Lorne Park

Lorne Park is a suburban residential neighbourhood located in southwestern Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, that was first established as a resort.

Lorne Park shares a common history with the adjacent Clarkson. Before the arrival of the Europeans, all the land that today comprises Lorne Park (and all of the City of Mississauga) belonged to the Mississaugas.

One of the first European settlers in the Clarkson-Lorne Park area was Warren Clarkson. Lorne Park is located in what was originally Toronto Township, which comprised a number of hamlets and incorporated towns and villages.

Lakeshore Road originated as a log road built from the mouth of the Credit River to the Humber River 1820, and was extended west shortly after through the Lorne Park area to connect York (now Toronto) to Hamilton. By 1830, logging was a major industry in Lorne Park. Most of the pine wood was exported to Britain and the United States.

Over the early part of the 20th century Lorne Park grew into a unique community. In 1887, Joseph Thompson bought 86 acres (35 ha) of land in Lorne Park which became known as Thompson's Wood, now called Jack Darling Park. Thompson's brother Ernest Seton lived there until the home was lost in foreclosure. Ernest left, changed his name to Ernest Thompson Seton and achieved fame as an author and artist. The Lorne Park Post Office opened in 1892 and George D. Perry was the village's first postmaster. James Alberton built the three-story Albertonia Hotel in 1899. In 1927, it was renamed the Lorne Park Lodge but burned down two years later in 1929.

The Lorne Park Mission Hall was built in 1902. It featured an open porch and a bell tower on the roof. The first library was organized by sawmill owner Robert Taylor in 1903. The first library meeting was held in January, 1904, in the Lorne Park Mission Hall. Reverend H. Thompson officiated over the first Anglican services in 1906, also held at the Lorne Park Mission Hall. St. Paul's Anglican Church was built in 1914. The Lorne Park Baptist Church was founded Sunday, May 18, 1919, in the Lorne Park Mission, with Reverend J. Williamson presiding.

At some point a 30 ha (74 acres) "pleasure grounds," was operated in Lorne Park by the Toronto Park Association, included separate parlours for men and women, bowling lanes and merry-go-rounds. Travel to the resort from Toronto was often by steamer. After a series of bankruptcies, the resort lands were sold to cottagers. With the completion of the Queen Elizabeth Way, suburbanization of the surrounding lands ensued in the post-World War II period, with the cottage areas becoming residential. The former cottage areas largely retain a woodsy character today and stand out from the later suburban developments, with streets having no curbs or sidewalks.

For the next half century, Lorne Park remained a small community, until 1968 when it, along with the rest of Toronto Township, was restructured into the Town of Mississauga, which became the City of Mississauga in 1974.