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Joseph Rowntree
was an early pioneer in the north Humber village of Thistletown.
Named after its local physician Dr. Thistle, the village was originally
known as St. Andrew's. In 1843, Rowntree built a sawmill on the
east bank of the river just outside the village and, five years
later, built a grist mill on the west bank. His mills were known
as the "Greenholme Mills" and operated until the end of the nineteenth
century.
Rowntree Mills
Park was created by former Metropolitan Toronto Council in 1959
following the Watershed Conservation Scheme, a program designed
to acquire floodplain lands. In June 1969, former Metro acquired
a 5.2 hectare parcel at the north-east corner of the park from the
Finnish Society of Toronto. The Society had used the site as a recreation
centre with steam-baths, saunas, bandshell, and an outdoor track
with sports fields.
One of Toronto's
largest parks, Rowntree Mills contains a variety of landscape features
and plant communities. These include mown grass areas, forested
valley slopes, bottomland forests, meadows and wetlands. Identifying,
protecting and enhancing these natural resources is a significant
responsibility in the management of Metro's regional parklands.
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