New 2009 Murals

This is an artist’s conception of the old swimming hole once located on Willow Dale Farm and a fanciful look at the swimwear of earlier times. At 5126 Dundas, this 21.5’ x 28’ mural was inspired by Mary Appleby’s note in Villages of Etobicoke, describing the remains of a mill pond which became a favourite swimming hole for generations of young Islington residents. The mill pond was below what was once a functioning sawmill on Mimico Creek, likely near the little parkette at Burnhamthorpe Road and Burnhamthorpe Park Boulevard, on property now owned by Islington Golf Club.

There are no known photos of the sawmill but historical interpreter, Randall Reid, tells us it would have been a wooden structure no more than two stories tall and powered by a water wheel. The swimwear featured in the mural came from actual European swimwear designs from no later than the 1920s. (Canadian swimwear was a little more modest.)

Mural 14 – Pub with No Beer

By John Kuna, 2009

Located on the front of the Fox and Fiddle, Precinct, building at 4946 Dundas, this 6’ x 16’ mural depicts a scene from the prohibition era (ca. 1928) with a pop truck rounding up empty bottles outside of the old Islington Hotel, which was once a local watering hole. At the time Burnhamthorpe Road was situated on the west side of the hotel and the hotel’s drive shed stretched across what is now the current intersection of Dundas St. West and Burnhamthorpe Road and Cordova Avenue.

Mural 15: “Faith of Our Fathers, 2”

by John Kuna, 2009 - to be located at 4901 Dundas

The photo at left shows an 8’ x 18’ mural to be located at 4901 Dundas. The work chronicles the history of Islington United Church in Islington from its early Wesleyan Methodist days to the building of the current church now located at 25 Burnhamthorpe Road.

As early as 1815 ministers, called “Circuit Riders”, traveled on horseback from community to community, attending to the spiritual needs of perhaps 30 parishes.

The “Circuit Rider” shown in the mural has the face of Dr. Stewart East who, along with other ministers, rode on horseback up the steps of the new church as part of the dedication ceremony. This re-enactment created quite a spectacle.

This mural replaces the original "Faith of Our Fathers" which featured the second Methodist church in the village. That structure is now shown in a mural at 4972 Dundas. The original "Faith" mural was a test, painted on plywood panels which eventually chipped and faded...

Village of Islington BIA