Every Saturday morning, Historicist looks back at the events, places, and characters—good and bad—that have shaped Toronto into the city we know today. Photo of Sunnyside Beach in 1924 from Wikimedia Commons. When Sunnyside Amusement Park officially opened on June 28, 1922, it was grandly proclaimed to be ushering in a new era for the city. Addressing a crowd of thousands, R. Home Smith, chairman of the Toronto Harbour Commission, said that "Toronto is upon......

Peter Riedel could hardly have chosen a better location to ply his trade. We've seen rock balancers in the eastern beaches, in the western beaches, and even at the Ex, but this is the first time we've seen one working the Humber River. Literally in the river. The Humber cascades over a low waterfall in Étienne Brûlé Park before bubbling just a few centimetres deep across a short stretch of river rock. The only......