Leaside

Leaside, the jewel of a planned residential and industrial town west of the Don Valley, owes its name to the Lea family and, in particular, to the octagonal house built by William Lea in the early 1850s. Home to such early enterprises as Durant Motors of Canada, Canada Wire and Cable and the Thorncliffe Race Track, Leaside grew from a railway settlement into a prosperous urban town. Remember the wartime munitions plant in Leaside? The site of the first airmail delivery? The Olympic-calibre ski jump by the Don Valley? Now part of Toronto and continuing to evolve, Leaside proudly retains its identity and its strong sense of community.