A Magical Place: Toronto Island and Its People

Julie Rekai Rickerd is a Toronto-based broadcaster and public-relations
consultant.

The author—a historian, novelist, freelance writer, and longtime
resident of Toronto Island—has written a delightful paean to Toronto
Island, a unique and historically rich piece of land that is a 15-minute
ferry ride from downtown Toronto. The book is illustrated with excellent
archival material and brilliant contemporary photographs that capture
the Island’s exquisite beauty and scenic variety. Freeman’s text
describes the Island’s often-turbulent development and brings to life
the many struggles of its people.

Mississauga Indians fished the waters of what was at first a peninsula,
a long sandbar formed by materials eroded from the future city’s
Scarborough Bluffs. Governor John Graves Simcoe chose this natural
harbor as his capital in 1793 because of its ideal defensive location.
As the city grew, the harbor became a centre of commerce and recreation.
A lighthouse, which still stands, was erected to guide the busy maritime
traffic safely to shore.

Commercial fishing thrived, as did the hotels and amusement parks that
sprang up on what had become an island after a vicious storm cut a
channel through the isthmus in 1858. Its proximity to the mainland made
the Island an ideal escape from what was becoming a congested city. The
summers provided opportunities for swimming, boating, and picnics; the
winters did the same for skating, ice boating, and sleighing.

Three yacht clubs were built—the Royal Canadian, the Queen City, and
the Island. William Ward and Ned Hanlan, after whom two areas of the
Island are named, built hotels, amusement, and tent parks. Hanlan became
a renowned rowing champion and invented the sliding rower’s seat.

Mansions and cottages mushroomed “for the Masseys and the masses.”
Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run in the Island’s baseball
stadium. The Lakeside Home for Little Children housed patients from Sick
Children’s Hospital in the summer months.

Fires, the world wars, and “progress” changed the face of the
Island. An airport was built, private homes were bulldozed in favor of a
public park, and residents fought bitter battles with local governments
to save the remaining homes from destruction. Thanks to tenacity, the
small Island community continues to share its beaches, lagoons, and
natural wonders with the public.

This excellent history of “a magical place” will interest and
entertain Torontonians and visitors alike.