10

Architectural plan for the Lawrence Park location
Circa 1923
Avenue Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Mary Naughton 1937 Photograph Album
Dr. Catherine Steele 1928 Archives, Havergal College

11

Path to the 'New School' at Lawrence Park
Circa 1927
Avenue Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Dr. Catherine Steele 1928 Archives, Havergal College

12

Programme from Cornerstone Laying, New Building in Lawrence Park West
23 April 1926
Avenue Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Hahn Fonds
Dr. Catherine Steele 1928 Archives, Havergal College

13

The 'Lawrence Park' School Opens

By 1939, North Toronto had a population of 60,000, and a great increase in school-age youth echoed a similar pattern across the city (mainly due to new mandatory attendance legislation, as well as a near elimination in the use of child labour). Several other high schools were by then in operation in the area: North Toronto Collegiate Institute (1912), Northern Vocational School (1930) and Lawrence Park Collegiate (1936).

When the new school in North Toronto opened on 17 September 1926, finishing touches were frantically being completed. The principal, Marion Wood, would later describe the scene: "...the water was not yet connected, there was only a temporary telephone service outside, no schoolrooms were finished, building material was everywhere ... [One brave mother] who, bringing her daughter twenty-four hours early by mistake, and finding the household still having meals at the farm opposite, owing to the lack of a kitchen stove, yet dared to leave Doris - nay after spending the night, next morning picked up a broom and joined lustily in the general attack on the disorder."

14

The 'New School' at Lawrence Park - 'mid the mud'
1926
Avenue Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Marian Rooke 1928
Dr. Catherine Steele 1928 Archives, Havergal College

15

"A Boarder's Dream"
1927
Avenue Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Dr. Catherine Steele 1928 Archives, Havergal College

16

Havergal College - Front Gate
Circa 1930
Avenue Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Dr. Catherine Steele 1928 Archives, Havergal College

17

Due to Depression-era economics, the school was forced to wait to complete any kind of landscaping. The building, therefore, bleakly stood out in the North Toronto landscape for several years. Later, spruces, maples and poplars were obtained from the Forestry Department, as well as two oak seedlings from England which were planted at the front of the school to celebrate the coronation of Kind George VI. (One of these oaks can still be seen at the north end.)

In 1937 the new principal, Ms Millard, arrived to take stock of the school: "Not a house or building could I see near the school on Avenue Road, only a few bushes on rough land facing the school. I thought 'Prairies of the West' but one lone pine tree on that land gave me hope that day ..."

18

Construction of a new wing
Circa 1937
Avenue Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Mary Naughton 1938 Photograph Album
Dr. Catherine Steele 1928 Archives, Havergal College

19

Approaching Havergal College northbound near Avenue Road
Circa 1937
Avenue Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Dr. Catherine Steele 1928 Archvies, Havergal College

20

Transportation Issues

By 1937, there were still a number of boarders and staff residing at the Jarvis Street location who needed to be bused up to join the 445 students at the 'New School' at Avenue Road and Lawrence Avenue.

Some girls were picked up by the school bus in their residential neighbourhoods, and others took advantage of the newly formed TTC.

In a similar vein, area inhabitants felt less of a cultural and social allegiance to North Toronto than to Toronto itself. In becoming a bedroom community, North Toronto residents traveled downtown for almost all their daily work and recreational needs. Havergal College students were no less inclined to do the same - but encountered some transportation problems with the slow, often overcrowded, bus system.

21

"All roads lead to Havergal"
June 1933
Avenue Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Dr. Catherine Steele 1928 Archives, Havergal College

22

"Times and Stops on the Routes of the Special Buses"
Circa 1933
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Dr. Catherine Steele 1928 Archives, Havergal College

23

An early version of the Havergal College Bus
Circa 1927
Avenue Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Dr. Catherine Steele 1928 Archives, Havergal College