Discover Toronto's history as told through its plaques

2004 - Now in our 11th Year - 2015

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Yonge Street 1796

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted April, 2004

Photo by contributor Wayne Adam - Posted November, 2010

There's a belief in this city that Yonge Street is the 'Longest Street in the World', running from Toronto all the way to Rainy River near the Manitoba border. Bunk! Not true! A myth! Here's the true story. Yonge Street runs from Toronto's lakeshore almost as straight as an arrow north to its end in Holland Marsh almost at Lake Simcoe: a total of 58 km. What happened, I think, to get the myth going was that Ontario Highway 11 used to also begin at Toronto's lakeshore and, over the years, the two, Yonge Street and Highway 11, became almost synonymous in people's minds. Highway 11 does run all the way to Rainy River; Highway 11, not Yonge Street. By the way, in the late 1990s the Conservative government cut back on its highway network, turning many highways and parts of highways over to municipalities. As a result Highway 11 no longer starts in Toronto. Its southern end is now Barrie. I took this photo standing on the south side of Queen's Quay looking north at the very beginning of the 58 km long Yonge Street. That's the Toronto Star building on the right, in front of which is this Ontario Heritage Trust plaque which reads:

Coordinates: 43.642023 -79.374633

The shortest route between the upper and lower Great Lakes lies between here and Georgian Bay. For John Graves Simcoe, Upper Canada first lieutenant-governor, this protected inland passage had strategic military and commercial potential. He founded York (Toronto) in 1793, then ordered a road built to replace native trails which led north to Lake Simcoe and its water links with Lake Huron. Completed on February 16, 1796, it was named after British Secretary for War Sir George Yonge, an expert on Roman roads. Yonge Street developed from a muddy, stump-riddled forest trail into the main street of Toronto and the first part of Highway 11, which now extends 1,896 kilometres to Rainy River.

Related Toronto plaque
Lieutenant-General John Graves Simcoe 1752-1806

Related Ontario plaque
Ferguson Highway

More
Transportation

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> Posted May 9, 2008
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