Toronto's Historical Plaques
Learn a little of Toronto's history as told through its plaques.
Jesse Ketchum School
Located on the south side of Davenport Road where it meets Bay Street, this 87 year old (as of 2007) school is named after one of Toronto's early philanthropists. A 1982 Toronto Historical Board plaque on the grounds has this to say:
In 1856, Jesse Ketchum, tanner and philanthropist, donated this land to the Village of Yorkville for a public park and as a site for a "Free and Common School". The school erected at that time, with later additions, was replaced by the present building in 1920. Jesse Ketchum had first given land for a school, built in 1832, at McMurrich Street and Davenport Road. Born in 1782, Jesse Ketchum came to York (Toronto) from the United States in 1799. A gentle, Christian, public-spirited man, known as the "Children's Friend", he helped establish churches, schools, libraries, and set up trusts to provide prizes for school children as "incentives to diligent studies, correct deportment, and good behaviour". He died in Buffalo in 1867.
Location Co-ordinates: 43.672807 -79.391053
Photo by Alan L Brown - September 2006
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