View source for Danforth Avenue

{{short description|Arterial street in Toronto}}
{{redirect|The Danforth|the neighbourhood along Danforth Avenue also called the Danforth|Greektown, Toronto}}
{{Other uses|Danforth (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2019}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox street
|location=[[Toronto]]
|name=Danforth Avenue
|marker_image = [[File:Danforth Avenue Sign Toronto Crossroads.jpg|150px]]<br>[[File:Danforth Avenue Sign Toronto.jpg|200px]]
|maint= City of Toronto
|established=
|image = Danforth Avenue near Greektown 2022.jpg
|caption = Danforth Avenue near Greektown in 2022
|length_km= 9.2 
|length_ref=<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/43.6757874,-79.3609582/43.7020871,-79.2539483/@43.6887029,-79.342686,13z/data=!4m19!4m18!1m15!3m4!1m2!1d-79.3567533!2d43.6766116!3s0x89d4cc9f929f983b:0xd7c041d32e364368!3m4!1m2!1d-79.2619562!2d43.6976879!3s0x89d4cef3d2715d4b:0x746b03232146c8ae!3m4!1m2!1d-79.2580165!2d43.6992769!3s0x89d4cef744cb6f45:0x241d31f671eb4be7!1m0!3e0|publisher= Google Maps|title= Danforth Ave route|access-date=March 28, 2017}}</ref>  
|map= Danforth Ave map.png 
|map_caption= <small>Map of Danforth Avenue (Red) and Danforth Road (Green) within Toronto</small>
|cities=  
|direction_a= West
|direction_b= East
|terminus_a= [[Don River (Ontario)|Don River]] (Continues as [[Bloor Street]]) 
|terminus_b= [[Kingston Road (Toronto)|Kingston Road]] 
|junction= [[Broadview Avenue]]<br />[[List of north–south roads in Toronto|Pape Avenue]]<br/>[[List of north–south roads in Toronto|Donlands Avenue]]<br/>[[Coxwell Avenue]]<br />[[Woodbine Avenue (Ontario)|Woodbine Avenue]]<br />[[Warden Avenue]]<br />[[Birchmount Road]]<br />[[Kennedy Road (Toronto)|Kennedy Road]]<br />[[Victoria Park Avenue]]<br />Danforth Road<br/>[[Warden Avenue]]<br />[[Birchmount Road]]
|browse=  {{Nearby arterials|type=Toronto|previous= [[Gerrard Street (Toronto)|Gerrard Street]]|next = [[O'Connor Drive]]<br />[[St. Clair Avenue]]}}
}}

'''Danforth Avenue''' (informally also known as '''the Danforth''') and '''Danforth Road''' are two historically-related arterial streets in [[Toronto]], Ontario, Canada. Danforth ''Avenue'' is an east-west street that begins in [[Old Toronto]] at the [[Prince Edward Viaduct]] as a physical continuation of [[Bloor Street]] and continues for about {{convert|6|km}} east through old Toronto, about {{convert|350|m}} of old East York, and a further {{convert|5|km}} in [[Scarborough, Toronto|Scarborough]] until it intersects with [[Kingston Road (Toronto)|Kingston Road]] via a ramped [[interchange (road)|interchange]]. Danforth ''Road'' splits off the Avenue west of [[Warden Avenue]] and runs diagonally northeast until south of [[Lawrence Avenue]], where it continues as [[McCowan Road]].
 
[[Line 2 Bloor–Danforth]] of the [[Toronto subway]] runs just north of Danforth Avenue from the [[Don River (Ontario)|Don River]] as far as [[Main Street station (Toronto)|Main Street station]], before gradually veering north as it heads east.

== History ==
Danforth Road was named for American contractor [[Asa Danforth Jr.]], who built portions of what would become [[Queen Street East|Queen Street]] and [[Kingston Road (Toronto)|Kingston Road]]. He started work in 1799 on ''Danforth's Road'' as (originally) a hundred-mile route from Scarborough to the [[Trent River (Ontario)|Trent River]]. That road was completed in 1801, but soon fell into disrepair and was largely replaced by the 1817 [[Ontario Highway 2|Kingston Road]] [[stagecoach]] route.

Before being named Danforth Avenue, maps referred to it as '' Concession Line Road''.

Danforth Avenue, named because it was created to connect Toronto to Danforth Road, was officially built by the Don and Danforth Plank Road Company in 1851 to [[Broadview Avenue]], as well as connecting to Kingston Road.

In [[Scarborough, Toronto|Scarborough]], Danforth Road connects Danforth Avenue with [[McCowan Road]]. It is possible, therefore, to stand at the intersection of "Danforth and Danforth", i.e. Danforth Avenue and Danforth Road. Local references, therefore, are careful to note whether it is the Avenue or the Road being referred to—although the term "the Danforth" always refers to Danforth Avenue, and never to Danforth Road.

