History of Liberty Village
Historical Timeline
Did you know there are tunnels running under Liberty Village that were routes to supply munitions to the ships for the war efforts? How about an impressive baseball stadium called Diamond Park on the southeast corner of Fraser Avenue at Liberty Street?
We know there are railway lines that mark the north and south boundaries of the village, but, did you know there was a third line that cut right through the village on a diagonal? And there was a Men’s Prison and a Reformatory for ‘wayward’ women within a short walk of one another in our village?
There’s so much to learn about our wonderful neighbourhood by travelling back through its history.
Historical Walking Tour
The name Liberty most likely came from a number of sources, but there are some known urban myths...
Liberty, because at this distance, you were beyond the extent of the cannon fire from Fort York. Liberty, because prisoners were allowed to work on Liberty Street during the day and return to their respective cells in the evening. Liberty, as this was the street where prisoners would be released after their sentence was complete. And Liberty, as this was the area that worked incredibly hard in the war effort, building bombs, Bren guns, uniforms and other munitions for both world wars.
The origins of our village’s name is just one of the many things to discover while walking through the streets of Liberty Village.