Place:New Toronto, York, Ontario, Canada

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The historic Town of New Toronto is a neighbourhood in the south-west end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

It is located in the south-centre of the former Township (and later, City) of Etobicoke and was an independent municipality from 1913 to 1967, one of the former 'Lakeshore Municipalities'.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Beginnings

The largest farming families in what would become New Toronto were the Northcote family to the east around where Seventh Street/Islington Avenue meets Lake Shore Blvd. West today, and the Goldthorpe family to the west at Mimico Avenue (now Kipling Avenue) where the Mimico Lunatic Asylum was later built. In 1888, a farm south of the Lake Shore Road and east of Mimico Avenue (Kipling Avenue) which had been purchased by the Ontario Government, was used to create the Mimico Lunatic Asylum (later known as the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital), alleviating overcrowding at Toronto's Asylum on Queen Street West (later known as Queen Street Mental health Center, and now the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health). In 1890 a plan of subdivision was filed by a group of industrialists and the first streets laid out in what is now New Toronto by the Mimico Real Estate Security Company. With the first industries in New Toronto already operating, or to be operational by the end of 1890, New Toronto was promoted with the publication of an article in the October 25th, 1890 edition of the Toronto Globe newspaper (now the Globe & Mail) entitled "Toronto's Growing Suburb - New Toronto - As it is and what it will be". New Toronto, as an industrial centre "was expected to rival - if not exceed - 'old' Toronto in manufacturing output". A few workers homes were built on early streets north of Lake Shore Road while Mimico's planned development proceeded slowly.

John Shean's Hotel (later, The New Toronto Hotel and the Almont Hotel) was located across from the Asylum grounds at Mimico Avenue (Kipling Ave.) and The Lake Shore Road (now Lake Shore Blvd West). In 1892 a Post Office was established in New Toronto. The next year, the pastor of Mimico's Methodist Church began holding separate services in New Toronto establishing a church building as a branch of Mimico's new Methodist Circuit in 1909.

The Mimico Yards (The Grand Trunk Railway freight yards) were established in 1906 in what was already a Postal Village, encouraging many more industries to relocate to New Toronto. The same year a Public School was established on Sixth Street. A proper school house was opened in 1909 on Fifth Street (Fifth Street Public School). By 1911 an Anglican church had been completed in New Toronto called St. Margaret's.

Growth

In 1913, New Toronto was incorporated as a separate village, with a population of 500. In 1915 the Methodist church became a separate Methodist Parish from Mimico. 1916 saw a referendum on joining New Toronto to Mimico which passed in Mimico but was defeated by New Toronto residents.

With the First World War raging, new industries arrived in New Toronto - most notably The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company established a plant in New Toronto in 1916-17 that quickly became the town's largest employer. Other major industries included: Canadian Industries Limited (1915), Anaconda American Brass Company of Canada (1922, after taking over the operations of Browns Copper & Brass Rolling Mills Ltd., 1915), W & A Gilbey Ltd. distillery (1933), and the Continental Can Company of Canada Ltd. (1936).

New Toronto became a town in 1920 and established a Library Association. In 1924 a St. Teresa's Catholic Church was created in New Toronto out of Mimico's St. Leo's Catholic Church.

By 1927 a new school was needed and the Seventh Street Public school was opened.

With the creation of the United Church of Canada after the union of the Methodist, Congregational and Presbyterian Churches, the New Toronto Methodist Church opened a new Church building, the first to be built specifically as a United Church, called the Century United Church.

In 1929 an Italianate style building was built for a New Toronto Fire Station and was also used as the Town Hall for a time, it is still a Fire Station today. At the same time, the new mayor William Jackson donated land for a Public Library Building, Jackson would go on to be mayor almost continuously until 1952, he also served as Warden of York County (leader of the Regional Government). In 1930, the Campbell Soup Company Ltd. had arrived in New Toronto. In 1947 the Fifth Street Public School burned down and was replaced with the new Second Street Public School.

To serve the large local population of Ukrainians who had settled in New Toronto over the years, St. Michaels Ukrainian Catholic Church was built in 1954 on Sixth Street (just north of St. Margaret's Anglican Church).

Deindustrialisation

In 1953 with urbanisation spreading north from the Lake Shore municipalities (Mimico, New Toronto, Long Branch) into Etobicoke Township, these municipalities were separated from York County along with the other municipalities south of Steeles Ave to create a new 'urban' region: Metropolitan Toronto.

Growing freight traffic in the Toronto area necessitated the creation of an amalgamated facility and a by-pass of the congested Toronto Terminal downtown. A modern hump yard in Maple, first named Toronto Yard and then MacMillan Yard, the freight by-pass opened in 1965 at which time Mimico was downgraded considerably, resulting in the loss of much employment. At the same time the Toronto By-Pass line allowed for the creation of GO Transit commuter train line between Oakville and Pickering. GO named its facility Willowbrook, after the nearby Willowbrook Road. Old CNR facilities in Mimico Yard were used for the startup of this trial train service. Its subsequent growth has resulted in new facilities being built for GO. In 1967 New Toronto was amalgamated with the other Lake Shore municipalities (Mimico and Long Branch) back into Etobicoke to create the Borough of Etobicoke. In 1984 Etobicoke became a city. In 1985, Via Rail facilities at Spadina Avenue were relocated from downtown Toronto to New Toronto's underused former Mimico Yards at the newly completed Toronto Maintenance Centre (which would have its major operations moved to Quebec just a few years later).

