Henry Farm is a neighbourhood in the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the north central part of the city within the former city ofNorth York. The City of Toronto has officially designated the neighbourhood of Henry Farm to encompass a smaller neighbourhood, Parkway Forest, between Don Mills Road and Highway 404, which is covered in a separate article. The neighbourhood is served by the Henry Farm Community Interest Association.
History
Henry Farm was settled in 1806 by Henry Mulholland, a native of Clones, County Monaghan, Ireland. He later sold the farm, but his great-grandson, George Stewart Henry, reacquired it in 1898. Henry was the tenth Premier of Ontario from 1930-34. Ten days before his death in 1958, Henry sold his farm for C$2 million to the developers of the present-day neighbourhood. Henry's house, called Oriole Lodge, still stands as a private residence at 17 Manorpark Court. Henry Farm was developed into a housing subdivision in the 1960s. Most of the neighbourhood consists of low density suburban housing. Along the northeast and southeast are townhouse developments. The latter are primarily social housing. There are also two high-rise apartment buildings, Havenbrook Towers, at the southeast corner. There is one church, located at 80 George Henry Boulevard, which houses the St. Matthew the Apostle, Oriole Anglican Church of Canada congregation. The church was built in 1969 and dedicated on January 25, 1970. The site was shared with the Covenant United Church. Covenant United Church amalgamated with Donway United Church in 1992, and moved out of Henry Farm.
The neighbourhood is home to several municipal parks, including Havenbrook Park, and Parkway Forest Park. Havenbrook Park has a baseball diamond, toboggan hill and the Henry Farm Tennis Club, The Park is situated near the Don Valley, which forms a part of the larger Toronto ravine system. Municipal parks in Toronto are managed by the Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division. The division also manages a community centre in the neighbourhood, Parkway Forest Community Centre.
Transportation
Several major thoroughfares bound the neighbourhood. Sheppard Avenue is a roadway that bounds Henry Farm in the north, while Highway 404 bounds the residential neighbourhood to the east. Highway 404 to provides access to York Region to the north and south to the Don Valley Parkway which starts at the 401/404 interchange just south of Sheppard Avenue. Highway 404 serves as a point of division between the primarily residential neighbourhood and the Consumers Business Park a commercial area to the east of the 404. The Business Park runs east to the Victoria Park Avenue. Highway 401 is the other major controlled access highway that bounds the neighbourhood from the south. The highway provides east-west access to the rest of Greater Toronto, and southern Ontario. The Don River's East Branch is the natural border to the west that passes under the Sheppard Avenue and Leslie Street intersection Public transportation in the neighbourhood is provided by the Toronto Transit Commission, operating several bus routes through the neighbourhood. In addition, the Toronto subway may be accessed from Don Mills station, located at Don Mills Road, and Sheppard Avenue. Access to bus routes operated byYork Region Transit may also be accessed at Don Mills station.