[[Warden Avenue]] and [[Birchmount Road]] in Scarborough are two of the four routes to intersect with both Danforth Avenue and Danforth Road (the others being residential Scotia and Medford avenues). With other routes, the distinction is unnecessary; for example, "Victoria Park and Danforth" means Danforth Avenue, while "Kennedy and Danforth" mean Danforth Road.

Previously, Danforth Road continued around the [[Highland Creek (Toronto)|Highland Creek]] along local residential roadways now known as:

* Painted Post Drive  – two broken sections from Bellamy Road to Scarborough Golf Club Road north of Lawrence Avenue East 
* Military Trail – begins east of Scarborough Golf Club Road from Ellesmere to Morrish Road (does not connect with Kingston Road)
* Colonel Danforth Trail – near Kingston Road and Lawson Roads to near Meadowvale Road and Lawrence Avenue East
* Clonmore Drive – from near Victoria Park Avenue and Kingston Road to Warden south of Danforth Avenue
* Highland Creek Drive – short street branching off from Colonel Danforth Trail and Kingston Road southeast and ends within Colonel Danforth Park

== Route description ==
The west end of Danforth Ave. spans the [[Don River (Ontario)|Don River]] valley, the [[Don Valley Parkway]] and [[Bayview Avenue]] via the [[Prince Edward Viaduct]]. West of that bridge, the street continues as [[Bloor Street]].

[[Line 2 Bloor–Danforth]] of the [[Toronto subway]] system runs parallel to most of the road's route, offset to the north some {{convert|50|m}}. The subway follows Danforth from the Viaduct west of [[Broadview Station]] to [[Main Street station (Toronto)|Main Street station]]. [[Danforth GO Station]], just off Main Street, takes its name from the avenue, where the commuter rail line intersects with it, on the [[Lakeshore East line|Lakeshore East route]]. Danforth is served by the [[Toronto Transit Commission bus system]] only east of Main Street Station. [[List of Toronto Transit Commission bus routes|Routes]] 16 McCowan and 113 Danforth serve the road during the day and 302 Danforth-McCowan [[Blue Night Network|run during the night]].

Danforth Avenue was formerly designated as [[Ontario Highway 5]] from the Don River (at [[Bloor Street]]) east to [[Kingston Road (Toronto)|Kingston Road]]. Like many urban stretches of provincial roadway, it was formally decommissioned as a [[Connecting Link]] on January 1, 1998.

=== Points of interest ===
[[Image: Danforth Gough Greek Signs.jpg|thumb|Many street signs along the western Danforth are in both English and Greek]]
[[File: Taste 2009.jpg|thumb|[[Taste of the Danforth]] takes place each August]]

* [[Greektown, Toronto|Greektown]] is located on the Danforth.
* [[Shoppers World Danforth]], a [[World War II]] munitions plant (and before that, a [[Ford Motor Company]] plant). It became a Ford plant again after the war until Ford moved to Oakville in 1953, then an American Motors (AMC) plant, producing Ramblers, Nashes and Hudsons, before AMC moved to Brampton. The buildings were retained and were converted to a shopping mall in 1962.
* [[Birchmount Stadium]] and Scarborough Arena Gardens.

=== Recent events ===
On Christmas Eve 2001, the [[Woodbine Building Supply fire]] occurred. The hardware store was located at the intersection of Danforth and [[Woodbine Avenue (Ontario)|Woodbine Avenues]]. It was one of the biggest fires in Toronto's history, as 170 firefighters were required to bring the [[Multiple-alarm fire|six-alarm blaze]] under control. The building was less than {{convert|50|m|abbr=on}} from residences in the neighbourhood and more than fifty families had to evacuate their homes on Christmas morning. One person was killed and another was severely disfigured. Police and insurance quickly suspected arson and several people have since been convicted. The store's owners have since built a 12-storey condo building on the site.

There was [[2018 Toronto shooting|a shooting on the Danforth]] in July 2018.

=== References in pop culture ===
* The band [[Rush (band)|Rush]] reference the street for the instrumental "[[List of Rush instrumentals#La Villa Strangiato|La Villa Strangiato]]" from the album ''Hemispheres'' (1978), of which section VII is subtitled "Danforth & Pape".
* The [[Barenaked Ladies]] reference this street in their song "[[The Old Apartment]]" from the album ''[[Born on a Pirate Ship]]'' (1996) in the line "I know we don't live here anymore/We bought an old house on the Danforth".

== See also ==
{{Portal|Canada}}
* [[Ontario Highway 33]] – now Loyalist Parkway and parts of the road once named Danforth's Road, a stagecoach route

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{commons category|Danforth Avenue, Toronto}}
* [http://ve.torontopubliclibrary.ca/TPM/frame2.html Toronto: A Meeting Place] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717061827/http://ve.torontopubliclibrary.ca/TPM/frame2.html |date=July 17, 2012 }}

{{Streets in Toronto}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Danforth Avenue, Danforth Road}}
[[Category: Historic trails and roads in Ontario|Danforth Road]]
[[Category: Roads in Toronto]]