Taddle Creek


Taddle Creek is a buried stream in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that flowed a southeasterly course about six kilometres long, from St. Clair Avenue west of Bathurst Street through the present site of Wychwood Park, through the University of Toronto, into the Toronto Harbour near the Distillery District. During the 19th century, it was buried and converted into an underground sewer, but traces of the creek can still be found today. The scenic footpath known as Philosopher's Walk follows the ravine created by the creek from the Royal Ontario Museum to Trinity College. Taddle Creek is also the name of a Toronto literary magazine and of a local Montessori school.

History

In the 1790s, the original town site of the Town of York was established along its south bank. Its waters would be used by its first industries. The disappearance of the creek came in phases in the 19th century:
There is no exact origin for the creek's name but there are three possible theories:
Taddle Creek had other names during the 19th Century:
Taddle Creek Park is a small but busy park at the southwest corner of Lowther Avenue and Bedford Road, in The Annex area of Toronto. The park was created in 1976 on what had been the site of the home of Nobel laureate Frederick Banting. After extensive renovations the park reopened in July 2011, with an avant-garde sculpture centrepiece by Ilan Sandler, created from of stainless steel rod, the approximate length of Taddle Creek.