Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Street Names An Illustrated Guide to Their Origins by Leonard Wise Toronto Street Names: An Illustrated Guide to Their Origins by Leonard Wise. In the earliest days of urban development in what's now the U.S., streets tended to be named for landmarks, like Church, Market, Monument, Canal, Wall, Court, Dock, etc., obvious topgraphic or hydrological features like Hill or Water, or references to the street's position like East or Middle. Often major streets would be named for symbols of power and authority, like State or King or Queen; after the American Revolution, the names of heroes and leaders like Washington and Jefferson also served this role. The whole concept was that a "street" was an urban feature (roads outside cities were subject to different rules and usually not named at all), and the word "street" tended to be an assumed descriptor rather than part of the name. Hence you see references to "Church street" or "Washington street" as opposed to today's "Church Street" or "Washington Street". Alleys, where they had names (for example, in Baltimore) were often named for the landowner, and had a possessive, like "Lenoir's alley". There were important exceptions (the planners of New York's numbered streets and Philadelphia's tree names were ahead of their time), but in most American cities that was the pattern until around 1850. It was then that an important cultural change took place which affected everything from gardening to literature: a shift in the view of Nature. Before this, Nature was seen almost universally (among Americans) as hostile, howling wilderness to be conquered. The new view took account of Nature as offering beauty, safety and cleanliness in contrast with the filth and crowding of the early industrial city. It was a romantic vision of picturesque English countryside, with trees and buildings scattered about in "natural" form rather than lined up in rigid rows. There were many strands to this, all interrelated. One was architectural: a change from the cool, rational, ordered (and urban) Greek Revival style to the picturesque, romantic, assymetric Gothic Revival, a movement inspired by John Ruskin and A.W.N. Pugin in England and carried in the U.S. by A. J. Davis (architect of Lyndhurst, a famous Gothic mansion overlooking the Hudson River in Tarrytown NY, now a museum). Another strand was the Rural Cemetery Movement, which called for replacement of crowded and unsanitary urban churchyards with a spacious, non- denominational "park" outside of town, with grave monuments arrayed among plentiful trees and natural features: Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Mass. was one of the first and greatest models of this. Closely related was the new art of "naturalistic" landscape design, as practiced by Frederick Law Olmsted in Central Park (NYC) and other places. And the ideal of what we now call suburbia was born in this era: the notion of ordinary houses having lawns and trees around them. Even as rural life was idealized, urbanization was proceeding rapidly. New cities were being laid out from Maine to California and older ones were expanding. But the new aesthetic had an impact on what all those new streets were called . It was at this time that the names of tree species suddenly became the dominant choices for street names: the leader among streets named in the 1850's is Oak, followed closely by others such as Elm, Maple, Pine, Walnut, etc. After the Civil War, expansion of urban settlements was even more rapid. Most often these were "additions" to existing communities, done almost entirely by private real estate operators. Subdivisions with names like "Raymond H. Chase's Addition to the City of Springfield" were ubiquitous, and most often the streets were named for the developers and their associates. Tree names were still being used, but during this period the percentage of "surname" streets soared. Meanwhile, especially out West where whole new cities were still being started, the creation of organized systems with grids of numbered or lettered streets was in vogue. There is an excellent book about this by John Reps, titled "The Forgotten Frontier: Urban Planning in the American West Before 1890". Some time around 1880, the word "street" was displaced by "avenue"; the percentage of "streets" fell steadily and "avenues" rose just as quickly. By the turn of the century only a small percentage of the new thoroughfares being added had "Street" in their names. In established areas, the growth of urban settlement took place along streetcar lines. In many older cities, you can recognize the major street where the streetcar line ran, crossed by many closely spaced parallel streets with