In one sense, we’re like the small country church that the city grew up around. Our roots date back as early as 1844. Our original services were held Sunday afternoons in a nearby school house by Methodist ministers who were traveling ‘circuit riders’, journeying by horseback as they visited the congregations in their pastoral charge. Before long, the school building was too small as the population had increased considerably and there had been a great wave of church building throughout the whole country.
Early in 1889, a site for the new church was donated and construction plans were begun. The architect was paid a sum of fifty dollars for his services. The cornerstone was laid on June 27th, 1889 and a notice in the “Christian Guardian” announced the grand opening of the new Methodist Church at Fairbank on Friday, October 11, 1889. Other than retrofit updates, the interior of the sanctuary with the original beautiful stained glass windows retains the small country church atmosphere.
Several families of our congregation are direct descendants of our original Methodist membership. In 1925, Fairbank Methodist voted to enter the newly formed United Church of Canada.
Like every corner in Toronto, Eglinton and Dufferin Streets has its own story to tell. The area was settled in the early 19th century by Matthew Parsons who owned a farm called Fairbank’s. The farm was part of a larger 200 acre plot of land in the vicinity of current day Dufferin and Eglinton streets.
In the mid 19th century, settlers moved into the area and a village began to emerge. A post office was located at the corner of Eglinton and Dufferin in the 1870’s and hotels and restaurants soon followed. Vaughan Road, originally a native trail, intersected with Eglinton and Dufferin Streets on its way from Yonge to Vaughan Township. Today, Vaughan has changed greatly, and forms a dead end at Eglinton and Dufferin Streets. But in this 1924 photo looking west from Dufferin and Eglinton, a car can be seen speeding along Vaughan. A branch of the Dominion Bank stands on the corner as well as numerous shops lining Eglinton.
Matthew Parsons donated part of his land to built the Fairbank Methodist Church, founded in the 1840’s. The first church was replaced with a new structure in 1889 that evolved into the Fairbank United Church in 1925. Modified from the original, the church still stands on Dufferin Street at Wingold Avenue.
Fairbank became one of the stops on the Beltline Railway, a speculative railway venture in the 1890’s that proposed to link numerous suburban communities. Fairbank was touted to be among “the Highlands of Toronto”, but the project failed soon after.
The village of Fairbank remained part of York West Township until it was swallowed up into Metropolitan Toronto. The area is now part of the City of Toronto although the name Fairbank is remembered by residents and is retained by several landmarks including Fairbank Memorial Community School, and Fairbank Memorial Park.
Lost Villages of Toronto
While it never actually achieved “village” status, Fairbank’s is nevertheless an interesting lost village of Toronto. Named for the farm of Matthew PARSONS, this village was found in the area of Eglinton Avenue West and Dufferin Street. It was called “Fairbank’s Farm”, but the people of the area called it “Fairbank’s”. Today most people simply refer to the area as “Fairbank”.
Matthew PARSONS was born on May 23, 1816 in Wiltshire, England, the son of Jacob PARSONS (c.1774) and Margaret ARCHER (c.1793). Jacob and family emigrated to Canada around 1820, settling in York West Township (York County).
In 1835, at age 19, Matthew left his father’s farm; he purchased a large 200 acre parcel of land which had originally been deeded to Jacob ANDERSON. The land was located on York West Concession III, Lot Nº. 3. Concession III ran between present-day Dufferin and Keele Streets. Lot 3 was north of the present-day Eglinton Avenue West, half-way to Lawrence Avenue West. Matthew named his new farm “Fairbank”, although why he chose that name is lost to history.
Matthew then set about clearing his land. In 1837, he was accused by the government of being a sympathizer of McKenzie’s Rebels. He was arrested, but soon released when no evidence could be found. Matthew married Elizabeth McKAY of York Township on November 11, 1841; his brother Jacob and Elizabeth’s brother William were the witnesses.
Others soon followed to the new “village” of Fairbank. A list of residents in the 1860s included Robert and William A. MOORE, Joseph WATSON, Alexander and James GIBBS, Joseph and Jacob P. ROSS, James ANDERSON, and the DOLLERY brothers, Isaac, William and Henry.
In 1874 a post office was opened at the northwest corner of what is now Dufferin and Eglinton, the first postmaster being William TODD (from 1874-1875). From 1876 to 1877 the postmaster was R.D. MacPHERSON, while Francis McFARLANE held that office from 1877 to 1894.
As with the rest of Toronto, the 1870s saw the building of several hotels and taverns in Fairbank, including one operated by Rodolphus WILSON and another by Francis McFARLANE (who was also postmaster). New residents of the area included John THOMPSON, Henry SANDERS, and James TYLER (butcher and drover), to name a few.
By the late 1880s land prices and rents were high in the City of Toronto, so developers tried to entice people to build homes in the suburbs (sound familiar?!). In 1889 the Toronto Belt Line Company was formed by a group of prominent Torontonians to construct and operate a radial railway around the City’s suburbs to provide commuter service. Fairbank was chosen as one of the station stops on the Beltway.
The real-estate arm of the company had grandiose plans, promoting areas such as Fairbank as the “Highlands of Toronto”. Construction of the Beltway began in 1890 using existing Grand Truck lines. Their timing, however, could not have been worse. Excessive promotional expenses, combined with a huge downturn in real estate values caused by the recession of the early 1890s, meant that the line was in trouble before it began operations. GTR had to step in to complete the project which opened for operations in July of 1892. The fare was only 5 cents between stations, but ridership was not enough to keep the line afloat. A rival line, the Toronto and Suburban Railway Company, provided a more convenient schedule, and helped put the Beltway out of its misery; it ceased operations after only 28 months. The only remnant of this once grand transportation scheme is the Belt Way bridge which crosses Yonge Street just south of Davisville.
Matthew and Margaret PARSONS had several children, including Jacob (born c.1842), William (c.1844), Hannah (c.1849), Mary (c.1851), and Amelia (c.1861). The family farm “Fairbank” remained in the PARSONS family until as late as 1955.
In the 1860s, a one room school was built for the “village” using bricks manufactured from clay on the PARSONS farm. As well, in 1889 Matthew donated a small parcel of land at the southeast corner of his lot to build the Fairbank Methodist Church. Now known as the Fairbank United Church, it stands today on Dufferin Street, just south of Wingold Ave.
…Lost Villages of Toronto: Fairbank’s
Paul J. McGrath, OGS 23947
fadedgenes 
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