Old Toronto
Old Toronto | |
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416, 647, 437 |
Old Toronto is the part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that corresponds to the boundaries of the City of Toronto prior to 1998. It was incorporated as a city in 1834, after being known as the town of York, and being part of York County. Toronto periodically grew in size by annexing adjacent land and municipalities.
In 1954, the City of Toronto and the surrounding suburban towns and townships of York County were joined in a federation known as the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (Metro). Later, the lower-tier city annexed two towns until it reached its final boundaries in 1967. In 1998, the municipalities of Metro Toronto were amalgamated into the present-day single-tier City of Toronto, which continues legally from the predecessor City of Toronto, although the by-laws of each municipality remained in force.
Historically, "Old Toronto" referred to Toronto's boundaries before the Great Toronto Fire of 1904, when most urban development was to the east of Yonge Street. Since the 1998 amalgamation, the 1967–1998 city proper is referred to as "Old Toronto" or the "former city of Toronto". It is sometimes less accurately referred to as "downtown" (Downtown Toronto is located within Old Toronto) or as "the core". Old Toronto has a population density of approximately 8,210 residents per square kilometre, which would rank as Canada’s densest (North America's second-densest) city with a population over 100,000 if it were still a distinct city.
History
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The former town of York was incorporated on March 6, 1834, reverting to the name Toronto to distinguish it from New York City, as well as about a dozen other localities named "York" in the province (including the county in which Toronto was situated), and to dissociate itself from the negative connotation of "dirty Little York",[1] a common nickname for the town by its residents. The population was recorded in June 1834 at 9,252.[2]
In 1834, Toronto was incorporated with the boundaries of Bathurst Street to the west, 400 yards north of Lot (today's Queen) Street to the north, and Parliament Street to the east. Outside this formal boundary were the "liberties", land pre-destined to be used for new wards. These boundaries were today's Dufferin Street to the west, Bloor Street to the north, and the Don River to the east, with a section along the lakeshore east of the Don and south of today's Queen Street to the approximate location of today's Maclean Street. The liberties formally became part of the city in 1859 and the wards were remapped.[3]
It is a matter of deep regret that political differences should have run high in this place, and led to most discreditable and disgraceful results. It is not long since guns were discharged from a window in this town at the successful candidates in an election, and the coachman of one of them was actually shot in the body, though not dangerously wounded. But one man was killed on the same occasion; and from the very window whence he received his death, the very flag which shielded his murderer (not only in the commission of his crime, but from its consequences), was displayed again on the occasion of the public ceremony performed by the Governor General, to which I have just adverted. Of all the colours in the rainbow, there is but one which could be so employed: I need not say that flag was orange.
— Charles Dickens, commenting on 1841 Toronto Orange violence in American Notes for General Circulation, 1842
In their efforts to control the city and its citizens, the Tories were willing to turn to extra-governmental tools of social control, such as the Orange Order in Canada. As historian Gregory Kealey concluded, "Following the delegitimation of Reform after the Rebellions were suppressed, the Corporation (of Toronto) developed into an impenetrable bastion of Orange-Tory strength."[6] By 1844, six of Toronto's ten aldermen were Orangemen, and, over the rest of the 19th century, twenty of twenty-three mayors would be as well. A parliamentary committee reporting on the 1841 Orange Riot in Toronto concluded that the powers granted the Corporation made it ripe for Orange abuse. Orange influence dominated the emerging police force, giving it a "monopoly of legal violence, and the power to choose when to enforce the law."[7] Orange Order violence at elections and other political meetings was a staple of the period. Between 1839 and 1866, the Orange Order was involved in 29 riots in Toronto, of which 16 had direct political inspiration.[8]
At its height in 1942, 16 of the 23 members of city council were members of the Orange Order.
