Vale of Avoca - History

History

Prior to the Vale of Avoca, the ravine was crossed by an iron bridge. The bridge was built in 1888 by John Thomas Moore in the hopes of encouraging investment in his new subdivision, Moore Park. Under the condition that he build the bridge, the Township of York purchased a strip of land across the valley and leased it to Moore, who was in return given the St. Clair Avenue right-of-way between Avoca Avenue and Inglewood Drive. Moore Park subsequently developed.

On December 16, 1912, Moore Park was annexed into Toronto at the drive of landowners eager to obtain municipal services. Due to growing safety concerns regarding the old iron bridge, city council authorized construction of a new bridge in 1922. Unlike the old bridge, this one would follow the straight alignment of St. Clair Avenue East (renamed in 1914). Two houses were expropriated and demolished, and the new structure built over two years at the cost of $716,653.58 ($8,914,622.90, adjusted for inflation) It opened to traffic in November or December, 1924. The old bridge remained open and operational throughout, with traffic detouring around construction on the eastern side. After completion of the new structure, the old one was promptly dismantled, and the material used to forge the fence that lines Avoca Avenue. The natural stream at the bottom was subsequently channelized to slow erosion.

The former structure crossed the valley on an angle, beginning at St. Clair in the east and crossing to Pleasant Boulevard; it followed an electric line already in place. The eastern abutment and several concrete footings are still in place near the rim of the ravine as reminders of the old bridge.

In 1973, Toronto officially named the bridge structure and the ravine as The Vale of Avoca, after either the poem by Thomas Moore (after whom John Thomas Moore is named), or the river valley in Ireland.