long blocks of houses on narrow lots. Horsecars and eventually electric streetcars made it possible for even working people to commute miles from the center of town. On this topic, you might be interested in the book "Streetcar Suburbs", by Sam Warner. Then, in the 1890-1910 period, came another intellectual and architectural revolution: the City Beautiful Movement. The Columbian Exposition in 1893 was composed of monumental white classical buildings arranged along a broad mall; this became a new, orderly vision for what cities could be like (in stark contrast to the crowded and messy reality). A leader in this was the architect Daniel H. Burnham, who is famed for supposedly saying "Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood." Burnham had in mind the kinds of things that Haussman had done in Paris, sweeping aside whole parts of town to build wide boulevards and monuments, long vistas and colonnades, etc. Classically inspired architecture surged back into vogue, as did the "colonial" styles of the eighteenth century. Words like "boulevard" and "park" and "court" became commonplace in street names of this period. More than that, the ambitions people had for their cities were expressed in the newly highfalutin' street names, like Majestic Terrace, or Buckingham Boulevard. Naming several streets in a subdivision for American states (i.e., states other than the one where the subdivision was located) took place most frequently at the turn of the century. For the first time, the developers started to choose street names with an eye toward shaping the image of their subdivisions, a practice that continues to this day. After World War I, especially, came the automobile, and land use patterns changed drastically. Starting in the 1920's, "avenue" as a street descriptor was displaced by "drive"; by 1980, it was uncommon to see a subdivision street named anything other than "drive". English baronial imagery for new subdivisions was typical in the 1920's, along with Tudor architecture for suburban houses. But almost anything that evoked suburbia was used. The suffixes "-wood" and "-land" were tacked on to almost anything to coin street names. Floral names, names of famous colleges and universities, English counties, world cities, etc., all inspired street names. Developers in larger metro areas had to be especially creative. But the bottom line was the setting of a positive image for the development. The use of personal names (ordinary, un-picturesque personal names, I mean, like Macmillan or Maynor or Kestenbaum or Grissom) fell precipitously. Another important and little-appreciated influence came from the rules imposed by the federal home financing agencies like the FHA. I'm not completely clear on the details, but the FHA had rules about how new subdivisions had to be planned in order to be eligible for FHA home financing. One requirement was for "curvilinear streets". So, especially after World War II, practically every subdivision in America had curvilinear streets which could easily be described as "drives". Toronto Street Names: An Illustrated Guide to Their Origins by Leonard Wise. More stories about the origins of Toronto street names. Stay in the loop. A couple of weeks ago I investigated the meaning behind some of Toronto's street names and explained why a road miles from the seat of government is called Parliament Street, how a battle in the Napoleonic wars gave its name to a street near High Park, and who gave 's its semi Native title. There wasn't enough room to cover the entire city in just one post and there were plenty of choice tales left over for this: part two in a collection of street names and their backgrounds. A lot of this information can be traced back to the research done by Leonard Wise and Allan Gould for their definitive book on the subject, Toronto Street Names . Be sure to grab a copy for more insight into the history of our street nomenclature. Bathurst. Despite pushing for migration from Britain to Canada after the war of 1812 and granting the charter for King's College, Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, never felt the need to visit the country he took an active interest in shaping. In addition to Bathurst Street, the Brit also gave his name to Bathurst Island, Nunavut and the city of Bathurst in Australia. Random fact: Henry Bathurst was portrayed by Sir Christopher Lee in Shaka Zulu, a South African TV series. Ossington. The fun-loving, north-south nightlife spot gets its name from the slightly more formal surroundings of Ossington Hall in Nottinghamshire, England, the ancestral home of the Denison family who were early land owners in the area. Ossington Street in London is named for John Evelyn Denison, 1st Viscount