This is a picture of the VALE OF AVOCA

Report on the VALE OF AVOCA - Old History of the Place and Surrounding Area. "Deer Park Newsletter" 2001 David Chartash, Analyst

The construction on the bridge over the VALE OF AVOCA was started in the late 1800s. Jhon T. Moore invested in land in the area, which is now Moore Park. Moore wanted to annex Deer Park. In the years that followed he struck a deal with the city of York and started building the bridge in 1888. Then the city of York annexed Deer Park and Moore Park in 1908 and 1912 respectively.

In 1922, the city council authorized the start of a building project to build the VALE OF AVOCA and granted, through a fund, $712,000. The new bridge was built in 1923/24 and was 508.10 feet long and 64.6 feet wide. The clearance from the floor was 90 ft. as of June 1984.

The vale is located in Deer Park, one block east of Yonge and St. Clair. One of the first houses built in the area was a house near the northeast corner of St. Clair Avenue. Until 1796, it was the only one. The one improvement to the road in the area made settlement easier in the future. From Queen St. north, it was country road with small settlements from Toronto to Lake Simcoe. There was also quicksand north of Bloor St.

By the 1800s most of the lots on both sides of the Don River watershed were farmland or meadows. In 1810 a plank structure was erected along the detour. In 1973 the vale was formaly named as a vale, after Avoca St.

On the city maps, Deer Park was near the third concession of the York township. In 1884, the Metropolitan Railway operated a streetcar that ran near the Moore Park ravine. In 1878, a post office was built in Deer Park, making the name of Deer Park official. When the city of York annexed Deer Park, it was 241 acres.

The schools in the area that was annexed by the city of York were Bishop Strachan, Brown, De La Salle or "Oaklands," Deer Park, Havergal, and St. Charles schools. All are in the current area of Deer Park. The VALE OF AVOCA was, in 1973, surrounded by apartments, shops, and offices. It goes down near the Moore Park ravine, where the remains of the Belt Line Railway are.

The VALE OF AVOCA used to be a low-density residential area. In the well-forested ravine there are the remains of the Belt Line Railway. With its path, it makes for a great discovery walk.

The distribution of plant life is based on the shape of the ravine. The distribution of the animal life consists of racoons and birds of all types. This is the only zone in Toronto that holds only carniferous trees: the Norway spruce, White spruce, Tamarack, and Scots pine. The vale is steeply sided with a dense wood and a small creek named Pleasant Creek through the mid-section.

The vale extends to the northwest and there it shares a border with the Mount Pleasant cemetery. The ravine incorporates the Rosehill reservoir into its boundaries. The VALE OF AVOCA borders the Moore Park area.

The pattern of the streets near the Vale is that of a grid. The closest library is the Deer Park Public Library Branch, which was started in 1911. The major centers of Christain worship are calvin Presbetyrian, Christ, Deer Park United, Grace Church On The Hill, Our Lady Of Perpetual, Timothy Eaton Memorial, and York Minster Park Baptist churches.