History of Parkdale, Sunnyside & Roncesvalles! (NEW FOR 2026)

**The Toronto History Walks Yearly Pass is available. Get it now for $125.00 for 1 year of unlimited tours, email
torontohistorywalks@gmail.com
for more information or for signing up!**

* Please note: Please e-transfer the ticket amount when booking your space for this tour! You can e-transfer to the following email at:
torontohistorywalks@gmail.com

Made it through another year.

Parkdale has many faces.

And over the years those faces have become sharper and clearer to residents and visitors alike. The tone has changed in Parkdale. And that is always a good thing.

One of the main reasons why Toronto History Walks came into being was simply because the images of Parkdale at the time, 2019, seemed to convey a negative picture of the neighbourhood. Toronto residents wanted to avoid Parkdale at all costs based on assumptions. It was dangerous and better to avoid than explore.

But those ideas have changed over the last several years. Parkdale is a great place to explore, have a cup of coffee or dinner and check out the arts and entertainment or take a stroll down a side street in one of the best preserved Victorian neighbourhoods in Toronto.

Welcome to Toronto's first suburb, the floral suburb. And it truly is a remarkable place to get to know. What Parkdale needed most was understanding. And this walk provides the interested walker with that understanding of how Parkdale came to be, and why it had a rather sketchy history right from its inception in 1879. And it had to do more with the attitudes of the residents than reality. Attitudes that followed the growth of Parkdale to this very day. Parkdale just can't get free of its own legacy!

From its beginnings in 1850 to the controversy surrounding the Gardiner Expressway, and the death of Sunnyside Amusement Park, the story of Parkdale unfolds, and it has a remarkable ability to climb out of depressed economic periods. This is a detailed exploration of the district.

This tour begins at the southwest corner of King, Queen, and Roncesvalles, at the Polish memorial Katyn, just east of the Sunnyside pedestrian bridge across the street from the McDonald's.

We wind our way through West Parkdale, and end the tour at the TTC stop for St. Joseph's Health Centre on the site of Sunnyside Villa!

This 2 hour walking tour is for all walking levels. Please dress for the season, and hope to see you there.

This tour has a ticket price of $15.00 per person!

** Please note: Please e-transfer the ticket amount when booking your space for this tour! You can e-transfer to the following email at:
**torontohistorywalks@gmail.com**