Nothing beats a day spent at Toronto’s Evergreen Brick Works, complete with hiking trails, beautiful ravines, a boardwalk around wetlands, and even a Saturday farmers’ market.
With over half a million visitors per year, the site blends a historic relic of Toronto’s industrial heritage with a green, urban landscape beloved by anyone who sets foot in it.
But before this old brick factory was turned evergreen, the site was just a massive hole in the ground.
Evergreen Brick Works is the site of extensive geological history. Photo: Canoo
On the surface, the former site looked like a whole lot of nothing: but looking closer, it proved to be important to understanding geological eras.
According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, the quarry that was eventually dug out on the site contains mud and stone that point to millions of years of its history. There are layers upon layers of rock that showcase how Toronto has undergone significant geological changes.
That includes evidence of two ice ages and signs of climate shifts that helped carve out the ravines of Toronto millions of years ago.
The uppermost layer contains a band of yellow sand called the Iroquois Sands, which is around 12,000 years old.
The sands are named after Lake Iroquois, a predecessor of Lake Ontario that drained after the last ice age. That led to the carving out of Toronto’s ravines, a distinctive part of the city’s landscape. It also left behind fossils of massive beavers, which were reportedly bear-sized, that once lived there.
Below that sit mud and glacial stones, evidence of a time when that part of Ontario was covered by a big sheet of ice. Which means that Toronto was, at one point, part of an ice age.
And at the very bottom lies an ancient seabed made of shale, formed when the continental drift created Pangea.
The area has been of interest to scientists worldwide. In 1926, it even helped U of T professor A.P. Coleman showcase evidence that the Earth had experienced multiple ice ages before.
Those geological elements ultimately led to the site becoming an industrial playground designed for brick-making.
Early records show that the brick factory itself got its start in 1882 when John. F. Taylor and his brothers William and George bought the land in hopes of turning the site into a paper mill.
But as William Taylor was digging holes for fence posts one day, he came across an abundance of clay. When a local brickmaker said the material would be ideal for brick-making, it was clear that the clay would make them a much larger fortune than placing a paper mill atop this natural resource.
The Taylors dug out a large quarry rich with shale, realizing that they had unwittingly stumbled upon an even larger gold mine than they had initially envisioned.
View of the site before it was turned into a brick factory, likely photographed in 1908. Photo: City of Toronto Archives
By 1889, the Taylors had transformed the site into the Don Valley Pressed Brick Company, renowned for producing high-quality bricks for some of Toronto’s most iconic landmarks.
Though brickmaking operations moved out decades earlier, you can still see the bricks produced at this site in the 21st century, living on in structures like Massey Hall, Old City Hall, and Casa Loma.
The company went through a series of name changes over the years. It was later renamed the Don Valley Brick Company Limited when it was sold to a brother-in-law of the original owners in 1909. However, after a significant expansion, it was renamed yet again to the Don Valley Brick Works Limited.
At the peak of its success, the company produced over 43 million bricks annually.
At its peak, the factory produced over 43 million bricks annually. Photo: Piixel Thing/Shutterstock
The factory was a significant employer for the surrounding communities. In a July 1893 edition of the Toronto Globe, a reporter wrote that 65 hands were working at the plant, with many of their families living nearby in villages such as Chester and Todmorden, while others resided in Toronto and York Township.
View of the factory in the early 1890s. Photo: City of Toronto Archives
Following a devastating fire that destroyed much of downtown Toronto in 1904, a law was enacted that prohibited the use of wood as a primary material for new buildings. That meant only one thing for the Don Valley Pressed Brick Company: a prosperous future, as the brick business was soon to skyrocket.
The company remained active for almost a century until 1984. However, after almost a century of producing bricks for an ever-growing city, the inevitable occurred: the land’s natural resources began to diminish, making it nearly impossible for the company to maintain production.
Don Valley Brick Works, Bayview Ave., looking south from Chorley Park, 1952. Photo: Toronto Public Library
When the factory closed, the site was later seized in 1989 by the City of Toronto and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA).
In 1995, the City and TRCA initiated restoration work on the site, eventually using the void left by the quarry to construct a series of wetland environments to provide habitats for wildlife in the area.
Wetland at Evergreen Brick Works. Photo: Jack Landau
They also introduced dry wildflower meadows and forest plant communities to various areas of the site.
Paths and meadows at Evergreen Brick Works. Photo: Jack Landau
Evergreen, a nonprofit environmental organization which the site was named after, began planting trees there in 1991.
Evergreen Brick Works in the present day. Photo: Evergreen Brick Works
In 2002, the remaining 16 buildings that comprised the industrial site itself were designated as heritage buildings. The other buildings were turned into a centre for educational programs, largely due to the efforts of the Evergreen organization after they leased the site from the city and the TRCA in 2008.
Today, the site is far from what it once was, as visitors are drawn to its physical landscape and natural beauty.
According to Evergreen Brick Works, their mission is to make cities more livable, green, and prosperous — and they achieve this through events that bring the community together. Today, the site is known for hosting a myriad of events from the Winter Market to Day of the Dead.
Even more impressive is the park’s beauty through the seasons. Enjoy the lush greener in summer months, or marvel at the fall leaves by walking through the Quarry Garden or the Children’s Garden.
The park is also used for hosting various markets, including the Saturday farmers’ market. On Sundays, find the Ontario Artisan Market and Ontario Vintage Market for all your local art and food needs.
Visiting the park today is a unique urban experience in a naturalized space that prioritizes wetlands and trails, bringing a sense of serene beauty that feels far removed from the hustle and bustle of Toronto.
