Wendigo Creek
Wendigo Creek was a short watercourse in Toronto, Ontario, that drained into Grenadier Pond.[1] It was spring fed, like nearby Spring Creek. Its headwaters were north of Bloor Street, near Dundas Street and Laws Street.[2]
Tributaries joined the main channel at Clendenan Street and Glendonwynne Street, north of High Park.[2]
The creek's steeply sloped ravine was 15 m (49.21 ft ) deep where it crossed Bloor, until that portion was filled in, in 1915.[2] A conduit carried the creek under the embankment.
Currently, storm sewers empty into channelized open remnant of the creek, south of Bloor, in the north end of High Park.[1]
Sediment washed down the creek, formed a sandbar, at the outlet of Grenadier Pond, sealing it off, as a separate pond.[3]
A follower of John Harvey Kellogg, William McCormick, and his wife, both medical doctors, built a sanatorium at 32 Gothic Avenue, along the creek's banks, in 1905.[4] The pair built "mineral baths", claiming the spring-fed creek had special health benefits. When the McCormicks shut down the sanatorium the mineral baths were turned into official city swimming pools.
The name is derived from wendigo, a creature of North American folklore.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wayne Reeves, Christina Palassio (2008-10-01). HTO: Toronto's water from Lake Iroquois to lost rivers to low-flow toilets. Coach House Press. ISBN 978-1-55245-208-0. Retrieved on 2011-12-29.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ron Allan. Wendigo Creek & Wendigo Pond, HighParkNature.org. Retrieved on 2022-12-21.
- ↑ Edward Brown. Toronto Urban Legends: A High Park Imponderable, Torontoist, 2012-10-31. Retrieved on 2019-03-27. “The 35-acre pond is a one-of-a-kind geological feature in Toronto. Wave action on Lake Ontario combined with sediments that washed down Wendigo Creek accumulated over the ages at the creek’s mouth, eventually blocking the watercourse and creating Grenadier Pond behind it.”
- ↑ David Wencer. Historicist: Swimming at the Minnies, Torontoist, 2014-05-24. Retrieved on 2019-03-27.