Ossington, a former speaker of British House of Commons born at Ossington Hall. Bloor. Named for Joseph Bloore (no-one seems sure how the "e" got lost), was called variously Second Concession, Tollgate Road, St. Paul's Road and Sydenham Street until 1855. Bloore ran a brewery in the Rosedale Valley near today's Sherbourne Street and owned property in early Yorkville. You can visit Joseph Bloore at Necropolis Cemetery at your convenience. Rebecca. There are plenty of Toronto streets named after people but Rebecca Street at Ossington and Queen isn't quite what it seems. In the early 1840s, the Rebeccaites of southern Wales were staunch opposers of road usage fees responsible for destroying many toll gates in protest. Often men dressed as women, the riot leaders were called "Rebeccas" and the gangs were collectively known as "daughters." The name comes from Genesis 24:60 : "Rebekah . posses the gate of those who hate them." Rebecca Street in Toronto bypassed an unpopular toll gate at Queen and Ossington that frequently charged workers for accessing the shore as part of their work. A contractor, fed up with the situation, bought the plot of land north of Queen and set up Rebecca Street to avoid the fees. Carlton. Another case of the mysterious vanishing "e", Carlton was named by Ann Wood, wife of Andrew McGill and John Strachan (of Strachan Avenue), for her brother Guy Carleton Wood. Before realignment, Carlton Street intersected Yonge just south of College. Ann herself lives on in the name of McGill Street. Colgate. Yep, there really is a street named after a brand of toothpaste, or rather the owner of a brand of toothpaste. Located a block north of Queen East. between Logan and Carlaw, Colgate Avenue, formerly known as Natalie Street, was once home to a soap and toiletries factory. The building might be gone but the name of William Colgate's business lives on. Gardiner. Frederick Goldwin Gardiner, chairman of Metro Toronto, was instrumental in the construction of the elevated arterial road that bears his name, the and the controversial Spadina Expressway. Unusually, Toronto's lake-front highway was named while Gardiner was still in office in 1957. Known for his aggressive, "get it done" attitude, Gardiner was a perennial source of great quotes, including: "Smile and the world smiles with you. Tax and you tax alone" and "The only symphony I understand is the one played on a cash register." Christie. Sure he makes great cookies, but Mr. Christie is also a decent namesake too. Scottish biscuit apprentice William Mellis Christie came to Canada and found work at Mathers and Brown bakery. He later took over the company and made it a success under his name. Today the Mr. Christie brand is owned by Nabisco. Wellesley/Wellington. We've done pretty well out of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Hero of the Penninsula War, Battle of Waterloo and nemesis of Napoleon, Wellesley was also prime minister of the United Kingdom before Earl Grey, of hot bergamot infused beverage fame. Both Wellesley and Wellington Streets are named after the duke. O'Connor. The street running east from the top of Broadview has a distinctly sweet history. Named for Senator Frank Patrick O'Connor, the founder of the Laura Secord candy empire, the company's first store was on and was named for a Canadian heroine of the war of 1812. Secord warned British troops of an impending attack by American forces that led to a key victory in the Battle of Beaver Dams. Cummer. We've all had a good snigger at this one - especially Old Cummer GO Station - so I suspect a lot of people will be disappointed to learn the street is named for Jacob Kummer, a German-Pennsylvanian miller who moved to the area in the late 18th century. Sadly, nothing funny or sexual about that. He did have 14 kids though. A guide to recognizing Toronto’s five saints. St. Lawrence (with halo) before St. Valerianus by Fra Angelico. Old Toronto was a city of saints. Their names were stitched into the fabric of the community by the first settlers from the British Isles, starting in the early 1800s. Thanks to them, Toronto’s first political divisions and neighbourhoods were named for the patron saints of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and, thanks to a quirk of timing, the patron saint of librarians, miners, and students. This saintly history is most clearly visible on the Toronto subway map, where several of the old wards were enshrined in the names of stations, particularly on the University line. Elsewhere, the saints live on in the names of city markets and older civic buildings. But who were the saints of Toronto, and what did they do to earn such veneration? Here’s a handy guide to Toronto’s most holy and