Attempting to describe what most Bedford Park area properties
looked like exactly 200 years ago isn’t too difficult. Trees.
And more trees. Most of the land was still forest, covered with
beech trees and some pine. The golden-bronze carpet of beech
leaves on the forest floor was steadily turning brown in
November 1804. The only break in the canopy of branches and pine
needles was a single muddy road (Yonge Street) and a few paths,
like the one along the Fourth Concession Line (Lawrence Avenue).
Clinging to Yonge Street were a handful of farms. The west side,
north of Lawrence, had been the domain of the four Kendrick
brothers. But most of them had left. Joseph had just sold his
corner farm (northwest Yonge and Lawrence) to Duncan Cameron, a
fur trader. His brother Duke still owned the next farm, but
since the failure of his potash business (near Cranbrooke), he
spent most of his time at his home in the Town of York. The next
farm was Kendrick property in name only. Hiram never occupied
the site, instead renti