HISTORY
West Hill's history began in 1879, when it was granted a post office by the federal 
government. Prior to the opening of the post office West Hill was considered part 
of the neighbouring Highland Creek community.  

West Hill's earliest settlers were Irish immigrants from the County of Cork, who arrived here in the 1840's seeking refuge from the potato famine in their homeland. They settled mostly in two-room shacks in the Morningside and Lawrence Avenue area, which for a time was called "Corktown". Many of these new Canadians found work in the building of the Grand Trunk Railway along Toronto's waterfront in 1856.

In 1906, the radial streetcar line connected West Hill to the rest of Toronto. The streetcar attracted many families to this area, which culminated in the opening of the West Hill Public School in 1921. The present day neighbourhood was developed largely between the 1940's and 1960's.