virtuous. ST. LAWRENCE. St. Lawrence of Rome’s association with Canada began when French explorer Jaques Cartier sailed up the country’s mighty eastern river in 1535 with the help of two Iroquoian guides. The trip began on 10 th August, the feast day of St. Lawrence, and so Cartier named the river for the man who, according to lore, spirited away the chalice used during Christ’s last supper—the Holy Grail—to Spain for safekeeping, among other deeds. He was burnt to death around the year 262. The Toronto connection arrived early with the naming of St. Lawrence Ward, the area that gave the city the St. Lawrence Market and St. Lawrence Hall, in the 1830s. Today, St. Lawrence of Rome is recognized as a patron saint of Canada, and also of librarians, chefs, miners, and students. Miracles: Fed hungry workmen for 10 days with a single loaf of bread after a despairing builder prayed to him for help. ST. CLAIR. The odd one of the bunch, the story of Toronto’s St. Clair is one of misspelling and confusion. According to authors Leonard Wise and Allan Gould in Toronto Street Names , the east-west thoroughfare got its name from “St. Clare,” a character in anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin . The story, which sounds a little too neat and tidy, goes like this: local boy Albert Grainger liked the name so much he adopted it as a middle name and wrote it, incorrectly, as St. Clair on a signpost at his parents’ farm near Avenue Rd. and St. Clair. Surveyors later mistook it for an official name and, somehow, it stuck. Going back a little further, the Uncle Tom’s Cabin character was perhaps named for an Italian saint and follower of St. Francis of Assisi in the 13 th century who founded an order of nuns that gave up all rights to property and begged for alms. Miracles (of the Italian St. Clair): Saved a child from the ravages of a hungry wolf. St. George and the Dragon by Raphael. ST. GEORGE. St. George’s contemporary associations with Toronto are circuitous. This city’s now defunct waterfront St. George’s ward was named for the patron saint of England (and many, many other countries,) but the street and subway station appear to have been named for Laurent Quetton St. George, an exiled French royalist who adopted his last name in England on April 23, the feast day of St. George. In Canada, Quetton St. George befriended Dr. William Baldwin, the architect of Spadina Ave., who named a side street for him and, by extension, England’s patron saint. The original St. George’s most celebrated deed was slaying a (likely metaphorical) dragon—perhaps some sort of water dwelling beast—somewhere in North Africa between 280 and 303 AD. Miracles: Apart from killing the dragon, St. George is credited with raising at least one person from the dead. ST. PATRICK. These days, poor old St. Patrick might as well be the patron saint of Guinness and “kiss me, I’m Irish” t-shirts. His subway stop is located at what used to be the corner of St. Patrick St. (which was merged with several other streets to form Dundas) and University Ave. in the heart of the old St. Patrick’s Ward. St. Patrick was born in Great Britain and sold into slavery in Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning home. He returned to Ireland in later life and is credited with driving all snakes out of the Emerald Isle (even if contemporary science says there never were any serpents to banish.) Miracles: Banishing the snakes was St. Patrick’s most famous deed, though he is also credited with making himself and several followers appear as deer to would-be attackers. Saint Andrew the Apostle as depicted by Flemish painter Artus Wolffort. ST. ANDREW. Biblical St. Andrew is mentioned in the New Testament as a close disciple of Jesus. He was said to have been present at several important events, including the Feeding of the Multitude and the Last Supper. In Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting, Andrew is seated four left of Jesus, his hands raised in surprise. Andrew’s connection to Toronto comes thanks to his patronage of Scotland. Historically, St. Andrew’s Ward was a narrow strip between Queen and King streets from Dufferin in the west to Yonge in the east. The area gave its name to the church, a long lost market, and the subway station at King and University, which maintains a blue and white colour scheme for the flag of Scotland. Miracles: Freed a man from shackles and raised a child from the dead. How Toronto’s Streets Got Their Names. No matter your mode of transportation in Toronto, you’ve likely used one on your daily commute: a road, a street, an avenue…maybe even a cul de sac. The route we take sometimes becomes so familiar, we don’t even think about which street we’re on when we’re on