A brewer and a bishop, two of the central characters who brought their educational philosophies to York (today’s Toronto) in the 1800s.
Religious fervor in the late 1700s when the Simcoes arrived, the challenges of building wooden churches in the early days of York, how Bishop Strachan saved the day during the War of 1812, and how St. James Cathedral rose from the ashes. All a far cry from modern Toronto with its diverse places of worship. Check Toronto 175 category and “read more” for information on the series.
In 1793 Simcoe laid out York in classic military fashion. South of the town a cliff dropped sharply to the water’s edge and the first public park was born. It soon lost out to the railways who seized the waterfont as a cheap and expedient way to take lake-shipped cargoes to the vast Canadian hinterland.
Simcoe chooses a natural harbour for the foundations of York and builds a Fort at the entrance to protect the new town.
A natural harbour and a perfect meeting place for the First Nations peoples who first visited the area to fish and hunt. Later French traders arrived and built a small trading post. Then, in 1793, John Graves Simcoe visited and decided it was an ideal location for a town he would name ‘York’.
Since the mid 1970s, producer/host, Anne Martin, has been bringing stories to life through the medium of television. She thrives on tracking down the unusual and her work has encompassed history, geology, heritage and a positive outlook on the world around us. Read more about Anne Martin.