brewery Lane. Twice, John Severn left his business in charge of his sons, and twice he returned to run the brewery again. He died in 1880. The buildings stood derelict until they were torn down in the 1920s. In the coat-of-arms for the Village of Yorkville, there is a barrel to symbolize Severn’s role in the first Council and incorporation of the village.

Relative Importance: As a major industry and employer in early Yorkville and supplier of beverages to a host of local taverns and hotels, the Severn Brewery was a significant influence in the development of the region’s third oldest community and first suburb of Toronto.

Planning Implications: John Severn’s name is attached to Severn Street and Severn Creek, but visitors to the area or to Canadian Tire have nothing to tell them what was there earlier or how important it was. The park to the east has been named for Harold Town and is suffering somewhat from the bleak parking lot between it and the Canadian Tire complex. Two plaques are recommended: one at the bridge over the ravine of Severn Creek at Crescent Road, and another at the street in front of the parking area off Davenport Road. The latter should be accompanied by some plantings and general improvements to the street face. The plaques should commemorate the Severn Brewery and its successor, the Central Market.

Reference Sources: City of Toronto Archives; Toronto Reference Library; Yorkville Branch, Toronto Public Library; Goad’s Atlas (1884).