Our trade routes are not new! Video!

Roncesvalles Ave HCD Wanted by Sunnyside Historical Society. per E Charron PDF.

Roncesvalles History. J Gibney PDF.

16 Properties that we Recommend for listing and Eventual Designation on Roncesvalles A

82 Roncesvalles Ave, An Important example of Edwardian Architecture for Designation

Roncesvalles Ave is part of a network of ancient Native trade routes, in use for up to 11,000 years.

The east fork of the Toronto (Carrying Place) Trail split at Weston and came down Weston Road, shown in the centre of the map, then down Dundas, continuing to the south end of Indian Road. The old route is still in use, with some changes. In 1812, 50 Chippewa, Mississauga and Ojibwa resisted the American landing at the foot of Indian Road.

In 1853, John Howard built Sunnyside Villa and laid out Indian Road to sell lots on his land.

Howard’s Indian Road followed a Native trail from the lake north to to High Park Boulevard. But north of that I believe Howard’s road left the trail and ran over several ravines to keep it within his property. Typically Native trails follow the high ground, avoiding ravines, streams and climbing. An alternate route across O’Hara’s land to Bloor and Dundas would have been like most native trails, flat, straight and connected to other trails. I believe this was the approximate route of the trail.

In 1856 Colonel O’Hara’s sons laid out Roncesvalles Ave to sell lots.

Fortunately their Roncesvalles Ave reconnected the ancient trade route from the lake shore north to Dundas, Weston Road and the Toronto (Carrying Place) Trail to lake Simcoe. So Roncesvalles Avenue was positioned to become an important route again.

In 1879 Roncesvalles Ave became the western edge of Parkdale.

In 1904 Joseph Phillips built a 5 story head office for his York Region Loan and Savings Co. on the east side of the nearly vacant Roncesvalles Ave (to the right). He also began building estate homes for sale in his ‘Planned Community’ on the west side of Roncesvalles (on the left). In doing so he established the current unique character of the village as residential on the west and mixed use on the east.

In 1906 Joseph went to jail, essentially for being a loan shark, and Home Smith took over his projects and made them successful. Home Smith was well connected in Toronto society. He arranged to have a streetcar on Roncesvalles, and championed the development of Sunnyside Amusement Park. He changed Phillip’s Head Office into a luxury apartment building.

In doing so he made luxury apartments acceptable along Roncesvalles and in west Parkdale.

With all this and a building boom between 1910 1924, our Roncesvalles sprang into existence.

The Native trails and meeting places on Humber Bay were replaced by a communications hub at Roncesvalles and Queen St W. The new hub included, trains, highways, streetcars, a bus terminal, hotels, banks, luxury apartments, theatres, the Sunnyside Amusement Park, Dance Halls, boating and a beach. The area prospered, even during the great depression of 1929 to 1939.

After the war, car culture created traffic congestion that led to the Gardiner Expressway in 1956.

Construction broke the trade and entertainment connections and created an area recession for half a century. We have yet to fully recover.

Preserving the Heritage that made us grow will lead us to a better future for Roncesvalles.

Jack Gibney

Sunnyside Historical Society

2018-02-10(Test from the video)

Sources Regards the Video by Jack Gibney.

Native Trade Routs.

We are using native trade routes to this day all over Toronto. Madeline McDowell led tours of the Toronto Carrying Place Trail from the lake to Eglinton Ave. On her tour I learned how trails follow high ground connecting favourite places. Abby Bushby explained why Dundas curves as it follows the ridge of highest ground from Garrison Creek to Bloor Street. Garry Sault, a Mississauga Elder, confirmed these ideas and added that human trails followed animal trails.

I drove up Indian road to relive the distant past but was surprised that it arrived at Bloor St west of the high ground and immediately descended into a ravine then split to follow the bottom of two tributary streams north. Driving around I noticed that all the uneven land between Bloor and Annette becomes flat just to the ease at Dundas. Following Dundas south the route to Indian road became clear. Following Dundas north, I remembered how it once continued past Annette over a railway bridge up the town of Weston. The 1851 Browne map of York shows the Colonial roads before the railways. Dundas led seamlessly north to Weston.

1. 1851 J A Brownes FSA Map of York showing major roads, just before railways.

John Howard Laid out Indian Road

https://torontoist.com/2013/12/historicist-john-howards-enduring-monument/

2. Mike Filey ‘From Horse Power to Horsepower’ page 74 contested: The picture shows the trail leading down hill to the left as Indian Road, but this is unlikely.

https://books.google.ca/books?id=aZkcs6ZESkUC&pg=PA74&lpg=PA74&dq=indian+road+and+bloor+mike+filey&source=bl&ots=49wSlyp2TN&sig=kOzsR80CQDeFuH3b39vNXFP9D8Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwij35HYypzZAhWG64MKHfRAAZgQ6AEILzAB#v=onepage&q=indian%20road%20and%20bloor%20mike%20filey&f=false



2 Horse Power to Horsepower by Mike Filey 2 1913 East on Bloor at Indian Rd in Horse Power to Horsepower p74 Mike Filey

3 Junction hydro poles picture

From the Junction Historical Society. The picture shows a Hydro berm with poles leading over a ravine. There would be a drain pipe under the berm to let the stream pass to the west. Unlikely real trail. https://wtjhs.ca/junction-history/junction-streets-and-houses/indian-road/



3 Indian Road north of Bloor St on March 21, 1912

Roncesvalles and 1812. The native defenders here on our trade route!

https://torontoist.com/2013/04/natives-and-the-war-of-1812/

Joseph Phillips The charming scam artist who built Roncesvalles. By Angus Skene. Associative Value. https://www.thestar.com/business/2014/09/22/the_charming_scam_artist_who_built_roncesvalles.html

Home Smith made Roncesvalles thrive. Associative Value. http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/smith_robert_home_16E.html

Thanks to the Parkdale BIA for several of the pictures.