Neighbourhood Profiles

Yorkville

Yorkville is one of Toronto's most dynamic neighbourhoods. It is an eclectic mix of luxury condominium apartment buildings, commercial office towers, four star hotels, theatres, gourmet restaurants, a prestigious shopping district and picture postcard Victorian homes.

The commercial heart of Yorkville is located on both Yorkville Avenue and on Cumberland Street. The transition to Yorkville's quiet residential pocket is gradual, as Victorian houses shift from retail to residential uses in a seamless pattern that is uniquely Yorkville.

HISTORY

Yorkville was subdivided in the 1830's, by a prominent brewer named Joseph Bloor, and by Sheriff William Botsford Jarvis who also founded the Rosedale neighbourhood.

Yorkville was named after the Town of York, the forerunner to the City of Toronto. Yorkville was incorporated as a Village in 1853. The initials and trades of Yorkville's first council members are displayed on the Village coat of arms which is now on the tower of the historic Yorkville Fire Hall, located at 34 Yorkville Avenue.

In 1883, Yorkville had the distinction of being the first village annexed by the City of Toronto. Despite being part of a big city, Yorkville has always maintained its own identity. It had gained notoriety first as a hippie haven in the 1960's, and then became known as a shopping mecca in the 1980's and 1990's.

**The Toronto neighbourhood text profiles, sketches and maps displayed on this web site were originally published in “Your Guide to Toronto Neighbourhoods”, are © Maple Tree Publishing Inc. and have been reproduced by Toronto Real Estate Board under license.