Guild Park’s Reminders from Yesterday’s School Days

Take a walk through the park and look for the handsome stone-and-brick archway marked “Boys.” It once formed the boys’ entrance to the original Scarborough High School, opened in 1922 and later renamed R.H. King Collegiate Institute in honour of its first principal, Reginald Harold King.

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When the old school was demolished in 1976, the boys’ entrance arch was saved by Rosa and Spencer Clark and installed as part of their architectural collection on their property — today’s Guild Park. The identical arch labelled “Girls” remains on the site of the present-day school at Kingston Road and St. Clair Avenue.

And imagine some of the boys who once walked through it.

Among R.H. King’s notable alumni was Bobby Baun, the hard-hitting Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman and four-time Stanley Cup champion. Baun became part of hockey legend during the 1964 Stanley Cup Final. After suffering a broken ankle in Game 6 against Detroit, he returned to the ice and scored the overtime goal that kept Toronto alive in the series. The Leafs went on to win Game 7 — and their third consecutive Stanley Cup.

Other notable R.H. King alumni include Andy Donato, the longtime Toronto newspaper cartoonist, and Robbie Robertson, who became the celebrated songwriter and guitarist at the heart of The Band, the Canadian group renowned for its work with Bob Dylan and its lasting influence on popular music.

This Victoria School image is sourced from Digital Archive Ontario, drawn from the Toronto Public Library’s digitized collections. Photographer James Victor Salmon captured it in 1956.

But that isn’t Guild Park’s only reminder of school days past.

Look for the school bell and belfry saved from the old Victoria Park School, a one-room schoolhouse built in 1873 near what is now Victoria Park Avenue and Highway 401. Also known as School Section #23 and O’Sullivan’s Corner School, it welcomed generations of children until 1946. When the building was demolished during the widening of Highway 401 in 1964, its bell and belfry were preserved and eventually relocated to Guild Park.

So, during this back-to-school season, come for a walk and see if you can find both pieces of school history.

This historic school bell displayed at Guild Park was rescued from a one-room schoolhouse built in 1873 near what is now Victoria Park Avenue and Highway 401.

You never know what story is waiting around the next corner at Guild Park.

Audrea Porter

Vice-President, Friends of Guild Park