History
The story of Scarborough
Geology, settlement, suburban transformation, and life as Toronto's east end.
Scarborough is not a suburb that happened yesterday. The clay escarpments along Lake Ontario record a shoreline older than human memory, the front of glacial Lake Iroquois, which stood far higher than today's lake when the last ice sheets retreated. Indigenous peoples including the Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee, and Anishinaabe (including the Mississaugas of the Credit) lived, travelled, and stewarded this land long before colonial survey lines arrived.
Elizabeth Simcoe names the bluffs
In 1793, while travelling with Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe, his wife Elizabeth Simcoe looked at the lake cliffs east of York and compared them to the seaside town of Scarborough in Yorkshire, England. The name stuck, first to the district, later to an entire township and borough that many residents still call home by name alone, decades after amalgamation into Toronto.
Township and growth
Scarborough Township was formally incorporated in 1850 within York County. For a century it remained largely agricultural, farms, mills, and cottage communities along the lake. After joining Metropolitan Toronto in 1953, Scarborough entered its great suburban expansion: tract housing, shopping centres, and industrial corridors along Highway 401 transformed the landscape within a generation.
Icons of modern Scarborough
The Toronto Zoo opened in northeast Scarborough in 1974. Scarborough Town Centre arrived in 1983 as a regional commercial anchor. Architect Raymond Moriyama's pyramid-roofed Scarborough Civic Centre (1973) became a symbol of borough pride. The R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant (1941), though at the western edge, remains one of the region's Art Deco treasures.
Amalgamation and today
On January 1, 1998, Scarborough amalgamated with Toronto and five other municipalities. Debates over transit, including the future of Line 2 east and the legacy Line 3 Scarborough RT, continue to shape politics and daily life. Yet "Scarborough" persists as a cultural identity: diverse, lake-adjacent, undervalued by downtown media, and rich in parks, food, and community.
This site tells that ongoing story, through landmarks, neighbourhoods, and the places we visit each week.
Timeline
Key dates
- c. 10,000 BCE
Lake Iroquois shoreline
The Scarborough Bluffs mark the ancient shoreline of glacial Lake Iroquois, a predecessor to Lake Ontario that stood roughly 30 metres higher.
- Pre-contact
Indigenous presence
The area was part of the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee, and Anishinaabe peoples, including Mississaugas of the Credit.
- 1793
Elizabeth Simcoe names Scarborough
While travelling along the lake bluffs, Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe's wife Elizabeth likened the cliffs to Scarborough, England, giving the district its name.
- 1850
Scarborough Township
Scarborough was incorporated as a township in York County, growing as a farming and cottage community east of Toronto.
- 1953
Metro Toronto era
Scarborough joined Metropolitan Toronto, triggering suburban expansion, new subdivisions, and industrial growth along major corridors.
- 1974
Toronto Zoo opens
The Toronto Zoo opened in northeast Scarborough, becoming one of Canada's largest zoos and a regional anchor attraction.
- 1983
Scarborough Town Centre
The major regional mall opened, cementing Scarborough as a commercial hub for the east end.
- 1998
Amalgamation
On January 1, Scarborough amalgamated with Toronto and five other municipalities to form the current City of Toronto.
- 2015
Line 3 Scarborough
The RT line entered its final years of operation; Scarborough transit debate continues with planned Line 2 extension.