Discover Toronto's history as told through its plaques

2004 - Now in our 14th Year - 2018

To see what's new on this site, you can visit the Home Page

Looking at this page on a smartphone?
For best viewing, hold your phone in Landscape mode (Horizontal)

Roads over the Humber River

Photos by Alan L Brown - Posted August, 2011

This Story Circle, the fourth of 13 story circles on the "Discovery Walks - The Shared Path", can be found just before the trail heads north under the Queensway. Here's what the plaques say:

Coordinates: 43.634487 -79.474095

The array of traffic lanes at the mouth of the Humber River began with an Aboriginal footpath, formed along the lakeshore thousands of years ago. By 1798, a wider wagon path had been cleared to become the Lake Shore Road - a vital link between new settlements along Lake Ontario.

In the early 1800s, travellers along the Lake Shore Road crossed the Humber River by ferry. A log viaduct was constructed in 1824, then replaced by a swing bridge in the 1840s. With the decline of shipping on the river in the 1850s, the swing bridge was replaced by a fixed bridge. In 1893, an adjacent second bridge allowed electric streetcars also to cross the river.

Automobiles changed the landscape yet again. The vehicular crossing here was widened in 1931, then dramatically altered in the 1950s with the construction of the Gardiner Expressway and The Queensway. As in ancient times, the lakeshore continues to be one of Toronto's most important travel routes.

Shared Path Story Circles Information and Map
Discovery Walks - The Shared Path

Links to all the other Story Circles
  #1 Discover the Humber River's Ancient Past
  #2 Toronto Carrying Place
  #3 Railways Over the Humber
  #5 Boating on the Humber River
  #6-1 The Beginnings of French Toronto
  #6-2 The Rousseaux Family and Early Toronto
  #6-3 Jean-Baptiste Rousseaux 1758-1812
  #7 Humber River Marshes and Oak Savannah
  #8 Huron-Wendat Villages on the Humber River
  #9 Hurricane Hazel
#10 The King's Mill
#11 Teiaiagon and the Aboriginal Occupation of Baby Point
#12 Dundas Street Crossing and Lambton Mills
#13 Mississauga Settlements on the Humber River

Here are the visitors' comments for this page.

(none yet)

Here's where you can sent me a comment for this page.

Note: Your email address will be posted at the end of your comment so others can respond to you unless you request otherwise.

Note: Comments are moderated. Yours will appear on this page within 24 hours (usually much sooner).

Note: As soon as I have posted your comment, a reply to your email will be sent informing you.

To send me your comment, click [email protected].

Thanks
Webmaster

Note: If you wish to send me a personal email, click here.