📍Omemee, Ontario, Canada
1949 – 1956“Neil Young was born in Toronto in November 1945 and spent his early childhood in Omemee, a small village on the Pigeon River in the farmland of the Kawarthas, about two hours north-east of Toronto. His father, Scott Young, was a well-known journalist, sportswriter and novelist, and his mother, Rassy, was lively and outspoken. With his older brother, Bob, Neil grew up in a house in the village, fishing in the river, roaming the fields and spending summers by the lakes. In 1951, when he was about five, he caught polio during one of the last big Canadian epidemics. He spent time in hospital in Toronto, and the illness left him with a weakness on his left side. To help him recover, the family spent that winter in Florida. Back home in Ontario, he became fascinated by animals and machines; he raised chickens, collected model trains, and began to love music on the radio, from early rock and roll to country. His father's career often took the family on the move, and his parents' marriage became strained. After his parents divorced in 1960, he moved with his mother to Winnipeg, where he formed his first bands and learned guitar. He went on to Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and a long solo career. In his song Helpless he sang of a town in north Ontario, and it is often taken to be Omemee, which remains proud of the boy who fished in its river.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today