Carrot Commons circa 1925
Before The Village by Main Station was a twinkle in Michel Labbé’s eye, there was a contractor from the United States named Asa Danforth who had constructed parts of Queen Street and Kingston Road. He was hired to build a connection from the City of York to the East. The road was originally supposed to go from the Don River to the Bay of Quinte.
Not taking into consideration the length of time it would take to build due to Canadian winters, the government was increasingly impatient and Asa left to move back to the States.
Lucky for us, the Don and Danforth Plank Road Company picked up the project and in 1851 Danforth Avenue was created. The Danforth we know today with great shops and quaint restaurants started in the 1880s with “The Village of Chester” (now known as Carrot Commons). By the time WWI started, the neighborhood had become a commercial area and continued to spread, creating “The Danforth”.
A Danforth store circa 1930
Danforth and Dawes, circa 1900. This is close to our current Village by Main Station development!
by Jen
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