Annexations and amalgamations
The boundaries of Toronto remained unchanged into the 1880s. Then followed a series of expansions lasting to the 1910s: Toronto expanded to the west by annexing the Town of Brockton in 1884, the Town of Parkdale in 1889, and properties west to Swansea (such as High Park) by 1893; to the north by annexing Yorkville in 1883, The Annex in 1887, Seaton Village in 1888, Rosedale in 1905, Deer Park in 1908, the City of West Toronto, Bracondale, and Wychwood Park in 1909, Dovercourt Park and Earlscourt in 1910, and Moore Park and North Toronto in 1912; and to the east by annexing Riverdale in 1884, a strip east of Greenwood in 1890, Town of East Toronto (including East Danforth and Upper Beaches) in 1908, an extension east to Victoria Park Avenue in 1909, and the Midway (bounded by Danforth Avenue in north, Greenwood Avenue to west, Queen Street to south and East Toronto western boundaries to the east) in 1909.[10] By 1908, the named wards were abolished, replaced by a simple numbering scheme of Ward 1 to Ward 6.[3]
By the 1920s, Toronto stopped annexing suburbs. In 1954, the municipalities in
Culture
The first Crystal Palace in Toronto, officially named the Palace of Industry, was modelled after the
Institutions
Health care
Old Toronto was home to a number of hospitals, including
The Toronto General Hospital is the oldest operating hospital established in Toronto. It started as a small shed in the old town and was used as a military hospital during the War of 1812, after which it was founded as a permanent institution, York General Hospital, in 1829, at John and King Streets. In 1853–1856, a new home for the hospital was built on the north side of Gerrard Street, east of Parliament, using a design by architect William Hay, and relocated to University Avenue at College Street in 1913.[12]
The House of Providence on Power Street (between King and Queen Streets) was opened by the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1857 to aid the plight of the desperately poor. It was demolished in 1962 to make way for the Richmond Street exit from the Don Valley Parkway. By that time it was a nursing home, and its residents moved to a new facility at St. Clair and Warden Avenues, known today as Providence Healthcare.
The House of Refuge was built in 1860 as a home for "vagrants, the dissolute, and for idiots". The building became a smallpox hospital during an epidemic during the 1870s. It was demolished in 1894, and a new structure called the Riverdale Isolation Hospital was built on the site in 1904, which evolved into the Rivderdale Hospital and later Bridgepoint Health.
Public library
Toronto has operated the
As a result of the 1998 amalgamation of Toronto, the other municipal libraries of Metropolitan Toronto were merged with Toronto Public Library. It also merged with the Metro Toronto Public Library, which operated one branch, the Toronto Reference Library in Old Toronto.
Education
Four
Old Toronto hosts Toronto Metropolitan University, University of Toronto's St. George Campus, OCAD University, George Brown College and several other post-secondary institutions.
Politics
Capital
The first Upper Canada parliament buildings were built in 1796 at Front and Parliament Streets when the capital of the Province was moved from Niagara-on-the-Lake. These were destroyed in 1813 during an attack on the then-City of York during the War of 1812. A second building was constructed on the same site in 1820, only to be lost to fire in 1824. They were replaced by a new structure built between 1829 and 1832 near Front, John, Simcoe, and Wellington Streets, which saw alterations take place in 1849.
With the unification of Upper and Lower Canada in 1840, the building continued to see sporadic periods of usage as the legislature of the Province of Canada until the capital was permanently moved to what is now Ottawa shortly before Confederation in 1867, which saw the formation of the modern-day province of Ontario (the same area as Upper Canada). Upon Confederation, Toronto was selected to be the provincial capital and thus the Front Street building returned to usage as the location of the provincial legislature until the current Legislative Buildings at Queen's Park were completed in 1893. The Front Street building remained vacant until it was demolished in 1903; the Canadian Broadcasting Centre now sits on the site.
Chorley Park, located in the Rosedale neighbourhood, served as the official residence of the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario from 1915 to 1937. The building was demolished in 1961 after it and the lands around it were purchased by the municipal government.
