Streets of Long Branch
In 1935, the Village of Long Branch’s council voted to change the names of 35 of their streets. This change was taking place because postal delivery service was being established in Long Branch for the first time, and they wanted to avoid possible confusion with street names that already existed in adjacent municipalities. Three quarters of Long Branch’s councillors approved the following name changes, effective May 13, 1935:
OLD NAME NEW NAME
Government Road 23rd Street
Spirea Avenue 24th Street
Lilac Avenue 26th Street
Teak Avenue 27th Street
Pine Avenue 28th Street
Violet Avenue 29th Street
Kingsbury Avenue 30th Street
Myrtle Crescent 31st Street
Dahlia Avenue 32nd Street
Lansdowne Avenue 33rd Street
Lakeview Avenue 35th Street
Greenwood Avenue 36th Street
Woodlawn Avenue 37th Street
Eastwood Avenue 38th Street
Lake Drive 39th Street
John Street 40th Street
Ridge Road 41st Street
Highview Avenue 42nd Street
Camp Street 43rd Street
Cedar Avenue Meaford Avenue
Beech Avenue City Road
Balsam Avenue Ramsgate Road
Spruce Avenue Iris Road
Maple Avenue Shamrock Avenue
Fir Avenue Jasmine Avenue
Oak Crescent Atherton Crescent
Connaught Circus Arcadian Circle
Hazel Crescent Crystal Crescent
Chestnut Avenue Lawson Avenue
Beach Road Lake Promenade
Elm Road Dominion Road
Arbour Reserve Muskoka Avenue
Edgewood Road Marina Avenue
Park Road Park Boulevard
Rose Avenue Fairfield Avenue
The new numeric street naming from 23rd to 43rd Streets was put in place to continue the street name protocol that had been adopted by their neighbour to the east, New Toronto, circa 1900. Of the new names, only the name Lawson Avenue no longer exists.
It seems a shame to have lost all of those evocative flower and tree names, especially by replacing them with rather bland numbers (with apologies to any mathematicians out there!) Nevertheless, Long Branch still has five streets named after flowers (iris, shamrock, daisy, carnation and phlox) and seven named for trees or shrubs (elder, ash, alder, walnut, evergreen, laburnham and jasmine.)
Researched and Written by Denise Harris
OLD NAME NEW NAME
Government Road 23rd Street
Spirea Avenue 24th Street
Lilac Avenue 26th Street
Teak Avenue 27th Street
Pine Avenue 28th Street
Violet Avenue 29th Street
Kingsbury Avenue 30th Street
Myrtle Crescent 31st Street
Dahlia Avenue 32nd Street
Lansdowne Avenue 33rd Street
Lakeview Avenue 35th Street
Greenwood Avenue 36th Street
Woodlawn Avenue 37th Street
Eastwood Avenue 38th Street
Lake Drive 39th Street
John Street 40th Street
Ridge Road 41st Street
Highview Avenue 42nd Street
Camp Street 43rd Street
Cedar Avenue Meaford Avenue
Beech Avenue City Road
Balsam Avenue Ramsgate Road
Spruce Avenue Iris Road
Maple Avenue Shamrock Avenue
Fir Avenue Jasmine Avenue
Oak Crescent Atherton Crescent
Connaught Circus Arcadian Circle
Hazel Crescent Crystal Crescent
Chestnut Avenue Lawson Avenue
Beach Road Lake Promenade
Elm Road Dominion Road
Arbour Reserve Muskoka Avenue
Edgewood Road Marina Avenue
Park Road Park Boulevard
Rose Avenue Fairfield Avenue
The new numeric street naming from 23rd to 43rd Streets was put in place to continue the street name protocol that had been adopted by their neighbour to the east, New Toronto, circa 1900. Of the new names, only the name Lawson Avenue no longer exists.
It seems a shame to have lost all of those evocative flower and tree names, especially by replacing them with rather bland numbers (with apologies to any mathematicians out there!) Nevertheless, Long Branch still has five streets named after flowers (iris, shamrock, daisy, carnation and phlox) and seven named for trees or shrubs (elder, ash, alder, walnut, evergreen, laburnham and jasmine.)
Researched and Written by Denise Harris