In May 1987, Goodyear Canada Inc., which was the largest employer in New Toronto, shut down its plant contributing to a general loss of employment in the area. While many Ukrainian and Polish immigrants traditionally lived in New Toronto and surrounding communities beginning early in the 20th Century, more arrived after the Communist Bloc collapsed in 1989. By the mid-1970s the population aged as many younger people moved further west to Mississauga and other new suburbs where large houses were being built. At this time the former Century United Church closed to be replaced with a mosque. New Toronto's Library was demolished in 1993 to be replaced with a new building. In 1998 Etobicoke was joined with the other municipalities of Metropolitan Toronto and the Metropolitan government itself to form the new City of Toronto. Recent attempts to rejuvenate New Toronto include the protection of remaining industrial lands (for employment) and the old Mimico Lunatic Asylum buildings and grounds with the establishment of Humber College's Lake Shore campus and the Lakeshore Grounds, as well as the construction of the new Lakeshore Lions Arena on the former W & A Gilbey ditillery site.

Notable residents

Mayors

• George Ironside (1913–1917) (Reeve)
• Charles Lovejoy (1917–1922) Mayor from 1920
• S. Tucker (1922)
• George Janes (1923–1926)
• George Warner (1926–1929)
• William Jackson (1929–1937, 1938–1952)
• S. Douglas (1937)
• E. Grant (1952–1954)
• J. Strath (1954)
• Don Russell (1955–1967)

Research Tips

The primary source for basic documents (vital statistics, land records, wills) for people who lived in the Province of Ontario is the Archives of Ontario, 134 Ian Macdonald Blvd, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M7A 2C5.

Early Records

Civil registration did not begin in the province until 1869. Before then there may be church records of baptisms and burials. For the most part these are still held by the denomination who recorded them. Copies of marriage records made pre-1869 had to be sent by individual clergymen to the registrar of the county in which the marriage took place. These marriage records are available through Ontario Archives, on micorfilm through LDS libraries, and on paid and unpaid websites, but because they were copied at the registrars' offices, they cannot be considered a primary source.

Vital Records after 1869

Birth, marriage and death registrations are not open to the public until a specific number of years after the event occurred. Births to 1914 are now available [October 2012]; dates for marriages and deaths are later. Birth and death registration was not universally carried out in the early years after its adoption. Deaths were more apt to be reported than births for several years. The more rural the area, the less likely it would be that these happenings were reported to the authorities.
Images and indexes of civil registrations for the "viewable" years can be found on paid websites, and indexes only on FamilySearch. The latest year published is not yet available online. The FamilySearch Wiki on Ontario Vital Records explains how these records are organized and their availability.

Land Records and Wills

Information on how to access land records and wills is best sought on the Archives of Ontario website. An ancestor's land holding might be found on Canadian County Atlas Digital Project if he was in occupancy circa 1878.

Association for the Preservation of Ontario Land Registry Office Documents (APOLROD). A list of Land Registry Offices for all Counties of Ontario.

Censuses

The original censuses are in the hands of Library and Archives Canada. All of the original census (1851-1911) images are online with the exception of that for 1861. Not all of them are indexed. Later censuses are not yet available. Census divisions were redrawn as the population increased and more land was inhabited.
Other websites, some paid and some free, also provide Canadian census originals and/or indexes online. One can view censuses on microfilm at the Archives of Ontario or at big libraries throughout Canada.

E-books and Books

• The Internet Archive, particularly texts from Canadian universities, can contain interesting material
• Our Roots is a Canadian website similar to The Internet Archive
• Global Genealogy is an online bookshop specializing in Ontario material who will ship anywhere in the world.
  
  

Websites with more local information on the City of Toronto

• Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society. Serves the current City of Toronto including Etobicoke, York Township, Weston, Long Branch, New Toronto, Mimico, Swansea, Forest Hill, East York, Leaside and North York as well as the original City of Toronto. Contains a table of links to Toronto City Directories to be found online. Many other services and publications.
• History and Genealogy at the Toronto Public Library. Not the easiest website to find one's way around but contains some very useful material. Just looking though the old photographs in the Digital Library can be both interesting and informative.
• City of Toronto Archives. It has a vast digital collection of photographs online--many taken when roadworks were being planned and show a street's architecture, but the archive is also well worth a visit when in Toronto--it holds assessment records back to 1853, maps of neighbourhoods, and a library of local reference books.
• Canadiana Library at North York Public Library This library houses a wide collection of local genealogical material, provides microfilm readers for the Canadian census and for local newspapers, and is the home of the Ontario Genealogical Society's own library.
• There may be many other libraries and museums housing information for genealogical searching in Toronto and York Region