it – but each one has a name, and each name has a meaning. The history of some roads and their subsequent naming might sometimes be obvious. Most streets are named for people, whether or not they ever visited Canada. Some are named for landmark houses in the area or the hometowns whence settlers came. , Simcoe Street and Graves Street were all named for the founder of York (that’s John Graves Simcoe). Bathurst Street, once a lane connecting a farm to the then-town of York, was named for an earl who never visited Canada. Spadina Avenue – which historically was pronounced Spadeena – was named for a house on top of a hill, honouring an Ojibwa word meaning high place. Learn about the meaning behind the names of the following streets to impress your friends, or the guy sitting next to you on the streetcar who probably doesn’t want you talking to him so much. Alexander Street. Named for Alexander Wood, a Scot with an imported goods shop on the northwest corner of King and Frederick where the first sidewalk of Toronto was laid. He was a popular guy who was respected as a magistrate until a sex scandal in 1810. While investigating a rape case, he inspected the genitals of several young, male suspects after the victim said she had scratched her assailant. It wasn’t publicly recorded that Wood had acted indecently, or that he was gay, but the town talked and even created a nickname for him, Molly Wood, that became “molly,” a snide insult for homosexual men. Wood later owned 50 acres of land at Yonge and Carlton Streets, which locals named Molly Wood’s Bush. Part of it would have been located in today’s gay village at , where Alexander Street, Wood Street and Alexander Place are, and where a statue of Alexander Wood stands. . Queen’s Quay to Davenport between Yonge and University. The centre of Toronto’s financial district wasn’t always so distinguished. Instead, it was named Bear Street for numerous bear sightings during the early days of the city. At least one report claims the street, which connected to the bay in the harbour, was so-named for an instance in which a bear was chased from the surrounding woods in the area to the waterfront. Bay Street was named in 1797. Bloor Street. Broadview to Dixie between Queen/Queensway and Eglinton. Joseph Bloore was an Englishman who owned the Farmers Arm Inn, near the St. Lawrence Market, and then a brewery on land he owned near what is Sherbourne Street today. Together with William Jarvis ( was named for his cousin, Samuel), he founded the village of Yorkville in 1830 for people looking for fresher air outside of the town of York. Today, Bloor Street (no one is really sure where the ‘e’ went) is approximately 25 kilometres long and includes the , which is the most expensive place in Canada to lease retail space. A plaque commemorates Joseph Bloore’s contributions at St. Andrew’s United Church on Bloor Street East. He is buried in Necropolis Cemetery. Blue Jays Way. Originally, this street was an extension of Peter Street, named for Peter Russell, the first administrator in York. In 1993, the Toronto Blue Jays won their second World Series championship at the Skydome (now the Rogers Centre), which was located at the end of Peter Street. Wayne Gretzky, who owned Wayne Gretzky’s restaurant on the same street, then pitched the name change idea to honour the team’s win(s). He hoped Wayne Gretzky’s could be located at 99 Blue Jays Way (honouring his hockey jersey number) rather than 41 Peter Street. Initially the request was rejected by the city services committee, who said the name change and renumbering would make it look like they were catering to the rich and famous. Eventually the request was granted, with the restaurant agreeing to put up a plaque explaining the renaming and honouring Russell’s historical contribution. Christie Street. William Christie was a biscuit maker’s apprentice in Scotland, and began working in a bakery in York soon after he came to Canada in 1848. In partnership with one of the bakery’s owners, he built an enormous factory at Adelaide (then Duke) and Frederick streets (now home to George Brown College) and became the largest manufacturer of biscuits in the country. Christie died in 1899, but his son took over the company, which sold to Nabisco in 1928. Christie Pits are also named after Mr. Christie. Knowledge makes cookies taste even better. Cummer Avenue. Juuuust in case you were wondering, the Kummer (sometimes Cummer) family left Germany because of their Lutheran religion, and then Pennsylvania because they were loyal to Britain after the American Revolution. They settled on land between Sheppard and Finch, east of Yonge, in 1797, and then built a sawmill on the Don River near Finch and Bayview in 1819. What