Municipal politics
City council
In 1833, several prominent reformers had petitioned the
City halls
The second market building replaced the original wooden market building in 1831 and ran from King Street to Front Street (the site of the current St. Lawrence Hall, and the St. Lawrence Market North building). It was selected by the first mayor, William Lyon Mackenzie, as city hall. His newspaper, the Colonial Advocate, rented space in the rear. This building, along with much of the surrounding Market Block, was destroyed by fire in the 1849 Cathedral Fire. The site was rebuilt as St. Lawrence Hall in 1850.
The second city hall, built in 1845 and renovated in 1850, was known as the New Market House. It served as city hall until 1899. In 1904, the current St. Lawrence Market South building was built, incorporating part of the city hall structure. Toronto third city hall began construction in 1889, and was completed a decade later, in 1899. Old City Hall was also used as a court house (assuming the role of the closed Adelaide Street Court House, closed in 1900), and continues to be used as a dedicated court house. The third city hall was used by the Toronto City Council from 1899 to 1965, when they moved to the completed fourth Toronto City Hall.
Ward system
The earliest Toronto neighbourhoods were the five municipal wards that the city was split into in 1834. The wards were named for the
Demographics
This section needs to be updated.(February 2019) |
Year | Pop. | ±% |
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1871 | 56,092 | — |
1881 | 86,415 | +54.1% |
1891 | 181,022 | +109.5% |
1901 | 208,040 | +14.9% |
1911 | 381,383 | +83.3% |
1921 | 521,893 | +36.8% |
1931 | 631,207 | +20.9% |
1941 | 667,567 | +5.8% |
1951 | 675,754 | +1.2% |
1956 | 667,706 | −1.2% |
1961 | 672,407 | +0.7% |
1971 | 712,786 | +6.0% |
1976 | 633,318 | −11.1% |
1981 | 599,712 | −5.3% |
1986 | 612,289 | +2.1% |
1991 | 635,395 | +3.8% |
1996 | 653,734 | +2.9% |
2001 | 676,352 | +3.5% |
2011 | 736,775 | +8.9% |
2016 | 797,642 | +8.3% |
The population of Old Toronto was 797,642 at the
- 70% Caucasian
- 10% Chinese
- 5% African-Canadian
- 5% South Asian
- 3% Filipino
- 2% Latin American
- 2% Southeast Asian
- 1% Korean
- 2% Other
See also
References
- Bibliography
- ISBN 0-88862-665-7.
- Notes
- ^ Firth, Edith G., ed. (1966). The Town of York: 1815—1834; A Further Collection of Documents of Early Toronto. University of Toronto Press. pp. 297–298.
- ^ Careless, p. 54
- ^ a b Careless, p. 126
- ^ Careless, p. 59
- ^ Careless, p. 60
- ^ Gregory S. Kealey (1984). Victor L. Russell (ed.). Forging the consensus: historical essays on Toronto. Toronto. p. 45.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Gregory S. Kealey (1984). Victor L. Russell (ed.). Forging the consensus: historical essays on Toronto. Toronto. p. 50.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Gregory S. Kealey (1984). Victor L. Russell (ed.). Forging the consensus: historical essays on Toronto. Toronto. p. 42.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Leslie Howard Saunders. An Orangeman in public life: the memoirs of Leslie Howard Saunders. Britannia Printers, 1980. pg. 85
- ^ Careless, p. 125
- ^ Walden, Keith (1997). Becoming Modern in Toronto: The Industrial Exhibition and the Shaping of Late Victorian Culture. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
- ^ Arthur, Eric (2003). Toronto, No Mean City. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 114.
- ^ Robertson, John Ross (1894). Landmarks of Toronto Vol. 1. Toronto: J. Ross Robertson. pp. 398–99.
- ^ Firth, Edith (1966). The town of York, 1815–1834: a further collection of documents of early Toronto. Toronto: Champlain Society. pp. lxviii–lxix.
- ^ "2001 Community profiles". Statistics Canada. Archived from the original on January 19, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2010.