Phase 1 Report – Background (DRAFT)
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Phase 1 Report – Background (DRAFT) Meadowvale Village Heritage Conservation District Plan Review Culture Division, Community Services City of Mississauga, October 2012 Draft Phase 1 Report – Background Meadowvale Village Heritage Conservation District Plan Review Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………….3 Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………..4 Statement of cultural heritage value or interest…………………………………………………5 Archaeological Resources……………………………………………………………………….8 Early Loyalist Settlers….………………………………………………………………………10 Milling History 1833-1954…………………………………………………………………….16 Other Commercial History: 1840-1980………………………………………………………..32 Meadowvale in the early 20 th century and Canadian Fine Art………………………………...39 Stacked Plank on Plank Construction……………………………………………….................61 Property Alterations within the HCD since 1980………………………………………………65 Natural Heritage………………………………………………………………………………..69 Meadowvale Conservation Area - CVC Lands………………………………………………...77 Further Research………………………………………………………………………………..84 Culture Division, Community Services, City of Mississauga. October 2012 DRAFT Page 2 Draft Phase 1 Report – Background Meadowvale Village Heritage Conservation District Plan Review Introduction Meadowvale Village Heritage Conservation District (HCD) was established through the concern of its residents to protect the village’s historic character and rural-like quality of life. Beginning in the late 1960s the local residents foresaw that urban development would one day threaten their small village which had endured for 150 years. By the late 1970s, the City of Mississauga was on its way to becoming a major Canadian city and the residents of Meadowvale pursued protection of the village through the Ontario Heritage Act, 1974. The village had always been known as Meadowvale, but after the development of the Meadowvale residential and corporate community of the 1970s, the residents adopted the name Meadowvale Village , to distinguish it from the modern Meadowvale community to the west. On November 27, 1980, Meadowvale Village became Ontario’s first adopted heritage conservation district under city By-law 453-80. As this was the province’s first heritage conservation district, the HCD Plan was written without the benefit of having a precedent model to influence its development. However, the Meadowvale Village Heritage Conservation District Plan went on to become the model for other HCD Plans in the 1980s and has served the Village well for many years. In 2005 there were significant amendments to the Ontario Heritage Act and, as a result, the 1980 HCD Plan no longer meets the standards of heritage conservation and lacks the necessary tools to be effective. The purpose of this report is to document the background research and data which was not completed prior to the 1980 HCD Plan. This background report provides the prehistoric and historic research on the Village in general, its phases through time from early native occupation, the 1819 first settlement, through to the present. This report provides a history and description of each property within the Village as well as the statement of cultural heritage value and consideration of its natural heritage. The history and development of the HCD since 1980 has been documented only in the recording of physical changes to property. A history of development and social change within the Village since 1980 has not been included in this report. Most importantly this report provides insight into how and why the Village developed the way it did. There are numerous heritage resources within the Village which have never been known until the completion of this report. The Village has a definitive physical character and a rich history documented by current research which reinforces why it should continue to be protected as a heritage conservation district. Culture Division, Community Services, City of Mississauga. October 2012 DRAFT Page 3 Draft Phase 1 Report – Background Meadowvale Village Heritage Conservation District Plan Review Acknowledgements: The City of Mississauga’s Culture Division gratefully thanks the following individuals and organizations for their generous contributions to the following report through the submission of photographs, background information and interpretive analysis: Kyle Neill , Reference Archivist, Region of Peel Archives, Peel Art Gallery Museum and Archives Matthew Wilkinson , Researcher (Land Registry Office Abstracts, Lot and Concessions) Heather Henderson , Archaeologist, Historic Horizon Inc. Rosemary Wilson , Resident of Meadowvale Village Terry Wilson , Resident of Meadowvale Village Dorothy Kew , Local History Librarian, Canadiana Room, Mississauga Central Library Karen Mewa-Ramcharan , GIS Analyst, Transportation and Works Business Services Division/Geomatics, City of Mississauga Nick Moreau , Reprographics specialist, Region of Peel Archives, Peel Art Gallery Museum and Archives Jesse DeJager , Conservation Lands Planner, Credit Valley Conservation Paul Tripolo , Urban Ecologist, Credit Valley Conservation. Culture Division, Community Services, City of Mississauga. October 2012 DRAFT Page 4 Draft Phase 1 Report – Background Meadowvale Village Heritage Conservation District Plan Review Statement of cultural heritage value or interest The Meadowvale Village Heritage Conservation District is characterized and defined by its inherent heritage value, size, shape, and form adjacent to the Credit River at the intersection of two roadways, Old Derry Road and Second Line West. The relationship of the historic village to the Credit River has not altered since its founding in the early nineteenth century. The village is situated in the low river valley, bordered to the south and east by a shallow ridge that establishes the table lands above the floodplain. Native populations, prior to pre-contact with European settlement, inhabited the area for over 10,000 years. The village’s property plan, street pattern and physical layout have changed very little, although the once rural village is now within an urban context of the larger city of Mississauga. The original Meadowvale Village Heritage Conservation District Plan from 1980 is under review. This comprehensive review proposes a boundary study area enlarged from the original 1980 HCD Plan to include the Meadowvale Conservation Park to the west and Old Ridge Park to the south, both of which are significant to the development of the village. The Meadowvale Village HCD has maintained a pedestrian friendly scale, with the exception of Old Derry Road, whereby streets have a lane-like appearance with soft shoulders, mature street trees, varied building set-backs and consistency of building size. What was once a commercial core along Old Derry Road with a few reminiscent commercial buildings has become mostly residential, creating a quieter version of an earlier era. The narrow side streets retain an open character with views and vistas both to and from residential properties, void of privacy fencing, united by large open yards of green space and mature trees. In general there are modest homes on larger lots within a soft naturalized landscape. Entry points into the village from the west and north have maintained a rural character. To the west there are farmlands on the south side of Old Derry Road, open green space to the north, the metal c. 1948 Pratt (Parker, “camelback”) truss design bridge over the Credit River, all contributing to the agricultural past which has surrounded the village for over a century. To the north, along Second Line West, the west side of the road retains a natural environment, reminiscent of the rural past, conserved within the Meadowvale Conservation Area. The late subdivision homes on the east side of Second Line West are mostly positioned high on the table lands above, retaining a naturalized road right-of-way at the street level, enhancing the former rural character. Description of heritage attributes • a significant location, adjacent to the Credit River, in a cultural heritage landscape of integrated natural and cultural heritage elements within the river’s low floodplain to the gentle sloping ridge Culture Division, Community Services, City of Mississauga. October 2012 DRAFT Page 5 Draft Phase 1 Report – Background Meadowvale Village Heritage Conservation District Plan Review • the ecological feature of the floodplain meadow on the Credit River which has existed for hundreds of years • a land pattern that retains the layout and plan of lots since the mid nineteenth century • a spatial organization of narrow soft landscaped streets with no shoulder, mature trees and a visual relationship that blends from public to private space among front and side yards void of privacy fencing • the long term tradition of streetscapes with no formalized parking, sidewalks (except on Old Derry Road), basic signage and limited modest lighting • a consistency of building types, modest in architectural detail, vernacular style and size, reflecting the nineteenth century development of a milling village • a common use of stacked plank construction with exterior stucco finish or wood siding, one-and-a-half storeys and limited use of brick • structures of compatible size, shape, form and style, although not necessarily of historic significance, contribute to the overall character of the village • visual identity of rural character roadway entry points to the village from the west on Old Derry Road and from the north along Second Line West, and the open green space of Old