Eatonville, Toronto


Eatonville is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located west of the central core in the former suburb of Etobicoke. Eatonville is bisected by Highway 427, with the community generally located north of Dundas Street West and south of Rathburn Road. Eatonville consists mainly of low density residential homes. The main arterial roads in the community, such as The West Mall, The East Mall and Burnhamthorpe Road, contain a mix of rental and condominium high-rise apartments and townhouses. Cloverdale Mall is in the neighbourhood, and there are community retail areas along Bloor Street West and Dundas Street West.

History

Eatonville began as a farm owned by Peter Shaver at the end of the 19th century. The farm was one of two purchased by the Eaton's department store in the 1890s to provide a reliable supply of milk for the store's lunchroom and drug store lunch counter. Eaton's donated a parcel of the farm land to the local elementary school, which was named "Eatonville School" in honour of its benefactor. The name of the school led to the area becoming known by the Eatonville name.
The Eaton Farm supplied milk, poultry and vegetables to Eaton's until the 1950s, when it was sold and subdivided for residential development.
Today, Eatonville is the home of the Etobicoke Civic Centre, which used to be the city hall of the former City of Etobicoke. The community is also home to the Eatonville branch of the Toronto Public Library, which was reconstructed in 2003. The Shaver homestead has been preserved, and was relocated to The West Mall; it now serves as a local historic museum.
The area used to have a second mall, just a short walk from Cloverdale. Honeydale Mall is now being redeveloped.

Education