Historical Archaeology - History and Character of York, later Toronto

ANT 412 - Historical Archaeology

Some Background on York, later Toronto

Front St., York, UC, about 1803

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Introduction In progress

Last update: 10 September 2004

French settlement
The first recorded European to visit the Toronto area was Étienne Brulé, who explored the Toronto portage on the Humber River on behalf of Samuel de Champlain in 1615. The Humber Valley, because of its importance as a portage on the main canoe route north from Lake Ontario. There, a Seneca village called Teiaiagon or Taiaikoan ("Place Where the Knife Cuts Through the River at the Falls"), occupied what is now Baby Point, north of Old Mill. Sieur de la Salle visited this village in 1680, but it was abandoned in the 1690s when the Missaugas drove the Senecas out. The earliest European occupation of the Toronto area was also on or near Baby Point. This was a post, Le Magasin Royale, that the French fur trader, Alexandre Douville, established in 1720.

In 1750 a small French fort, Fort de Portneuf or Fort Toronto, was erected a few km to the south, near what is now the Queensway, but it was soon found too small to be much of a deterent to the British. So, shortly after, the still small but larger Fort Rouillée was built on what is now the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition. It was burned in 1759 to prevent it from falling into the hands of the British. The ruins of "Old Fort Toronto" remained until 1878, when they were cleared away to prepare the Exhibition grounds.

Founding of York
In 1788, the British Governor-in-Chief at Quebec, Lord Dorchester, sent a ship, the Seneca, to Toronto Bay, where St. Jean Rousseau met him and he negotiated the purchase of 250,808 acres (101,528 hectares) in the Toronto area from the Mississaugas for 149 barrels of trade goods and some cash, to a total value of about £1700. Surveyors began to prepare maps for a town site:

The Quebec Act (1791) established the Province of Upper Canada (dissolved in 1841).

It was only when Governor John Graves Simcoe selected Toronto as the "temporary" capital of Upper Canada in late July, 1793, however, that the town really got started. Simcoe ordered a survey of Toronto's bay to determine its suitability as a naval harbour should war break out with the United State. He sent 100 men from the Queen's Rangers to Toronto to clear forest and begin building and fortifying a town there. The Rangers established a camp where Fort York now stands, guarding the "gap" into Toronto Harbour.

Simcoe renamed Toronto, York, in honour of the Duke of York, who had recently won a battle against the French in Holland.

Survey of York

Simcoe had the Queen's Rangers establish a ten-block town site in the area from Front to Lot St (now Queen St), with 100-acre park lots to their north, up to Bloor St, and made them clear Yonge St as far north as the Holland Marsh. He awarded substantial town lots to his officers and supporters with the view to having them establish estates, and form something like England's landed aristocracy. Within a few years, many of the large lots east and west of Yonge St. were taken by United Empire Loyalists recently arrived from the United States, who established properous farms on them and later profited by subdividing them.

Those that were in a position to control land grants in the new town could expect to become very wealthy. For example, William Jarvis, whom Simcoe had appointed UC's Secretary and Registrar, wrote to his brother:

"I am told that, at this moment, there is not a single grant of land in U.C. but the lands are held by letters of occupation and that the grants are all to be made out by me after my arrival, at which the Secretary of L.C. [Lower Canada] is not well pleased, as the letters of occupation have been issued by him for some years without fee or reward, and by the division of the Province of Canada all the emoluments fall to my portion; there is, at this moment, from 12 to 20,000 persons holding lands on letters of license in Upper Canada at a guinea only each is a pretty thing to begin with."

In 1794, construction began on government and parliamentary buildings a little west of what is now the "Distillery District," at the foot of Parliament St. They were completed in 1796 and occupied from 1797 until, during the War of 1812, American troops burned them down in 1813 (the British burned Washington in retaliation).

In 1797, York's population was enumerated at 241 inhabitants and, by 1812, it had a population of about 700.

York waterfront in 1803

York to Toronto TBA

References
Armstrong, Frederick H. (1988). A City in the Making. Dundurn Press, Toronto.

- (1985). Handbook of Upper Canadian Chronology and Territorial Legislation. Durham Press, Toronto.

Arthur, Eric (1979). From Front Street to Queen's Park. McClelland and Stewart, Toronto.

- (1986). Toronto, No Mean City. Toronto.

Benn, Carl (1993). Historic Fort York, 1793-1993. Natural Heritage/Natural History Inc., Toronto.

Careless, J. M. S. (1984). Toronto, An Illustrated History to 1918. Lorrimer, Toronto.

Dendy, William (1978). Lost Toronto. Oxford University Press.

Dendy, William, and William Kilbourn (1986). Toronto Observed. Oxford University Press.

Dent, John Charles (1885). The Story of the Upper Canadian Rebellion. C. Blackett Robinson, Toronto.

Filey, Mike (1996). Toronto Sketches. Toronto Sketch Series.

Glazebrook, G. P. de T. (1971). The Story of Toronto. University of Toronto Press.

Hounsom, Eric Wolfred (1970). Toronto in 1810. Ryerson Press, Toronto.

Hykel, Bev, and Carl Benn (1980). Thomas Montgomery: Portrait ofa Nineteenth-Century Businessman. Etobicoke Historical Board.

Masters, D. C. (1947). The Rise of Toronto 1850-1890. University of Toronto Press.

Robertson, John ross (1894). Landmarks of Toronto. Toronto.

