Learn a little of Toronto's history as told through its plaques.

The Ashbridge Estate

Photos by Alan L Brown - April 2004

For over 200 years, this home was occupied by one family! Amazing! An Ontario Heritage Trust plaque in front of the home at 1444 Queen Street East has this to say:

This property was home to one family for two centuries. Sarah Ashbridge and her family moved here from Pennsylvania and began clearing land in 1794. Two years later they were granted 243 ha between Ashbridge's Bay and present day Danforth Avenue. The Ashbridges prospered as farmers until Toronto suburbs began surrounding their land in the 1880s. They sold all but this part of their original farm by the 1920s. Donated to the Ontario Heritage Trust in 1972, it was the family estate until 1997. As they changed from pioneers to farmers to professionals over 200 years on this property, the Ashbridges personified Ontario's development from agricultural frontier to urban industrial society.

Related Toronto plaque page
First Ashbridge Home

Plaque Location Co-ordinates: 43.665116 -79.322673

More residential buildings

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