“Ashbridge’s Marsh looking northeast, circa 1909
City of Toronto Archives, Series 376, File 4, Item 63″ From the UofT’s library of maps.
Yeah, I thought that title would catch your collective eyes. Writing in Starbucks this week, my friend John Lorinc gave me an idea when I mused aloud: “Now where would one dump a body in Toronto?” It shows that he is a good friend that he knew I was speaking about my detective series and not planning a murder, but he suggested that in the 1930s, the Ashbridges Marsh might be a good spot to rid oneself of a dead body. According to the University of Toronto’s library (where that photo on the left is from) back then the Ashbridges Bay Marsh was more than five square kilometres wide. One would take the Coxwell streetcar to get into the area and Ulster Stadium was built there in 1925 (where it stood until 1945). It was incredibly polluted (with sewage and run-off from unregulated factories) but still managed to support wildlife and birds. People, horses, children all drowned in this marsh over the years, add to that the toxicity of the area, and it was due for a fix. The city finally decided to fill in the marsh between 1920 and 1950, but there was still a bit of marshland left for the murderous purposes of this author .
LINKS:
- Ashbridges Neighbourhood Timeline
- Beneath Toronto’s East-End
- Don Valley Historical Mapping Project
- Joanne Doucette’s Leslieville History
Excerpt of 1906 Canadian national atlas map of Toronto, showing Toronto harbour.
The title certainly caught my attention. I might have to use this information in a story someday.
Hee hee!
Have things changed since the 1930’s in Toronto in dumping bodies into today’s world?
Ha! In this case, yes. Because the Ashbridges Marsh is tiny compared to what it was at the turn of the 20th century. It would be (and was) easy to lose a body in the larger version. These days, you’d have to dodge hipsters in the park to get away with it!