Lansing
The community of Lansing developed around the crossroads of Yonge Street and present-day Sheppard Avenue. Joseph Shepard was one of the earliest settlers to Lansing, building a log cabin in 1798 on the north west corner of these crossroads.
An enterprising family, The Shepards built saw mills, taverns and in 1860 the well-known general store at Yonge and Sheppard which came to be the hub of the Lansing community. In 1866, a post office opened in the store and was called Lansing, thereby giving the community its name. Beginning in 1921, the Dempsey Brothers ran a thriving hardware business for more than 75 years. In 1996, the Shepard/Dempsey store was moved from its original location to a nearby park setting.
Joseph Shepard also built a clapboard house in 1835 on today's Burndale Avenue which became a regular meeting place for the reform radicals of William Lyon Mackenzie, leader of the failed Rebellion of 1837. During the uprising, Joseph's wife, Catherine tried to shelter Colonel Van Egmond, one of Mackenzie's soldiers from government troops. As a reprisal to her, Loyalists set fire to the house. She managed to put out the fire, but her rebel friend was apprehended and jailed.
The Golden Lion Hotel built in 1825 by Thomas Shepard, son of Joseph, once stood directly across from the original site of the Shepard Store. It was a much-frequented place, serving for a time as a Sunday School and a place for Mackenzie's reform members to congregate. At the turn of the 20th century, it also housed North York's township offices. One of the two oak-carved "golden" lions is preserved today in the lobby of the Novotel Hotel in the City Centre.
Plaque via Alan L. Brown's site Toronto Plaques. Full page here.