is now Cummer Avenue was once just a lane for horses and buggies. The Kummers continued to grow and build their businesses in the area, often referred to as Kummer’s Settlement, over the next 50 years. After converting to Methodism and hosting spiritual meetings and Sunday School, the area now known as Willowdale was known as Scripture Town and Angel Valley. Descendants of the original Kummers were none-too-pleased when Cummer Avenue ended up on a Toronto- based condom design a few years back. . to Broadview between Gerrard and O’Connor/St. Clair. Asa Danforth Jr. was one of the first citizens in Onondaga County in New York when he arrived there from Massachusetts in 1788. He fell into quite a bit of debt while speculating in land in New York State, so he moved to Upper Canada. Here, he was commissioned by administrator Peter Russell (of Peter Street fame) to build a much-needed hundred-mile road between York and Kingston at a cost of $90 a mile. Danforth is credited for cutting the first road through thick forests in Scarborough. He built Danforth’s Road by 1799, but continued to be heavily in debt and wasn’t adequately paid by the Canadian government, who complained about the quality of the road and didn’t trust Americans at the time. As a result of the debt incurred from building Danforth’s Road and not being paid for it, Danforth gave up arguing for his payment and bitterly retreated to New York. The last records of him show he continued to face trouble for further debt, and he died around 1821. The roads he worked on are still in use as parts of and Kingston Road. His Danforth Road in Scarborough and Danforth Avenue were both named for him, though he had no part in building Danforth Avenue. . A side street in east Toronto is now forever associated with popular CBC shows The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, Degrassi High and Degrassi: The Next Generation, but it was named for either Captain Phillipe De Grassi or his son, Alfio, a well-known mason and merchant. Phillipe might have been one of the first Italians in the country, and chose farmland in the Don Valley in 1832 after serving with Napoleon’s French army in Spain and the British army in the West Indies. He wasn’t particularly experienced as a farmer, and once lived in a stable for some time with his family after a fire destroyed their home. De Grassi was a member of the Family Compact. His daughter, Cornelia De Grassi, was 13 when she spied on rebels gathered at Montgomery’s Tavern during the Rebellion of 1837. She was able to give Sir Francis Bond Head valuable information about the rebel numbers prior to him organizing his troops. Which makes us wonder if the street is actually named after her. . Kingston Road to Dixie between Queen/Queensway and Danforth/Bloor. John Graves Simcoe, the founder of York, originally intended to have Dundas Street run as a military route from Detroit through London and York to Kingston in case of war with the Americans. It was built throughout the 18th century and named for the Right Honourable Henry Dundas, Viscount Melville, the British secretary of state for the home department, and previous Lord Advocate for Scotland. Dundas Street is made up more than a dozen smaller streets, which gives it a crooked feel throughout the downtown area. Notably, Dundas didn’t ever visit Canada (nor did George Yonge, who lent his name to Yonge Street). Hubbard Blvd. Frederick Hubbard was the general manager of the Scarboro Beach Amusement Park, a place designed to entertain fun seekers in the Beaches from 1907-1925. Initially, steamers brought park goers from the foot of Yonge Street in the city to the park, but in 1912, the Toronto Railway Company bought the amusement spot, which sat close to the end of the streetcar line. Now, the land is filled with subdivisions, but then it was a hotspot filled with attractions including roller coasters and rides, freak shows, circuses, costume parades, daredevil acts, refreshment booths, dance pavilions, band concerts and an annual six-day bicycle race. Hubbard Ave. is located where the park’s boardwalk sat while Scarborough Beach Boulevard is the street that was once the to the entrance of the amusement park. Leslie Street. Lake to Ivy between Cowell and Pape; Eglinton to Steeles between Don Mills Rd. and Bayview. George Leslie was a Scot who immigrated to Toronto in 1824. He worked as a builder on the Parliament Buildings and Upper Canada College. In 1834, Leslie co-founded the Toronto Horticultural Society. In 1837, he opened Upper Canada’s first seed store and operated the Toronto Nurseries in 1845 with his sons on about 200 acres east of the Don River. The gardens and some of the trees at Mount Pleasant Cemetery and in , as