York, Upper Canada

York was the name of Old Toronto between 1793 and 1834. It was the second capital of Upper Canada.

History

The town was established in 1793 by Governor John Graves Simcoe, with a new 'Fort York' on the site of the last French 'Fort Toronto'. He believed it would be a superior location for the capital of Upper Canada, which was then at Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake), as the new site would be less vulnerable to attack by the Americans. He renamed the location York after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, George III's second son.

The Old Town of York was laid out in ten original blocks between today's Adelaide and Front streets (the latter following the shoreline) with the first church (St James Anglican), Town Hall and Wharf (named St Lawrence after the river) on the west and the first parliament buildings, blockhouse and windmill on the east. All land south of Lot Street (now Queen Street) was reserved for expansion of the Town or Fort by the government as 'the Commons'. North of Lot Street began the rural Township of York (divided into large 'park lots') which only slowly emerged from the natural forest.

York became the capital of Upper Canada on February 1, 1796, the year Governor Simcoe returned to Britain and was temporarily replaced by Peter Russell. The Town of York had quickly outgrown the small original blocks and the street grid was extended to the west as the New Town with larger blocks varying in width between today's Jarvis Street and Peter Street. This was soon extended further to the west as the New Town Extension up to the Garrison Creek which divided the Town from the grounds of the Fort, around today's Walnut Street. The Town was also extended in the east along King Street (then a part of Kingston Road) to the Don River.

York was attacked by American forces during the Battle of York, part of the War of 1812. It was occupied, pillaged and then partially burned down on April 27, 1813.

On March 6, 1834, York was incorporated as the City of Toronto. The first mayor of Toronto was William Lyon Mackenzie. However, Toronto was part of the regional division of York County from the late 18th century until the establishment of Metro Toronto in 1954. After 1954, York County was the area north of Steeles Avenue and later renamed York Region in 1971.

Demographics

York's population prior to the 1830s was primarily British (from Scotland, England, Wales) with a few other European settlers (French, German, Dutch, Irish).

Population

The population figures for York from 1796 to 1834 include people living in the surrounding areas of the town centre:^[1]

• 1793 – 3 and unknown number of aboriginals
• 1796 – 200 soldiers and 400 civilians
• 1812 – 1460
• 1813 – 720
• 1825 – 1,600
• 1832 – 5,550
• 1834 – 9,250

Geography

Much of early York was heavily wooded with the town developed along shoreline of Lake Ontario and up Lot Street or modern day Queen Street; from the Don River to Yonge Street. Later expansion of the town moved the boundaries further west of modern day Fleet Street and north near Dundas Street

The shoreline was likely sandy and parts sloping down to Lake Ontario. Toronto Islands was still connected to the mainland. It was wooded, with marshes in what is now Ashbridge's Bay and the then natural mouth of the Don (Keating Channel did not exist yet). Other than Lake Ontario, other waterways in to old town included the Don and the southern end of Garrison Creek. The climate of York was similar to that of modern Toronto, but a bit cooler given the lack of human influence on the state of the environment.

Townscape

York was surveyed by the British Army with roads in a box grid format, while others conform to the geography of the town. To the west, north and east the town was surround by forests. The shoreline along Lake Ontario was gravel or clay.

Government

Home District Council was responsible for municipal matters for York. In early years of the town matters was likely directed to the Executive Council of Upper Canada or the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada.

Fire services did not exist in York, so it was likely provided by local residents with buckets of water. Soldiers at nearby Fort York also assisted in fire fighting when needed. As for policing, there was no official police force. Public order was provided by able bodied male citizens were required to report for night duty as special constables for a fixed number of nights a year on the pain of fine or imprisonment in a system known as "watch and ward".^[2]

See also

• York, England, United Kingdom
• New York, which was then York, Upper Canada's similarly named contemporary on the other side of Lake Ontario

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Arthur, E: Toronto, No Mean City, Appendix C. University of Toronto Press, 1986. Third Edition.