Public Notice

IN THE MATTER OF THE ONTARIO HERITAGE ACT

R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER O.18 AND

CITY OF TORONTO, PROVINCE OF ONTARIO

6278 KINGSTON ROAD

NOTICE OF INTENTION TO DESIGNATE THE PROPERTY

TAKE NOTICE that Council for the City of Toronto intends to designate the property, including the lands, buildings and structures thereon known municipally as 6278 Kingston Road under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.O.18, as amended, as a property of cultural heritage value or interest. 

Reasons for Designation 

The property at 6278 Kingston Road is worthy of designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its cultural heritage value and meets Regulation 9/06, the provincial criteria for municipal designation. 

Description

The subject property at 6278 Kingston Road is located on the north side of Kingston Road, west of Meadowvale Road, within the Highland Creek neighbourhood of Scarborough. Constructed in the mid-nineteenth century, the property contains a single-storey vernacular Ontario Cottage style house, with a front porch featuring a gable dormer added in 2002. The subject property has served as a single-family residence from its period of construction to the present day and was home to the Morrish family from 1855 until 1984. The subject property, which was included on the City of Toronto's Heritage Register on September 27, 2006, is adjacent to the Part IV designated W.J. Morrish General Store at 6282 Kingston Road. 

Statement of Cultural Heritage Value

Design and Physical Value

The property at 6278 Kingston Road has design and physical value as it is a representative example of the vernacular Ontario Cottage style within the former village of Highland Creek. The Ontario Cottage style was a Regency-inspired vernacular style prevalent throughout Southern Ontario in the nineteenth century. Features of the style represented at 6278 Kingston Road include its single-storey form, the side-gable roof, and the symmetrical front façade comprising a single door flanked by windows. The cladding (wood board) has been altered but is appropriate for the style, along with the wood window and door trim work.

Historical and Associative Value

The property at 6278 Kingston Road has historical and associative value owing to its direct associations with the Morrish family of Highland Creek and Scarborough, who through multiple generations have had a lasting impact on the development of the local community. John Morrish immigrated to Scarborough Township from Ohio in 1855, settling in Scarborough Township where subsequent generations of the family would operate the Morrish General Store out of the neighbouring property at 6282 Kingston Road. Members of the Morrish family would in subsequent generations expand into surrounding communities and become prominent figures in local businesses and politics. Decedents of John Morrish owned the subject property at 6278 Kingston Road and the neighbouring store at 6282 Kingston Road into the 1980s and were well-known figures within the community.

Contextual Value

Contextually, the property at 6278 Kingston Road is physically, functionally, and visually linked to the adjacent property at 6282 Kingston Road, collectively forming a significant historical tie to Highland Creek and Scarborough's agricultural past. The property’s placement on Kingston Road, the primary east-west corridor between Toronto and eastern settlements, is integrally connected to its history and its role as the residence for shopkeepers at the adjacent Morrish General Store, a role it served through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The subject property remains visually linked through its siting and placement to the adjacent property at 6282 Kingston Road, creating a recognizable collection of historic properties at the corner of Kingston Road and Meadowvale Road.

Heritage Attributes

Design and Physical Value

Attributes that contribute to 6278 Kingston Road being a representative example of the vernacular Ontario Cottage style:

• The scale, form, and massing of the subject property, which contains a single-storey rectangular house form building with rear extension and side-gable roof
• The placement, setback, and orientation of the subject property, which is set-back from the sidewalk on Kingston Road and the side property lines
• The low-pitched side gable roof, with a brick chimney rising from the west façade of the house and protruding above the roof gable ridgeline
• The symmetrical arrangement of the primary (south) façade and pattern of its two segmental arched window openings (two-over-two configuration) on either side of a centered single front door
• The asymmetrical arrangement and pattern of the segmental arched windows on the east and west facades, and the deep eaves

* The front porch addition and cross-gable roof with round window are not identified as heritage attributes.

Contextual Value

Attributes that contribute to 6278 Kingston Road being visually, functionally, and historically linked to its surroundings:

• The placement, set-back and orientation of the structure on the north side of Kingston Road west of Meadowvale Road
• The single-storey scale of the primary (south) facade and the visible portions of the secondary (east and west) facades
• The placement in relation to the adjacent Part IV-designated property at 6282 Kingston Road (W.J. Morrish General Store), which together create an important connection to the early settlement history of the Highland Creek community

Notice of Objection to the Notice of Intention to Designate

Notice of an objection to the Notice of Intention to Designate the Property may be served on the City Clerk, Attention: Registrar Secretariat, City Clerk's Office, Toronto City Hall, 2nd Floor West, 100 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N2.; Email: RegistrarCCO@toronto.ca within thirty (30) days of August 4, 2026, which is September 3, 2026. The notice of objection to the Notice of Intention to Designate the Property must set out the reason(s) for the objection and all relevant facts.

Getting Additional Information:

Further information in respect of the Notice of Intention to Designate the Property is available from the City of Toronto at:

https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2026.PH32.17.