Robinson, C. Blackett (1885). History of Toronto and County of York.

Introduction		In progress
Last update: 10 September 2004		In progress
French settlement		The first recorded European to visit the Toronto area was Étienne Brulé, who explored the Toronto portage on the Humber River on behalf of Samuel de Champlain in 1615. The Humber Valley, because of its importance as a portage on the main canoe route north from Lake Ontario. There, a Seneca village called Teiaiagon or Taiaikoan ("Place Where the Knife Cuts Through the River at the Falls"), occupied what is now Baby Point, north of Old Mill. Sieur de la Salle visited this village in 1680, but it was abandoned in the 1690s when the Missaugas drove the Senecas out. The earliest European occupation of the Toronto area was also on or near Baby Point. This was a post, Le Magasin Royale, that the French fur trader, Alexandre Douville, established in 1720. In 1750 a small French fort, Fort de Portneuf or Fort Toronto, was erected a few km to the south, near what is now the Queensway, but it was soon found too small to be much of a deterent to the British. So, shortly after, the still small but larger Fort Rouillée was built on what is now the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition. It was burned in 1759 to prevent it from falling into the hands of the British. The ruins of "Old Fort Toronto" remained until 1878, when they were cleared away to prepare the Exhibition grounds.

Founding of York		In 1788, the British Governor-in-Chief at Quebec, Lord Dorchester, sent a ship, the Seneca, to Toronto Bay, where St. Jean Rousseau met him and he negotiated the purchase of 250,808 acres (101,528 hectares) in the Toronto area from the Mississaugas for 149 barrels of trade goods and some cash, to a total value of about £1700. Surveyors began to prepare maps for a town site: The Quebec Act (1791) established the Province of Upper Canada (dissolved in 1841). It was only when Governor John Graves Simcoe selected Toronto as the "temporary" capital of Upper Canada in late July, 1793, however, that the town really got started. Simcoe ordered a survey of Toronto's bay to determine its suitability as a naval harbour should war break out with the United State. He sent 100 men from the Queen's Rangers to Toronto to clear forest and begin building and fortifying a town there. The Rangers established a camp where Fort York now stands, guarding the "gap" into Toronto Harbour. Simcoe renamed Toronto, York, in honour of the Duke of York, who had recently won a battle against the French in Holland. Survey of York Simcoe had the Queen's Rangers establish a ten-block town site in the area from Front to Lot St (now Queen St), with 100-acre park lots to their north, up to Bloor St, and made them clear Yonge St as far north as the Holland Marsh. He awarded substantial town lots to his officers and supporters with the view to having them establish estates, and form something like England's landed aristocracy. Within a few years, many of the large lots east and west of Yonge St. were taken by United Empire Loyalists recently arrived from the United States, who established properous farms on them and later profited by subdividing them. Those that were in a position to control land grants in the new town could expect to become very wealthy. For example, William Jarvis, whom Simcoe had appointed UC's Secretary and Registrar, wrote to his brother: "I am told that, at this moment, there is not a single grant of land in U.C. but the lands are held by letters of occupation and that the grants are all to be made out by me after my arrival, at which the Secretary of L.C. [Lower Canada] is not well pleased, as the letters of occupation have been issued by him for some years without fee or reward, and by the division of the Province of Canada all the emoluments fall to my portion; there is, at this moment, from 12 to 20,000 persons holding lands on letters of license in Upper Canada at a guinea only each is a pretty thing to begin with." In 1794, construction began on government and parliamentary buildings a little west of what is now the "Distillery District," at the foot of Parliament St. They were completed in 1796 and occupied from 1797 until, during the War of 1812, American troops burned them down in 1813 (the British burned Washington in retaliation). In 1797, York's population was enumerated at 241 inhabitants and, by 1812, it had a population of about 700. York waterfront in 1803

York to Toronto		TBA
		TBA
References		Armstrong, Frederick H. (1988). A City in the Making. Dundurn Press, Toronto. - (1985). Handbook of Upper Canadian Chronology and Territorial Legislation. Durham Press, Toronto. Arthur, Eric (1979). From Front Street to Queen's Park. McClelland and Stewart, Toronto. - (1986). Toronto, No Mean City. Toronto. Benn, Carl (1993). Historic Fort York, 1793-1993. Natural Heritage/Natural History Inc., Toronto. Careless, J. M. S. (1984). Toronto, An Illustrated History to 1918. Lorrimer, Toronto. Dendy, William (1978). Lost Toronto. Oxford University Press. Dendy, William, and William Kilbourn (1986). Toronto Observed. Oxford University Press. Dent, John Charles (1885). The Story of the Upper Canadian Rebellion. C. Blackett Robinson, Toronto. Filey, Mike (1996). Toronto Sketches. Toronto Sketch Series. Glazebrook, G. P. de T. (1971). The Story of Toronto. University of Toronto Press. Hounsom, Eric Wolfred (1970). Toronto in 1810. Ryerson Press, Toronto. Hykel, Bev, and Carl Benn (1980). Thomas Montgomery: Portrait ofa Nineteenth-Century Businessman. Etobicoke Historical Board. Masters, D. C. (1947). The Rise of Toronto 1850-1890. University of Toronto Press. Robertson, John ross (1894). Landmarks of Toronto. Toronto. Robinson, C. Blackett (1885). *History of Toronto and County of York*.