Roncesvalles ( ), also known as Roncesvalles Village or Roncy Village, is a neighbourhood in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, centred on Roncesvalles Avenue, a north–south street leading from the intersection of King and Queen Streets to the south, north to Dundas Street West, a distance of roughly 1.7 kilometres. It is located east of High Park, north of Lake Ontario, in the Taiaiako’n—Parkdale—High Park federal riding, the Parkdale–High Park provincial riding and the municipal Ward 4. Its informal boundaries are High Park to the west, Bloor Street West to the north, Lake Ontario/Queen Street West to the south and Lansdowne Avenue/rail corridor to the east. Originally known as "Howard Park", most of this area was formerly within the boundaries of Parkdale and Brockton villages and was annexed into Toronto in the 1880s.
Culturally, the area is known as the centre of the Polish-Canadian community in Toronto with prominent Polish institutions, businesses and St Casimir's Catholic Church located on Roncesvalles Avenue. The businesses along Roncesvalles have formed the Roncesvalles Village Business Improvement Area and hold the largest Polish Festival in North America, which takes place every September.
Character The neighbourhood is predominantly residential, with a commercial strip the full length of Roncesvalles, composed predominantly of small businesses, churches and institutions. To the west of Roncesvalles, the area is nearly completely residential except for St. Joseph's Health Centre and a Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) streetcar barn. East of Roncesvalles along the CN and CP rail lines is an older industrial area that is in transition. Several of the buildings along Sorauren Avenue have been converted into loft-style condominiums. At one time a large TTC bus garage was located along Sorauren Avenue; this property has been converted into Sorauren Park. Two other old industrial buildings along Wabash are owned by the City of Toronto, and are slated for a future community centre project. One of the buildings currently serves as a clubhouse for the Park.
The City of Toronto defines three official neighbourhoods as having boundaries with Roncesvalles Avenue. To the west, the official neighbourhood is High Park-Swansea. To the east, the official neighbourhood is named "Roncesvalles" – often referred to as "Roncy". To the southeast of Roncesvalles Avenue is "South Parkdale".
History
Toronto's first highway to the west was Dundas Street starting at Queen Street along today's Ossington and west along its current path west to Dundas (near Hamilton). While Toronto's boundary was Dufferin Street, a very early village mostly built around hotels sprang up along Dundas just before it met Ossington and entered Toronto; this was Brockton. The Subdivision of land for Brockton included the portion of the neighbourhood east of what is now Roncesvalles Avenue. although little of this was built on. The rest of what is now the Roncesvalles neighbourhood began as farm lots given to Toronto's prominent Ridout family and the architect John George Howard. These men had careers in the city so little was done with their farmland most of which was never even cleared of the natural forest. Two houses were built by John Howard on these farms: Sunnyside (where St. Joseph's Hospital is now), and Colborne Lodge (Mr. Howard's own cottage built 1837) in what is now High Park. A path running through Sunnyside Farm was an Indigenous trail (now Indian Road) thought to have originally been an ancient Mississauga Indian path, leading from Lake Ontario north. In the 1850s, concurrent with the building of the railway, the central part of Brockton was separated from the Roncesvalles subdivided lands except for a small strip along Dundas between the railway and Bloor.
In 1850, Colonel O'Hara acquired the land north of Queen from Roncesvalles Avenue to just east of Lansdowne Avenue. In 1874, Colonel O'Hara died and his land was subdivided. Following the subdivision of two other farms south of Queen, a new village rapidly took shape and in 1879 was incorporated, despite protests by the City of Toronto, as the Village of Parkdale. The subdivision of O'Hara's land and the streets laid out after his death had names related to his family, largely superseded the Brockton subdivision south of the railway between Roncesvalles and Sorauren. Development in Parkdale crept up Sorauren Ave and there was even some building on Roncesvalles Avenue before a series of annexations brought Parkdale (1889), Brockton (1884) and the surrounding farmland (including Sunnyside farm) into the City of Toronto. In all there were 13 separate annexations by the City of Toronto between 1883 and 1893.City of Toronto Map showing annexations; City Engineering Department, 1967, City of Toronto Archives, published in Also
When Parkdale was annexed to Toronto, streets were laid out or extended to Keele Street (the section south of Bloor was later renamed Parkside Drive) and the street grid took the shape it has to this day. In the 1890s, the intersection of Roncesvalles and Queen became more important as a Lake Shore streetcar line was built, enabling commuting to the west. A streetcar yard was added at the intersection in 1895. The Sunnyside railway station at the intersection was opened in 1912.
At the turn of the 20th century, the first school was built in the neighbourhood, the Old Howard Park school on Boustead Avenue. Although a number of Victorian homes had already been built extending north from Parkdale, the neighbourhood was largely built from 1900 until the First World War with almost all houses built in the 'foursquare' style. Originally these homes were designed for the middle class while wealthier homes were found in Parkdale. Also at this time, the first four Carnegie Libraries were opened in Toronto. Apart from the Central Library all (three) libraries were identical, one of them being the High Park branch on Roncesvalles Avenue. The three original churches were also built at this time; St Vincent de Paul (Roman Catholic), St Jude's (Anglican) and Howard Park Emmanuel (United Church). In the later years of its development, Roncesvalles began to attract some wealthier families and many impressive homes were built from 1910 to 1930 on High Park Gardens and High Park Boulevard.
