Windermere Kids

As Toronto grew westward in 1910, the Reverend Gilbart Agar, pastor of Howard Park Methodist Church advised the Methodist Social Union to 'plant' a church in the Bloor/Windermere area. Early in 1912 the Social Union opened a tent church on the sand hills in the community which later became the village of Swansea. The people of the area responded enthusiastically and a more permanent accommodation became necessary. Howard Park financed the purchase of a lot on the corner of Windermere and Mayfield Avenues. A portable church was brought in and erected almost overnight. In early March 1914, a terrific windstorm swept the community while the evening service was in progress. The building outlasted the service but collapsed around 1:00am. Parts of the portable church were found several blocks away and hymn books were discovered in the snow as far south as the Swansea Public School. Within a week the congregation met and decided to move and build a more permanent structure.