Prospect Cemetery

Photo by the City of Toronto - Posted November, 2011

Photos and transcription by contributor Wayne Adam - Posted November, 2011

Attached to this westbound St. Clair Avenue West transit shelter at Lansdowne Avenue is this City of Toronto plaque. Here's what it says:

Plaque coordinates: 43.676229 -79.450947

There was an increasing need for non-sectarian burying grounds in the 19th century as the City was expanding westward. Toronto General Burying Grounds purchased a long and narrow plot of 42 ha from William Shields in 1887. Joseph Earnshaw of Cincinnati laid out the plans for the cemetery; the design of the roads took on a curvilinear fashion to allow vistas to continually open up to its visitors. It was named "Prospect" for its picturesque views, two ravines, a trout stream, and views of Lake Ontario and Humber River Valley.
National and local histories are remembered here: World War I Veterans' Plot along with the names of early settlers Rowntree, Silverthorne, Rice, Royce, Bull, Townsley and JEH MacDonald (of the Group of Seven).

Related websites
St. Clair Avenue
Prospect Cemetery

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Cemeteries

Here are the visitors' comments for this page.

Posted January 3, 2012
Prospect Cemetery is an oasis of tranquility and I have had the good fortune to wend my way through its curvilinear roads many times. I would like to point out, in this year of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, that Fairview Cemetery in Halifax N.S., wherein are interred most of the recovered Titanic victims,was also planned and mapped out by the Cincinnati landscape engineers: Earnshaw & Punshon. I quote from an old Halifax newspaper:
"...The Cincinnati landscape engineers, Earnshaw and Punshon, have been employed to furnish maps and plans. One of that firm was brought to Halifax to view the property and obtain necessary detail. Depth of soil was tested all over the cemetery and carefully recorded. Grading and drainage plans, working plans, lot and grave plans have been prepared by the Cincinnati experts...."
Best Wishes for 2012, Victor C. Ernst, Toronto, Tuesday, January 3, 2012.

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