Pickering Beach is a neighbourhood in the Ajax town of Ontario, Canada. Located on Lake Ontario east of Toronto, it was once an important cottage destination for Toronto's upper class.
In 1926, Toronto lawyer James Tuckett bought lakeshore farmland in the Pickering Township to develop a seasonal cottage community that eventually evolved into a permanently settled unincorporated community. The local residents formed an Association that organized events; raised funds for road maintenance and flood prevention; established a church, a school, and a park; operated a fire station as volunteers; and lobbied for municipal services such as electricity, garbage collection, and sewage.
In the early 1970s, MTRCA acquired several lake front properties for a parkland. In 1974, Pickering Beach merged with the town of Ajax, within the Regional Municipality of Durham. Modern residences have now replaced the original cottages. The local beach is now called Paradise Beach, although the neighbourhood retains its original name.
History
In 1926, James Tuckett, a young lawyer from Toronto, visited the beach along Lake Ontario in the south-east part of the Pickering Township (the beach is now called Paradise Beach, and is located in the town of Ajax). He sensed a business opportunity to build a cottage community, and bought the lakeshore farmland between a natural marshland in the west and Carruthers Creek in the east. He built several cabins for sale or rent, and left some empty lots for buyers to build cottages. In his promotional literature, Tuckett described the Pickering Beach as "the ideal summer resort". The community became a popular weekend destination among the residents of Toronto. Beach sports, other outdoor activities, and dancing in the local Pavillion became popular activities for the visitors and the resident cottagers.
Community Association
At the time of the community's establishment, the Powell Road (later Pickering Beach Road), the main path leading to the beach, was a dirt road. In the 1930s, Stanley Mann, a realtor hired by Tuckett, helped the local residents form the Pickering Beach Community Association to address issues such as poor condition of roads and flooding. The Association consulted with Tuckett, and came up with a plan to raise funds for improving the poor condition of the gravel roads leading to the Beach. The vendors at the Beach were now required to pay a license fee (up to a maximum of $15 per season); the collected amount would go towards the road maintenance. The number of vendors was restricted to two of each type; e.g. only two bakery wagons were allowed on the beach at a time.
In 1937, the Association formalized its constitution and elected officers. It had a nominal membership fee ($1 for residents, 25 cents for visitors), which paid for police presence during the events organized at the beach, among other things. The Association held monthly meetings at various cottages in rotation, and at rented spaces in Toronto during winter. It also organized various events such as races, tug-o-war contests, softball games, bingo games, and Christmas Euchres.
By 1935, electricity supply had reached the lakefront cottages and farmers through power lines. By 1938, the Association had 150 members. It lobbied for lower electricity rates, and negotiated weekly garbage collection from the cottages for a fee of $3 per season.
In 1940, the Association, with contribution from Stanley Mann, built the Marquee Dance Pavilion at Pickering Beach. Mann also led a campaign by the cottagers to develop a park at the end of the Shoal Point Road, west of the Pickering Beach. The new park had a baseball field, picnic tables, and a concession stand.
During the World War II, Stanley Mann worked at Defence Industries Limited Pickering Works, located north-west of Pickering Beach. He eventually purchased all the unsold lots from James Tuckett, and encouraged his friends and acquaintances to visit the Pickering Beach.
After the end of the War in 1945, several students from the University of Toronto's Ajax campus rented the Pickering Beach cottages and winterized them. The Pickering Beach cottages now remained in use throughout the year.