The site of York Cemetery was originally a property farmed by Joseph Shepard, who bought the land in 1805.

[1] The brick farm house on the property was constructed in 1837 by Joseph's son, Michael.

[citation needed] In 1916, the Toronto General Burying Grounds (now the Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries) bought the property but didn't start to convert the 172 acres (70 ha) for cemetery use until 1946, two years before the cemetery officially opened in 1948.

[1] The cemetery once fronted on Yonge Street, but in 1966, eighteen and a half acres were sold to the city of North York (now part of Toronto).

The cemetery has continued to develop, with the addition of a chapel and reception centre, and also the newly built "garden of remembrance".