Featured Chapter from Joanne Doucette’s book, Leslieville, published 2016.




The Highland Shepherd, 1859 (oil on canvas); by Bonheur, Rosa (1822-99); 49×63 cm; Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany; French, out of copyright


York (now Toronto) had virtually no trees when George Leslie arrived.

Now: The Leslie General Store and Post Office still stands, but the front is much altered. It now has a mural on the side celebrating George Leslie and Leslieville. “Pigs, flowers and bricks appeared to be the staple industries of the early Leslieville,” Robert Adams, “Pupils Record Leslieville Story” Toronto Star, June 25, 1957
