Industrial site.

Details of Site Location: Below the forks of the Don River’s East Branch and German Mills Creek between Bayview and Leslie at Cummer.

Boundary History: The mills occupied a substantial acreage along the river on both sides of Cummer Avenue.

Current Use of Property: Ravine parkland.

Historical Description: The Cummer (or Kummer, as it was originally) family were among the Berczy Settlers who came to the Toronto region in 1794 on a promise of land grants. This German group, led by artist and architect William Moll Berczy, had run out of funds by the time they arrived, and were refused land by Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe. To survive, they became the builders of Yonge Street on the route laid out by Augustus Jones and cleared by the Queen’s Rangers. So hardworking and industrious they were that, very soon, members of that community of settlers fanned out into the region, acquiring land by dint of their own efforts. One of these was Jacob Cummer. On Farm Lot 22, he built a sawmill in 1819. It was operated by his son John. In all, five generations of Cummers operated that mill. A grist mill, also water powered, was built to the north on Farm Lot 23, just south of the forks of the East Don and German Mills Creek. The grist mill of 1836 was followed by a woolen mill in 1851, on the East Don only, north of the forks. The Cummer family operated all of the mills until William Dickson took over operations for two years in 1856. From 1868, it was an Irishman, James Cooper, who ran the mills, finally purchasing them in 1878. The woolen mill had a short life, purchased from the Cummers by McIntosh and Vroom and closed down in 1857. Today, nothing remains of the mills, but a house built by Jacob Cummer survives in a much altered state at 44 Beardmore Crescent.

Relative Importance: The Cummer businesses were important to the community called German Mills, enabling it to build a church and homes and providing employment. The Cummer family name has been given to a street, most appropriately, but passers by have nothing to explain the origin of the street name or of the family that did so much for the area.

Planning Implications: It would be appropriate to mark the Yonge and Bayview intersections with Cummer with plaques embedded in the sidewalks commemorating Jacob Cummer and his family and their milling businesses. The same kind of commemoration should be made on plaques mounted beside a walking trail in the ravine at points where the Cummer Mills once stood.

Reference Sources: Miles’ Atlas (1878); Central Library of North York; George R. Tremaine, Map of the County of York, Canada West, 1860.

Acknowledgements:  Maps Project.