H I S T O R Y 
Armour Heights was originally settled in the 1830's by John Armour after whom this neighbourhood is named. The Armour homestead was situated where Armour Heights Community Centre is located today. The Armour family sold their farm in 1911 to Colonel F.B. Robins, who planned the Armour Heights neighbourhood. Robins envisioned Armour Heights as a high-class address with its own polo field and bridle path. The polo field was never built however the bridle path has become today's Yonge Boulevard. When the first World War broke out Colonel Robins put his subdivision on hold and instead donated land in Armour Heights to the air force as a training school for American and Canadian pilots. American Aviatrix hero Amelia Earhardt was a regular visitor to the airfield during the latter part of the war when she was stationed in Toronto as a nurses aid with the Canadian Red Cross. The Armour Heights subdivision was beginning to gather steam when in 1929 Robins and fellow developer W.P. Mulock sold all their interest in Armour Heights to R. J. Lillico & Associates. This sale was described in local papers at the time as one of the largest real estate transactions ever in Toronto. The new owners attempted to change the name of this subdivision to Beverley Hills but it is the original Armour Heights name that has stood the test of time. ALLEN MAYER |
