Marie Curtis Park is situated on both banks of the Etobicoke Creek where it flows into Lake Ontario. Native people frequently visited the area and named the creek Etobicoke for "place where the wild alders grow". Augustus Jones, a crown-appointed surveyor, Anglicized the name to Black Alders Creek around 1800. The park was created in 1954 after the high flood waters caused by Hurricane Hazel devastated a number of low-lying properties. The disaster prompted provincial and municipal governments to administer flood protection.

Due to their hazardous location on the flood plain, 164 homes were acquired and removed. Marie Curtis was first...