well as some trees used in British shipbuilding, came from Leslie’s nursery. Many of the oldest trees were planted because of Leslie, and the city’s chestnut trees exist because of an oversupply – he sold them to the city at a discounted rate. Leslie was on the , a member of the volunteer fire department, a founding member of the local Presbyterian church and he also worked as postmaster in the neighbourhood that became Leslieville in 1860. Kinda makes you wonder what you’re doing with your life, huh? Montgomery Avenue. It’s impossible to scratch the surface of Toronto’s history without John Montgomery’s tavern being noted. It was William Lyon Mackenzie’s Rebel headquarters during the Rebellion of 1837, and the site of the clash between the Rebels and Loyalists that eventually led to the legislative union of Upper and Lower Canada and responsible government. Montgomery wasn’t a supporter of an armed uprising, but was dragged into the consequences when he was arrested and tried due to being the tavern keeper despite being in the process of moving out. He was sentenced to be executed, and then instead deported. Prior to his exile, he cursed anyone involved in his unfair judgement by saying, “These perjurers…will never die a natural death, and when you, sir, and the jury shall have died and perished in hell’s flames, John Montgomery will yet be living on Yonge Street.” He outlived his accusers, and was compensated for just a portion of the loss of his business in 1873. St. Clair. Kingston Road to Scarlett Road between Bloor/Danforth and Eglinton. The Grainger family rented a farm and owned a flower shop near what is now and St. Clair. After seeing a stage production of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, young Albert Grainger borrowed a misspelled name from the program to use as his middle name, which he didn’t have. He chose St. Clair, meant for the story’s hero Augustine St. Clare, who bought and set Uncle Tom free. That St. Clare is named for the Italian saint, founder of an order of Franciscan nuns called “Poor Clares,” who survived the Middle Ages and Industrial Revolution while living largely in silence and begging for alms. Grainger painted his new middle name on a sign and hung it on a tree on the farm, where it stayed even after his young death at the age of 20 due to complications of a cold. When surveyors later stumbled upon the sign, they assumed it was the name of the second concession and so it became St. Clair Avenue. In 1913, the St. Clare’s Church was built near Dufferin on St. Claire Ave. West by the Roman Catholic community. Temperance Street. Jesse Ketchum was born in New York, but after being taken into a foster home when his mother died, he fled to Upper Canada and bought a tannery. He was known for being an extremely generous philanthropist and great contributor to the city of Toronto. He helped fund the rebuilding of Don River bridges, establish the Methodist church, and donated greatly to local schools, libraries and churches while also helping back in Buffalo. Because of his horrible experience with an alcoholic father, Ketchum was a strong supporter of the anti-liquor/Temperance movement, and so after the rebellion when he moved his tannery to New York he donated some of his land to be used for Temperance Hall on Temperance Street. He insisted alcohol should never be served on that street. His large, American-style house was destroyed in the late 1830’s. Ketchum’s name lives on at Ketchum Hall at Buffalo State College, Jesse Ketchum Junior and Senior Public school in Toronto and in Ketchum Manufacturing, a Brockville-based agricultural supply manufacturer founded by his descendants. Need to know more? Pick up the Toronto Street Names: An Illustrated Guide by Leonard Wise and Allan Gould. Hundreds of Kipling alumni angered by planned name change for high school. Hundreds of Kipling Collegiate Institute alumni are up in arms over what they see as an attempt to erase their high school’s history by getting rid of its name, while current students and parents argue the change will help build a more accepting community. Starting next year, Kipling students will be joined by those currently attending soon-to-be-closed Scarlett Heights Entrepreneurial Academy. They’ll all go to the brick-and-mortar currently called Kipling, but it will have an undetermined new name, some new programming and a branding overhaul that could include new school colours and mascots. The school board says even though changing school boundaries doesn’t normally result in a school getting a rebrand, this particular change was recommended by community members who feel it will spell a “fresh start” for students from both schools. Patti Shevlin, who graduated from the