Elmbank, Ontario

Elmbank, Ontario
Ghost town
Looking north toward the former Hamlet of Elmbank, now occupied by the de-icing facility at Pearson Airport
Coordinates: 43°40′27″N 79°37′33″W / 43.67417°N 79.62583°W / 43.67417; -79.62583
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Regional municipality	Peel
City	Mississauga
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
NTS Map	030M12

Elmbank is a ghost town located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

Once a thriving 19th century rural community located at the intersection of Fifth Line and Britannia Road, the hamlet was expropriated and eventually covered over by successive expansions of Toronto Pearson International Airport.

A part of the original Britannia Rd. still exists, as a street east of the airport named "Elmbank Road", though nothing remains of the former community itself. A portion of Fifth Line was also removed, but the road still survives north of Derry Road as today's Torbram Road.

Land in the area was cleared for farming beginning in the mid 1820s.

The first resident was John Grubb, who emigrated from Scotland in 1831. Grubb built a home overlooking Etobicoke Creek, and named the place Elmbank.

Other settlers followed, and the Elmbank community soon had a blacksmith, store, inn, schoolhouse, cheese factory, carriage maker, and Sons of Temperance Society Hall. No mills were located there.

The Elmbank Post Office operated from 1873 to 1915, and the first postmaster, William McKay, operated out of his store.

Shell’s Chapel was built south of the community in 1831, named after Jacob and Henry Shell. The chapel was renamed Bethany Wesleyan Methodist Church and Cemetery, and then Bethany United Church in 1925. The last service was held in 1956, and the graves were relocated to Riverside Cemetery in Etobicoke.

Elmbank was noted for its importance to Toronto's Catholic community. The Catholic Mission and Cemetery, a log church constructed in 1833, was located in Elmbank and parishioners would travel from Toronto for mass or funerals. In 1885, a red brick church and rectory replaced the log church. The last recorded mass took place in 1915, and the church was torn down in 1932. Materials from the church such as pews, bricks and stained glass windows were reused in neighbouring churches.

Residents of Elmbank had a close association with the community of Malton, located a short distance northeast. The Elmbank soccer team, composed of young men from Elmbank and Malton, won the Peel league championship. Residents of Elmbank also participated in Malton's day-long Callithumpian Parade, held annually beginning in 1896. The Sons of Temperance Society Hall was also used occasionally for lectures organized by the Malton Women's Institute, founded in 1906.