Ashbridge's Bay facts for kids
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Ashbridges Bay is a bay and park located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. You can find it along Lake Shore Boulevard right next to Woodbine Beach in the Beaches area. The Martin Goodman Trail and a long boardwalk run through the park along the bay. This boardwalk stretches about 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) from Ashbridges Bay in the west to the R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant in the east, following Lake Ontario. Long ago, this area was a big marsh, part of the wetlands east of the Toronto Islands and Toronto Harbour.
Contents
Discovering Ashbridges Bay's Past
How Ashbridges Bay Got Its Name
The bay is named after Sarah Ashbridge. She was a British loyalist from Philadelphia whose family once lived on a farm nearby.
A Giant Marsh Transformed
Ashbridges Bay was once a huge marsh, about five square kilometres (1.9 square miles) in size. It was part of the Don River's delta and one of the largest wetlands in Eastern Canada. Imagine a vast, natural swampy area!
Before the 1900s, people used to collect ice from the bay during winter. This stopped when the water became too polluted and unsafe. Some places that collected ice included:
- Samuel Hill's Ice House
- Graham's Ice House
- Martin McKee's Ice House
Building a New Future
As industries grew and sewage was dumped into the marsh, people started thinking about new uses for Ashbridges Bay. In 1910, the Toronto Board of Trade suggested turning it into an industrial area. This plan included offices, factories, railway lines, and docks. There would also be a park and recreational strip at the south end.
In 1912, the Toronto Harbour Commission began a huge project. They drained the marsh and filled in the land. This "Ashbridges Bay Reclamation Scheme" was the biggest engineering project in North America at the time! They filled in a large area from Cherry Street to Leslie Street. This created the Port Lands Industrial District and led to the building of the Ashbridges Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant.
By the 1920s, only a small part of the original Ashbridges Bay remained. The mouth of the Don River was also changed a lot, now flowing through the Keating Channel. The bay's size shrank to the area between the Port Lands and Woodbine Beach.
Ashbridges Bay Park Today
Ashbridges Bay Park officially opened in 1977. In the early 2000s, Waterfront Toronto made improvements to the park. This included building a cool skateboard park.
Today, the bay is surrounded by marinas where boats are docked. The treatment plant is also nearby. There's a small tree-lined section along Lake Shore Boulevard East. The original natural shoreline is now completely gone. Ashbridges Bay is also a very popular spot for fireworks displays on Canada Day and Victoria Day.