school in 1977, started an online petition arguing that the school board’s reasons for changing the name “stink of political correctness.” She questions why the name needs to be shed in order to make current and future students more comfortable, and thinks the school’s likeliest namesake — Rudyard Kipling — is worthy of the honour. Rudyard Kipling was a 19th Century British writer as well-known for justifying colonialism and the subjugation of non-white people as he is for writing The Jungle Book. The association lends moral undertones to an already heated community debate. Ryan Bird, a Toronto District School Board spokesperson, said the idea for the name change didn’t originate with the board and did not have information on whether the association with Rudyard Kipling had anything to do with discussions on changing the name at the community level. “I think it’s important that people know that regardless of the potential name change, the history of both Kipling CI and Scarlett Heights will be celebrated,” Bird said. Around 800 people had signed Shevlin’s petition Thursday. Signatories pointed out a long history of athletic and artistic achievement at the school, and distinguished alumni like classical guitarist Liona Boyd and Liberal MP Kirsty Duncan, the science minister. “Everyone who graduated, or even attended, that I've heard from, strongly believes that changing the name of the school would erase our connection to our past,” Shevlin said. In 2016-17, Scarlett Heights had a 26 per cent utilization rate and only 222 students enrolled. Kipling had 393 students, a 41 per cent utilization rate. Current students at Kipling Collegiate don’t all have an affinity for their school’s name. Some say that if a new name for the school will help ease the transition for students within the new boundaries, it will be worth it. “I think the school has a bad image,” said Grade 12 student Feras Dukmak, who thinks the nearby Martingrove Collegiate Institute has a better reputation for program offerings. He said combining the schools and giving the combined location a fresh brand will give a leg up for the new generation of students. Grade 9 student Jamal Anthony agreed shedding the name will help the students from Scarlett Heights feel more welcome. “I think if anything they should have combined the names,” Anthony said. Many TDSB schools are named after the streets and neighbourhoods surrounding them. That seems to be the case for Kipling C.I., which opened in 1960 close to Kipling Ave. The history of that street name itself, though, is mysterious. Leonard Wise, Toronto lawyer and author of Toronto Street Names, said he couldn’t precisely confirm the street name’s origins — but he’s convinced it’s named after the British writer. “The coincidence is too staggering,” he said. Loading. Rudyard Kipling visited Toronto in 1907 — the same year Kipling Ave. was named. He was scheduled to visit the then-village of Woodbridge, and was promised, stories say, that the road leading to Woodbridge would be named after him to mark the occasion. “The funny part of the story (is) that he didn’t show up but they went through with it anyways,” Wise said. Whatever the reason for changing the school’s name, Wise said he doesn’t think Rudyard Kipling is a name worth preserving. “In those days they named things after people that didn’t deserve it,” Wise said. Dukmak thinks the top priority should be making all new students feel welcome. For a class project on rebranding the school he submitted the idea of the school name “Skipling.” Another student, Ben Karpis, suggested the late lead singer of the Tragically Hip, Gord Downie would make a good namesake for the school. The school board is accepting suggestions from community members for new names until Jan. 12. Quickfacts on British author Rudyard Kipling: Author of celebrated books The Jungle Book (1894) and Kim (1901). Awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1907, and was nominated thrice prior. Was well known for writing poetry and prose that justified imperialism and the subjugation of non-white people, the most famous of which was the 1899 poem The White Man’s Burden . Visited Toronto on a North America tour in 1907, staying at the King Edward Hotel and speaking to a sold-out crowd at the Canadian Club. Advocated for racist immigration policies on his trip to Toronto. He was quoted in the Star as saying “The way to keep the yellow man out is to get the white man in” in 1907. Broke his promise to open the Woodbridge Fair on his 1907 trip, giving the excuse through his wife that he had to answer mail from England. Correction – November 9, 2017: This article was edited from a previous version that misspelled the surname of Patti Shevlin.