Top 3 Abandoned Places In Vaughan

There are so many abandoned places in Vaughan! This is a list of the top three abandoned places in Vaughan. Browse through all abandoned places in Vaughan

1. Forest Rangers TV Show Lot

The Forest Rangers was a famed Canadian, children's tv series that ran in the 1960(a)s. Filmed at Kleinburg(a)s studio lot, there are some abandoned remants still there. It was the first Canadian tv show ever filmed in colour and starred Gordon Pinsent. It was shown throughout the world.

What Canadian kid growing up in the 1960s or 1970s could forget the immensely popular television series The Forest Rangers or the opening melodic theme? This ever-whistleable musical piece met the colourful backdrop of wilderness scenes set in Ontario's Great Outdoors. Here, a group of kids- Junior Forest Rangers- live, work and play in a large Hudson's Bay fort, while their older and wiser friends from the village of Indian River look on. (Indian River lies on the south-east side of Algonquin Park, north-east of Barry(a)s Bay, with a population of 317). The junior rangers were the envy of many kids the world over for they came complete with a fort, ham radios, canoes, walkie-talkies, horses, ranger t-shirts, a Smokey the Bear flag and most of all-- "ADVENTURE!!"

The rangers usually manage to become heroes by putting out forest fires, rescuing people and thwarting villains with the aid of an RCMP officer named Sergeant Brian Scott (legendary Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent), the Indian River "Department of Lands and Forests" Chief Forest Ranger, George Keeley (Graydon Gould), and the local Metis-Ojibway guide, Joe Two Rivers (Michael Zenon).

The Junior Forest Rangers live in a "Never-never land, unmarred by schools or parents, in which the only rules are the rules of conservation."

The show was filmed at the Toronto International Studios just north of Kleinburg in Vaughan. I have been on the studio grounds a few times and found one shack remaining that was used as Mr. McLeod(a)s cabin. It has since fallen over and rots away beside the Humber River. See photos below- included is one of Bob Marley, who made a surprise guest appearance.

For more info on the show go to my fan site here at its new location: The Forest Rangers TV Show Fan Site. You can order the show on DVD via this site(a)s links.

The map link will show you the exact spot where I found McLeod(a)s cabin. I was specifically looking for it as I knew where it was located by watching all the episodes. Nothing else remains from the series- not even the kid's huge fort.

There will be a a 2nd big reunion for cast, crew and fans here in June 2013. We will have Gordon Pinsent and 9 of the junior rangers attending---some flying in from Europe too.

To see a 1977 old super 8 film of the studio lot and abandoned, decaying fort check this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M7S-L4afIU&feature=related

2. 3 X 27 = 81

Thanks Timo for tipping me off on this one. 3 houses (on hwy 27),(3 X 27) several sheds and outbuildings, a big metal barn and black-flies all on 1 property. Try holding your camera steady when a blackfly lands on your hand. All 3 houses are abandoned and open. They each have their own personality. One of them has had a fire with lots of interior damage. Lots of furniture and personal items in this one. One of them is mostly empty with all the paint flaking off in every room and in every corner. The other is pretty much nondescript, clean and empty. There is a bright red caboose marking the entrance on the highway, you can't miss it.

3. Patterson (ghost Town)

Patterson is a ghost town mentioned in Ron Brown(a)s books. Just over the Vaughan/Richmond Hill border where a post office and all sorts of industry was set up in the mid-1800(a)s. For precise details about its history the Ontario plaque (in the photos) reads:

PATTERSON

The early settlers, Peter Frank, John Velie, William Rumble, William Graham and others from England.

About 1855, Patterson and Brothers, who had patented a fanning mill came from New York State. They built a plant on the east part of Lot 21, Con 2 and manufactured agricultural implements such as reapers, mowers, scufflers and plows. They also constructed a sawmill, gristmill, foundry, machine shop, blacksmith shop, storage warehouse, lumber yard, office buildings and houses for their men. In 1871, the population was 200. There was a post office open from 1865 to 1888, a school from 1872 to 1964 and a Methodist church that was burnt in the early 1900(a)s. Four teams of heavy horses were kept busy hauling the implements to the railway station in Richmond Hill. Since they were unable to obtain a spur line from the railroad, the plant was moved to Woodstock in 1891.

Peter Patterson was a J.P., M.P., Reeve of Vaughan and a Warden of York County. Gradually many of the buildings were moved away or taken down. Peter(a)s son, John D. Patterson who died in 1939, acquired more property and called it Don Head Farms.

TOWN OF VAUGHAN FORMERLY TOWNSHIP OF VAUGHAN 1850 - 1970 Erected in 1974 by the Town of Vaughan in co-operation with Vaughan Township Historical Society

To see a 1948 map of the area go here: http://maps.library.utoronto.ca/datapub/digital/3400s_50_1948-[30M14W]3rd.jpg