Coxwell Subway Station

Coxwell Subway

The Coxwell subway station is on the Bloor-Danforth subway line of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC).  On street level it is located at the corner of Coxwell and Danforth Avenues.  It was opened in 1966 and serves about 16,000 a day.

The Coxwell subway station is used as a switchover point for the subway operators coming on and off their shifts on the Bloor-Danforth line (east-west), just as the Eglinton station is used as a switchover on the Yonge-University Spadina line (north-south). There are sometimes slight delays at this station because of the switch changes.

Just minutes away from the station is the lovely Monarch Park and The Toronto East General Hospital which was opened for patient care in 1929.  The land from which the hospital was built on was donated by Billy McKay Jr., who was a local pig farmer in Toronto (borough of East York) from 1862-1943. He was never married so with his wealth, he donated a large portion of his land (Coxwell and Mortimer Avenues) to the Town of East York.  This land was used for a Public School, a municipal building and the Toronto East General Hospital.

Toronto East General Hospital

     

Many war veterans were treated at the Toronto East York General Hospital, so many War Vets made East York their home after the war.  Today on the donated land, there is a Memorial Park and East York’s War Memorial cenotaph which is treasured by local residents.  

East York Cetopath (War Memorial)

Lest we forget

Woodbine Subway Station

Woodbine Subway

The Woodbine Subway station is on the Bloor-Danforth line of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC).  The station was opened in 1966 and today services approximately 13,000 people a day.  That number goes up during the warmer months of the year when many come through Woodbine station to get to the “Beaches” of Toronto.

Clockwise: Beaches Library, Firehall No. 217
R.C. Harris Treatment Plant, "Gardener's House"
(Kew Gardens), Fox Theatre House

The “Beaches” is a very popular spot, frequented by Torontonians and is also a well known tourist attraction.  Regular bus routes travel southbound from the station, taking you to an unbroken stretch of sandy shoreline that is never-ending to the naked eye.  Along the lake, there are streetcars running to and from downtown along Queen Street East.

There is so much to do in such a large area which extends from Victoria Park to Kingston Rd, Eastern Avenue to the shores of Lake Ontario.  Trendy and eclectic, the Beaches offers so much for everyone.  We went for a walk along the boardwalk on Sunday.  The boardwalk covers most of the length of the beach from east to west.  Near the east end there is a sewage treatment plant and on a hot humid day, you’ll know exactly what they’re treating!  But this time of year, in the fall, where the air is cool and the winds are high, pollution and smog aren’t a problem.  There are four beaches in the area: Balmy, Scarborough, Kew and Woodbine.  In the summer Woodbine, Kew and Balmy beach are all safe to swim in.  But it’s too cold now for that, so we just checked out a few places.

I don’t know if many of you ever had time to check out the historic buildings in the Beaches area since most of us really just go there to rollerblade, or have picnics, bike ride or just hang out by the beach.  But the Beaches area has been around as an attraction since before the first World War so there’s a lot of history here.  I love historical buildings and there are many designated under the Ontario Heritage act (see Rosedale and College Subway). 

Boardwalk and Kew Beach

Beaches Branch Public library was built in 1916, is gorgeous and has been revamped a few times, but kept its original integrity; it’ at 2161 Queen East.  The Dominion Bank at Queen and Lee was built 1911.  There is an old Movie house which is still operating called the Fox theatre, built in 1914, located at Queen and Beech Avenues. Kew Beach Firehall, No. 17 was built in 1905! It’s still used today. Finally we saw the Kew Williams House located at 30 Lee Avenue, built 1901-1902.

What a great day to be out! Hope you all get a chance to enjoy it.