Newtonbrook East-West

Newtonbrook is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In the 19th century, it was a separate municipality. It is located in the area around Yonge Street and Finch Avenue in the district of North York between the east and west branches of the Don River. North York was a city that was merged with five other municipalities to form the amalgamated “new” City of Toronto in 1998.

It was settled by Europeans in the early 19th century. Newtonbrook’s early industries included saw and grist mills on the east and west branches of the Don River. The town’s Newton Brook Wesleyan Church was named after Reverend Robert Newton.

In 1847, Lieutenant Colonel William S. Durie of The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada subdivided part of his Newtonbrook property. The resulting subdivision is now Drewry Avenue.

In the 1950s, Newtonbrook was subdivided for a massive residential development. Most of the town’s landmarks were removed, except for the Newtonbrook Schoolhouse and the Newtonbrook General Store. Just one house from the original Drewry Avenue subdivision remains.

As of the end of 2006, Newtonbrook is northernmost area of City of Toronto affected by the infill development (mainly along the Finch Ave. and Yonge St. corridors). Older detached and semi-detached houses from the 1950s are demolished (or converted to mixed residential-commercial use) and townhouse complexes are built in their place. There is also an increasing number of new custom built homes in this neighbourhood. A new low-rise condo building had been built on northwest corner of Yonge and Drewry.