Industrial site.

Details of Site Location: On Yonge Street’s west side just north of the former city limits in the area of some local springs.

Boundary History: The windmill occupied a tiny piece of land. It is not known how widely distributed the springs were or how much land was under O’Keefe’s ownership.

Current Use of Property: The York Mills Apartments.

Historical Description: On the west side of Yonge was a large tract of land owned by the Gooderham family, who used it as a summer retreat. When springs were discovered, Mineral Springs Limited was formed to bottle and sell spring water. This was no small concern, as the watercourses entering the downtown area and those of the harbour were heavily polluted at the time. Mineral water was dispensed from this site for almost 20 years; however, the name was later changed to York Springs Limited. After a fire destroyed their main building in downtown Toronto, the O’Keefe Brewing Company took over the site. The earlier company had purchased it in 1906, and O’Keefe in 1931 when this company erected a windmill to pump the waters into their brewery. Operations ceased in 1934, but O’Keefe’s maintained the grounds around the windmill until 1954 when the apartment building was constructed. A small fountain was built over the York springs. The windmill itself was six-sided, with a tiny window high up on each face. The exterior walls were shingled. An unusual fan-shaped doorway was at the base on one face.

Reference Sources: History Committee of York Mills Heights Association, York Mills Heights, Looking Back (1998); files of North York Historical Society.

Acknowledgements: Maps Project