Local History:
Mountain Steps
At one point there were 7 city built sets of steps up the escarpment. They were located at Chedoke Park, Dundurn Street, James Street, John Street, Ferguson Avenue, Wentworth Street, and Ottawa Street.
At the current time there are 5 city built sets of stairs up the escarpment as well as one privately built set of steps.
Chedoke: These steps lead down the mountain almost to the front door of the Chedoke Civic Golf Course clubhouse. They have 289 steps.
Dundurn: The original wooden steps were replaced in the 1990s by steel steps. They have 326 steps
James: The original wooden steps were replaced in 1987. They end up at Southam Park on the mountain at the top of the Claremont Access. They have 227 steps.
Wentworth: The original wooden steps built in 1903 consisted of 6” to 7 ¼” risers. The stringers rested on cedar posts sunk 4-7’ in the ground. The original staircase had 570 steps. After a rock slide in March 1983 they were replaced with metal steps just east of the position of the original steps and now follow the path of the old East End Incline Railway. They have 498 steps.
Kenilworth: This is the newest set of steps. In the summer of 2005 only the bottom half of the steps had been completed and had 228 steps. They were supposed to be completed to the top in 2006.
After the Jolley Cut was rebuilt the John and Ferguson steps disappeared and the remnants of them are incorporated into walkways at Sam Lawrence Park.
There is also a privately built set of steps that runs from the intersection of Fennell and Mountain Brow Boulevard to the Rosedale pool area called Uli’s Steps. These were built as a retirement project by a man named Uli who was 72 in 2005. He built his steps over a two year period for free. They have 305 steps.
