West Hill is remembered now only on street signs, high
school names and church plaques. And even these are hard to find and
few in number. It is as if the village was playing with us, teasing
us, daring us to find her. Yet Strangely, although the West Hill Post
Office no longer exists (the building now houses Blockbuster Video),
letters addressed to West Hill will still find their recipient. West
Hill was recognized as a community and given its own post office by
the Federal Government in 1879.
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However some of the stately homes from the past retain
their former glory and hint at a life lived at a slower pace where
people took their time and lived each day on a more human scale.
These homes remain at what was once the geographical center of the
village at the intersection of Old Kingston Road and West Hill
Drive.
Perched on the very edge, the west hill, of the
Highland Creek Valley the bells of the Melville Presbyterian Church
still call out to the faithful every Sunday Morning. And more and
more seem to be heeding their call. West Hill was originally settled
in the 1840's by Irish immigrants from County Cork, Ireland, refuges
from that countries devastating Potato Famine. In 1906 the radial
streetcar line reached the small community connecting West Hill with
the downtown core of the City of Toronto and in 1921 the recently
rebuilt West Hill Public School was opened.
Resting on the top of the massive Scarborough Bluffs
high above Lake Ontario and encircled by the meandering Highland
Creek which flows from the north before turning east and finally
south to enter into the great lake, West Hill hides some places of
exceptional beauty, that we will explore next.
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