the toll booths that were placed on the early highways and these often developed into small towns. There were three main routes out of the city: Kingston Road leading to the east, Yonge Street going north, and Dundas Street heading west. Weston Road was another early route that saw some communities develop. A second type of town that developed in the hinterland surrounding early Toronto were small towns to support the farms that covered most of the region. These tended to develop at the intersection of two concession roads and were usually based around a post office or a small church. Railway towns In the second half of the nineteenth century, several rail lines were built across the Toronto area. This led to another group of towns being founded as rail lines and rail stations quickly became focal points for the creation of new towns and neighbourhoods. The most important was the Grand Trunk Railway line running along the shore of Lake Ontario. The central Union Station was the meeting point of a number of lines, and this contributed to the growth of industry throughout the area between Queen Street and the lakeshore. East and west of downtown, the major stations were established at Parkdale and Riverside South, they both became centres of activity. Hotels, such as the Gladstone and New Broadview House, opened to serve travellers. Parts of town that had once been home to small rural communities were transformed by the railway into major industrial areas. To the northwest of the city, the small towns of Carleton and Davenport were subsumed into The Junction and it became the site of many large factories and warehouses. To the east, the towns of Strangford and Mortlake became known as Scarborough Junction. Further away from town, the railways also altered geography. New communities developed around railway yards and facilities to house the workers. The largest of these was East Toronto, which developed east of the city around the Grand Trunk's main yards. In the eastern part of Scarborough, Irish railway workers built up the town of West Hill. The existing small town of Leaside grew rapidly after a maintenance yard was built nearby. Urban slums and streetcar suburbs By the end of the 19th century, the centre of old Toronto had become an almost wholly industrial and commercial area. Some residents stayed behind in these districts, generally poorer citizens and newly