Weston

Former Canadian Cycle and Motor Company
2013 Lawrence Avenue West
The Canadian Cycling and Motor Company (CCM) originally established a bicycle manufactory in the Junction in 1895 and moved production to a larger facility in Weston on Lawrence Avenue West in 1917, where bicycles were manufactured until 1980. CCM formed from an amalgamation of four bicycle companies and at the time produced 85 percent of Canadian-made bicycles. The Weston factory was taken over by the government during the Second World War to produce bicycles and motorcars for the Canadian army. Today, the site of the former CCM factory in Weston is the location of a coffee shop. Bicycle-themed lamp posts in the area honour the history of manufacturing in the community.

Old Weston Town Hall Bell
2015 Lawrence Avenue West
*Note: This is an active fire station. Please do not block the driveway. This bell, now mounted in front of a Fire Hall and EMS station, is all that remains of Dufferin Hall, Weston's first town hall building. The building was erected in 1885 by local architect William Tyrell and sat at the northwest corner of Little Avenue and Weston Road. The bell was used for timekeeping as well as to denote funerals and to warn of fires. Dufferin Hall was demolished in 1957 and the bell was relocated to its current spot.

Alexander Bacon and Quentin Rockford Underpass Mural
Lawrence Avenue Rail Underpass (at Weston Road)
This mural highlights a collective vision of the area and its history shared by the local community and interpreted by lead artists Alexander Bacon and Quentin Rockford.

Jim Bravo, Niel Yee, Rowena Kizito, and Bryan Bermudez Mural & York West Active Living Centre
1901 Weston Road
This 3-walled mural highlights 'Weston Then and Now' by depicting the living history of the area, while capturing ongoing changes in the community. The first floor of the building the mural is painted on houses the York West Active Living Centre. It is a multicultural, community-based resource centre that provides health and wellness programming for adults aged 55 and older. The facility is located on the ground floor of the building, has fully accessible washrooms, and provides a range of fitness programs that can be modified to accommodate diverse physical abilities.

Weston Lions Park
2125 Lawrence Avenue West
This 7.4-hectare park is located near the banks of the Humber River and features two baseball diamonds, a lit artificial turf sports field, four lit tennis courts, a skateboard area, basketball court, splashpad, outdoor pool and playground. It sits next to Weston Lions Arena (indoor rink) and is adjacent to the Humber River Recreational Trail and the river itself. Soak up the green space, or enjoy the amenities before continuing to the Humber River Recreational Trail and to the bridge to view the river.

The Humber River
Bridge over the Humber River (just outside of Weston Lions Park)
The Humber River Valley in Toronto's west end is an incredibly significant part of Toronto's pre-colonial Indigenous and early European history. The Humber River has its headwaters near Mono, north and west of Toronto, and snakes through Toronto before emptying into Lake Ontario at Humber Bay. This river was part of a vast network of waterways including all the major rivers and lakes in the Great Lakes / St. Lawrence watershed, that facilitated a great deal of Indigenous movement and travel over a vast area spanning the interior of North America to the Atlantic Ocean and Northern Canada to the interior of the central United States. Indigenous footprints and paddle strokes followed the paths of these innumerable waterways for millennia before the arrival of Europeans to the continent. The Humber River Valley was particularly significant as a major portage route used by First Nations people for thousands of years to travel between Georgian Bay or Lake Simcoe and Lake Ontario. The Mississaugas called the Humber River Kabechenong, which has been variously interpreted as 'resting place,' 'leave the canoes and go back,' or 'portage'. This portage was one of the fastest inland routes that allowed one to directly cross through what is now southern Ontario, making the Humber River Valley and Toronto itself a very important and desirable area for meeting, trade and exchanging information. There are dozens of Indigenous village and campsites known to have existed within the Humber River Valley collectively representing several thousand years of Indigenous occupation in the area and attesting to the long-lived importance of this route.

Memorial Park - York
22 Little Avenue
Memorial Park has a bandshell, a cenotaph and two historic plaques. One plaque teaches the history of European settlers developing Weston by making use of the local timber resources and harnessing the Humber River's power for milling. Another plaque reveals that James Gilbert Gove, a local stonemason, used river stones from the Humber to create the retaining wall and cenotaph in this park as well as other structures in the Village of Weston.

Pantelis Kalamaris Lane
Pantelis Kalamaris Lane (accessible via John Street or Elsmere Avenue)
Pantelis Kalamaris Lane in the heart of the Village of Weston BIA is named for a local legend: the late Pantelis (Peter) Kalamaris. Peter emigrated from Greece in the late 1950s. He worked hard at several jobs to be able to get married, buy a house and sponsor his family members to join him in Canada. He established two local Weston eateries: P&M Restaurant and Sun Crisp Fish & Chips, providing jobs for his sponsored family members, while he went on to establish Peter's Barbershop in 1961. Peter was known for his love for hockey - so much that locals dubbed his barbershop, and its extensive collection of hockey memorabilia, the 'Second Hockey Hall of Fame'. The barbershop is wheelchair accessible and is located adjacent to the laneway off of John Street. From mid-May to the end of October, Pantelis Kalamaris Lane also serves as the location for Weston's popular Saturday morning farmer's market.

Artscape Weston
34 John Street
Continuing a short way up John Street, on your left - at number 34 - is Artscape Weston. Artscape Weston is a creative community hub and home to Urban Arts and Shakespeare in Action, two not-for-profit organizations who seek to educate and provide arts mentorship for youth in the community. They also feature a free art gallery that features local community artists. Artscape is a not-for-profit organization that aims to transform communities through the creative arts. The space features a performance hall, studio and meeting room, each of which can be booked by anyone and often feature performances, workshops and other community events.

Toronto Public Library - Weston Branch
2 King Street
At Weston Road and King Street you will find the Weston branch of the Toronto Public Library, one of the oldest libraries in Toronto! While the history of Weston's library dates back to 1847, this particular building was erected in 1913 with the help of a Carnegie grant. It was designed by local architect Peter Lindsay in the Arts and Crafts style and features beautiful stained glass as well as interior mosaics. The library is accessible and has free Wi-Fi.