The lakefront was developed by the Toronto Harbour Commission in the 1910s, leading to the development of the Sunnyside Beach and Amusement Park in 1922. Its popularity spurred development of the area commercially. The foot of Roncesvalles became a commercial and transportation hub, with a train station, a bus depot and the streetcar loop. The Park was demolished for the Gardiner Expressway project in 1955 and the Sunnyside intersection bypassed, leading to a decline in commerce and residential values in the area. The wealthy moved away from the area to newer suburbs further west and many large local homes were divided into apartments. However, Roncesvalles has remained largely middle class, attracting an influx of successful immigrants especially from Poland reversing the relationship between Roncesvalles and Parkdale. St Casimir's Catholic Parish was established in 1944. The construction of the church and church hall began in 1948 and was completed in 1954 by which time the Polish community had become well established in the area. It was the construction of the church that attracted the Polish immigrants to the immediate area.
Street names These names are attributed to Walter O'Hara:
Roncesvalles Avenue,- O'Hara named it after the Battle of Roncesvalles which took place in the Roncesvalles gorge in Spain in 1813 in which he led a regiment that fought against the retreating army of Napoleon. Alhambra Avenue, after the palace in Spain, Constance Street, after his daughter, Fermanagh Avenue, after the county of his birth in Ireland, Fermanagh Place was a farm property through which the street was laid. Geoffrey Street, after a son, Marion Street, after his wife, and Sorauren Avenue, is named after the Battle of Sorauren at which Col. O'Hara was present. Wright Avenue, after James Wright, whose farm was sub-divided to build the street, and Fern Avenue and Garden Avenue, between Roncesvalles and part-way to Sorauren.
Fern Avenue used to be named Ruth Avenue, after his daughter and Grenadier Road used to be named Walter Avenue, after another son. The streets O'Hara Avenue and West Lodge Avenue both to the east were laid out and named after O'Hara's death.Wise and Gould, p. 157
Other street names have historical connections: Sunnyside Ave, Parkside Dr, Colborne Lodge Drive (in High Park), Howard Park Avenue, High Park Gardens, High Park Boulevard, High Park Ave (in the High Park neighbourhood) – all relate to John Howard. Grenadier Road – (Grenadiers from Fort York were the first regular users of High Park). Indian Road, Indian Grove, Indian Road Crescent, Indian Valley Crescent, Indian Trail and Algonquin Ave – all named after the old native path. Ridout Street – the Ridout family, which owned property in the north-west vicinity of High Park.
Culture
The area has a highly developed history of political and community participation. There are several established community associations active. The High Park Residents' Association represents the area south of Bloor Street between Parkside Drive and Roncesvalles Avenue south to High Park Boulevard. The Sunnyside Community Association represents the area directly south of High Park Boulevard between Parkside and Roncesvalles, south to Lake Ontario. The Roncesvalles-MacDonnell Residents' Association represents the area east of Roncesvalles from Bloor south to Queen Street, east of Roncesvalles, south of the railway lines, west of Lansdowne Avenue.
In 2012, Roncesvalles was named as one of eight finalists in the "Canadian Institute of Planners’ (CIP) Great Places in Canada" contest, and the only neighbourhood from Toronto. From a poll of 200,000 votes nationwide, 90 neighbourhoods were nominated. A panel of planners reduced the list to 21 and Roncesvalles survived a second cut to make it to the top eight. According to CIP President Andrea Gabor: "in Roncesvalles, people can bike in or get on a streetcar, so they still feel like part of the city and connected to the downtown ... I think it embodies a lot of what people want when they’re living in the city."
Arts
The popular repertory movie theatre Revue Cinema, at the intersection of Roncesvalles and Howard Park Avenue first opened its doors in 1911. It closed for a year as part of the dissolution of the Festival Cinemas chain. It reopened as a non-profit operation of the Revue Film Society. The Society laboured for a year to find a way to reopen the Revue, and partnered with a local couple who purchased the theatre and now leases it to the Society.
Another theatre, the Brighton, closed in the mid-1980s. It is in use as a convenience store, although it has not been renovated, other than its marquee signage removed.
The area has several bars and restaurants with live music. The Local pub offers live music daily. Inter Steer offers live music twice a week. Loons Restaurant & Pub offers live music on Friday nights. Latinada, on Bloor Street west of Dundas, is a Tapas bar with live music.
The "Roncy Rocks" festival, a one-day music and art show, has been held outdoors along Roncesvalles. Several side streets off Roncesvalles were closed and musical stages and art displays installed. Musicians and artists were mostly local to the community.
In 2018, the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada moved to a location in the former Tower Building nearby on Sterling Road. There are several independent art galleries on Dundas Street West between Sorauren Avenue and Roncesvalles.
Polish community