East Toronto Homes, Condos & Real Estate

The recorded history of East Toronto begins around the year 1850, with the arrival of the first settlers. Clearing and farming their land east of the Don River, these hardy souls were still some distance from the vigorous young town of Toronto. Yet the location assured that the community would grow.

By 1888, there were some 800 residents in the area. The settlement was incorporated as a village and, just 15 years later, the village became a town. When annexation by the city of Toronto followed in 1908, the population had grown to 5000 residents.

One legacy of the early days that puzzles modern visitors is the presence of Main Street so far from the city’s core. Toronto’s “main” thoroughfare is, of course, Yonge Street, but local residents and government saw no reason to rename their own Main St. after the annexation.

Old East Toronto covered much of what is today the Beaches neighbourhood, stretching up to Danforth Avenue in the north—with the principal commercial centre located around the intersection of Main and Gerrard.

The southern part of the community by the lake became one of Toronto's most popular recreational destinations — home to numerous hotels and amusement parks. The northern area, however, was an industrial centre where the Grand Trunk Railway's main yards sprawled along most of Gerrard Street and provided employment for several hundred workers.

Today, East Toronto commonly refers to the portion of the city east of the Don River, taking in neighbourhoods such as Upper Beaches, Riverdale, Leslieville, East Danforth, and the Beaches.

• Birch Cliff
• Corktown
• Hunt Club
• Leaside
• Leslieville
• Blake-Jones
• East York
• Little India
• Playter Estates
• Riverdale
• The Danforth
• Upper Beaches
• The Beaches