[citation needed] Surveying by Europeans began in earnest in the 1780s, with people fleeing the American Revolution.

[8][9] Before immigrating, he married Mary Hutchison (born in Cumberland) and they had their first child in Lanchester on May 28, 1814 and named him William Lea.

In 1851, William Lea bought land just south of his father's farm, and began constructing a large, octagonal brick house, which he named "Leaside".

[17] In 1912, William Mackenzie and Donald Mann, the owners of the Canadian Northern Railway, hired landscape architect Frederick Todd to plan development for a community to be built around a maintenance yard for their railway,[18] which ran beside the CP lines through the Leaside area.

The company purchased over 1,000 acres (4.0 km2; 400 ha), including most of the third concession and some land north of Eglinton Avenue.

[19] The town of Leaside was planned by Todd for the company, which put its name to many of the local streets; Laird Drive, Hanna Road, and Wicksteed Avenue all bear the name of Canadian Northern Railway company executives.

The goal of the company was to create Leaside as a new upper class residential area of Toronto, the "New Rosedale".

On June 21, 1913, the Toronto World carried the announcement that properties in Leaside's planned community would be marked in the fall of that year.

[citation needed] In 1914, the industrial area that had been set aside east of Laird Drive received its first tenant.

Canada Wire and Cable began construction of a factory for production of 9.2 inch shells for World War I.

[23] In addition to the new factory, Canada Wire and Cable moved their other Toronto production plants to the same location to increase efficiency.

The bankruptcy of Canadian Northern Railway left the project at a loss and Leaside's isolated location made it unappealing to workers from Toronto.

[27] After the war, the strip became the site of Canada's first delivery of airmail on June 18, 1918, when pilot Brian Peck delivered 120 letters from Montreal, Quebec.

Investors from Baltimore bought property that had previously belonged to Robert T. Davies for the construction of a race track.

[29] The impassibility of the Don River valley had previously made it difficult for people employed in Toronto to reside in Leaside.

[24][31] At the start of World War II, Lincoln Electric moved their operations to Leaside industrial park, adjacent to the Canada Wire and Cable plant.

[33] The site manufactured military radio equipment and optical supplies, with a total value of $220 million (CDN) in goods produced during the war.

[citation needed] As part of a Royal Canadian Air Force public relations plan, the town of Leaside officially "adopted" No.

[39] Canada Wire and Cable was purchased by Alcatel in 1991, and the operations relocated to Markham in 1996, with the location being converted to a shopping centre.

[43] The actions of the glacial Lake Iroquois made the Leaside area into a flat plateau, surrounded on three sides by deep river valleys.

[citation needed] Leaside is made up predominantly of single-family homes housing upper-middle-class families.

Other facilities in the park include a playground, a baseball diamond, and an outdoor ice rink in winter.

[50] Northlea Elementary and Middle School is located on the site of the old Divadale Estate on Rumsey Road north of Eglinton Avenue.

St. Anselm Catholic School, also located on Bessborough Drive, opened in 1939 and presently has an enrollment of 340 students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8.

The "new" high school opened in September 1948 and welcomed back local students who had been attending Lawrence Park and Jarvis Collegiate.

[citation needed] Along with the growth of these schools in the 1940s and 1950s, the growing population of Leaside also supported one of North Toronto's first preschools.

Included in the offerings is a full day program for children from junior kindergarten to grade one, based on Ontario school curriculum.

The last four occupants were - Howard T. Burrell (1951–1955); Charles H. Hiscott (1956–1961); Lloyd M. Dickinson (1962); Beth Nealson (1963–1966).

[5] In 2006, incumbent Don Valley West councillor Jane Pitfield, whose ward included Leaside, ran for mayor.

After a tumultuous term of increased traffic in the neighbourhood and rapid development along the Laird Drive corridor and in Thorncliffe Park,[57] Parker lost the seat to Burnside by a margin of 3,248 votes.