Eaton Mausoleum Decorative Glass

 

Location: Mount Pleasant Cemetery

Date photo taken: 14 July 2019

Stained or painted glass windows may not be the first type of ornamentation that comes to mind when thinking about cemeteries but they are a fairly common feature in mausoleums. If you're brave (or brazen) enough to walk right up and peer through the doors, you might just be rewarded with some colour and light. Mount Pleasant Cemetery has several beautiful examples, which provides just one more reason to visit this National Historic Site.  This particular window adorns the private Eaton family mausoleum which serves as the resting place of successful early Toronto merchant Timothy Eaton and 17 members of his family.

Taber Hill Memorial

Location: Bellamy Rd north of Lawrence Ave.
Date photo taken: 18 February 2017

This small, unassuming little hill near Markham Road and Lawrence is the resting place of over 500 individuals. It is a Huron/Wendat burial mound. It was discovered in 1956 when construction equipment was brought in to level the site. When bones were uncovered, experts were brought in to evaluate the site. It was determined that the skeletons were buried in a ritual manner consistent with the Wendat Feast of Souls. Walter Kenyon, who supervised an archaeological examination of the site, described it as "the most significant ethnological discovery in Canada's history." The site was quickly designated as a historical site and the bones were re-interred. Representatives of the Iroquois Six Nations were invited to supervise an Iroquois Feast of the Dead reburial ceremony which took place over three days. In 1961, a memorial was placed at the top of the mound, to inform visitors of the significance of the site.

Toronto Necropolis

Location: Winchester St. between Sumach and Bayview
Date photo taken: 3 November 2017

Tucked into a quiet corner of Cabbagetown, the Toronto Necropolis is a deceptively large and beautiful cemetery. The entrance sits across the street from the bucolic Riverdale Farm, and from there the grounds stretch west toward the Don Valley, sloping down to Bayview. Wandering through it you will encounter lovely trees and shrubs, lots of birds and squirrels, and graves dating back to 1850. The "Resting Place of Pioneers" within the cemetery contains the re-interred remains of almost 1000 early residents of Muddy York who were originally buried in the Potter's Field at Yonge and Bloor. There are many other burials of note including William Lyon Mackenzie, Ned Hanlan, Thornton and Lucie Blackburn, Jack Layton and Canadian servicemen killed in action.