The Magic of the Minnies

Lois Broad remembers the High Park Mineral Baths—known as the Minnies—where kids flocked to the pools at Quebec and Bloor St. W. each summer until they were closed in 1962 to make way for the subway.

If you could time travel on the Toronto subway, you might hear the echo of kids laughing and diving boards reverberating as you arrived in the High Park Station. At the intersection of Quebec Ave. and Bloor St. W. were the Minnies, one of the most popular places for kids to hang out during the summer months. In this video, Lois Broad, born in 1927, remembers those swimming pools well, as do most other west-enders of a certain age.

The High Park Mineral Baths were originally opened to the public in 1913 by Dr. William McCormick, who had built the pools for patients in the sanitarium he and his wife, also a doctor, ran in the huge house on the nearby hill. It is said the water back then came from an artesian well and had therapeutic benefits. When McCormick expanded the pools for public use, they became known affectionately as the Minnies. They were closed in 1962 to make way for construction of the Bloor-Danforth subway line.

Footage for this video was taken from Lois’s popular documentary, Growing up in the Junction on our YouTube channel.

Strathcona House on Gothic Ave. was originally the home of the West Toronto Junction mayor. Dr. William McCormick, who created the Minnies, ran a "sanitarium" there emphasizing diet and water therapy. In 1914, he opened the baths.

The High Park Mineral Baths, nicknamed The Minnies, were extremely popular in the summer from when they were opened to the public in 1913 when they were closed for subway construction in 1962.

The Minnies at Quebec Ave. and Bloor St. W. had two pools and a diving tower. Lois recounted how a friend of her husband fell off the diving tower in winter. Fortunately, snow in the pool prevented him from being hurt.

The Magic of the Minnies

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