Birch Cliff is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the eastern part of the city, part of the district of Scarborough running along the shore of Lake Ontario atop the western part of the Scarborough Bluffs. Birch Cliff has a large Irish population. About one-third of Birch Cliff residents are of Irish origin. The area was first developed as the home of the Toronto Hunt Club in 1895 when the region was still mostly farms and woodland. Around the club and number of cottages were erected, and one of these was named "Birch Cliff." The Victorian dwelling (believed to exist today but significantly altered) was built on Springbank Avenue for John Stark, who named it after the birch trees along the edge of the nearby Scarborough Bluffs. This name was also adopted by the local post office, and became the name for the neighbourhood. The area can also be broken down to two smaller areas west of Warden Avenue to Victoria Park Avenue: Blantyre located north of Kingston Road and east of Victoria Park Avenue to west of Warden Avenue Fallingbrook located south of Kingston Road and east of Victoria Park Avenue to west of Warden Avenue History As the Beaches neighbourhood was built to the west, the region became the first part of Scarborough to be developed as a suburb to the city of Toronto during the 1920s. Unlike the rest of Scarborough, which was developed after the Second World War as automotive based suburbs, Birch Cliff began as a streetcar suburb when the then Toronto and Scarboro' Electric Railway, Light and Power Company began operations on Kingston Road, transitioned in 1921 as TTC streetcar line running along Kingston Road to Birchmount Road. As the most populated part of the borough, Scarborough's municipal council met in a building on Kingston Road beginning in 1922. Kingston Road became a busy shopping district. In 1932, construction of Toronto's R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant began along Birch Cliff's waterfront. Completed in 1932, the water treatment plant was fashioned in an Art Deco style. The facility continues to function, and is operated by the City of Toronto government. Streetcar service east of Victoria Park ended in 1954 and transitioned as suburban bus route but during the post-World War II boom Kingston Road become a major thoroughfare for those living further east in the newer suburbs. Most of the