BlogTO wrote a post a few years back explaining the names of a few streets in Toronto and yeah it’s pretty alright we guess, but there are a few glaring omissions. These tell the story behind some Toronto streets that are very near and dear to us.
Lawrence Avenue was named for Jacob Lawrence, a farmer in the area. That’s all we know – he must’ve been some farmer to get such a large avenue named after him!
Bathurst Street was named after Henry Bathurst, an Earl who assisted in the migration from the British Isles to Canada after the war of 1812. The funny thing is, he never even once set foot on Canadian soil. This happened a lot in the 1800’s, apparently.
Fort York Boulevard (duh) is one of Toronto’s most historic areas. Way back when, Toronto went through a few name changes from Toronto to York back to Toronto. In 1793, when Lieutenant- Governor John Graves Simcoe arrived in Toronto, he changed the name to York to honour the Duke of York’s son, and thus York. The Fort part came from the fact that when they arrived they saw the beginnings of a fort rising on the west bank of Garrison Creek (fun fact: Library District is built on the east side of that very same creek bed).
John Street was named after … can you guess? The same Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe (picture below) that we just said changed Toronto’s name to York back in the 1700s after a little bit of indifference.
Simcoe Street was also named after Mr. John Graves Simcoe. Boy, those early Torontonians sure were imaginative.
Market Street got its name because it’s home to St. Lawrence Market, only the best market in the world (don’t believe us? National Geographic said so. Boom). The area that houses the Market was proclaimed to be Market Block back in 1803 by Lieutenant Governor Peter Hunter and that’s when it all began.
The Allen Expressway was named after William R. Allen, the second chairman of Metro Toronto in between 1966 and 1970 after major controversy surrounding the Spadina Expressway. We won’t get into it too much but you can read about it here.
Mercer Street is named for Andrew Mercer who was a paymaster for the militia during the War of 1812. He also owned a mortgage and loan business so he was kinda making the big bucks. He died in 1871 without a will and then the government used his money to build the Mercer Reformatory for “fallen women” which was then demolished almost a hundred years later.
Jarvis Street used to be New Street but that would get confusing quickly. Instead, the street was named after Samuel Jarvis, who owned a massive expanse of the land on the road.
What street do you live on? Do you know why they named it what they did? Tell us in the comments below!
