York County | |
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Colony/Province |
|
Incorporated | 1792 (created from Home District) |
Dissolved | 1971 (reorganized into the Regional Municipality of York) |
County seat Administrative seat | |
Area | |
• Total | 2,392.17 km2 (923.62 sq mi) |
The following figure was the size of the county from 1851 to 1953 | |
Time zone | UTC−05:00 (Eastern) |
York County is a historic county in Upper Canada, Canada West, and the Canadian province of Ontario. It was organized by the Upper Canada administration from the lands of the Toronto Purchase and others.
Created in 1792, at its largest size, it encompassed the area that presently comprises the City of Toronto, the regional municipalities of Halton, Peel, and York as well as portions of Regional Municipality of Durham and the City of Hamilton. However by 1851, York County only consisted of the areas presently comprising Toronto and Regional Municipality of York. In 1953, York County was split again, with the area south of Steeles Avenue forming the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto.
York County was formally dissolved in 1971, with its remaining municipalities reorganized as the Regional Municipality of York.
York County was created on 16 June 1792 [1] and was part of the jurisdiction of the Home District of Upper Canada. It originally comprised all of what is now the City of Toronto, the regional municipalities of Halton, Peel, and York as well as portions of the Regional Municipality of Durham, and the City of Hamilton. The town of York, later incorporated as the City of Toronto in 1834, served as the initial seat for the county. Once Toronto was incorporated, it was severed from York County, although county offices remained located in Toronto.
In 1816, Wentworth and Halton counties were created, with portions of York County transferred to the new counties. In 1851, the western portions of York County were separated to form Peel County. In the same year, the eastern riding of York County was separated from York to form Ontario County.
In April 1953, the Metropolitan Toronto Act was passed in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. This saw municipalities south of Steeles Avenue severed from York County and forming the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. As a result of this separation, the county offices for York County were moved from Toronto to Newmarket. The Act went into effect on 1 January 1954.
At a meeting in Richmond Hill on 6 May 1970, officials representing the municipalities of York County approved plans for the creation of a regional government entity to replace York County. [2] In 1971, the remaining portion of York County was dissolved by restructuring it into the new Regional Municipality of York.
The following table is a list of historic municipalities that were at one point situated within York County.
The seat of government for York County was situated in Toronto (named York prior to 1834) from 1792 to 1953. After the creation of Metropolitan Toronto in 1953, the seat of government for York County was moved to Newmarket.
From the 19th century to 1900, the offices of York County were held in various court houses. York County offices were first held at the First York County Courthouse on Front Street and Parliament Street from 1800 to 1813. The First York County Courthouse also housed the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada. [3] )After the Battle of York, the county officials and legislative assembly met at the home of Major Alexander Montgomery Jr., located on north side of Richmond Street between Yonge and Victoria Streets (now Confederation Life Building). From 1824 to 1845, the county's offices were located at the Second York County Courthouse on Church Street and King Street. From 1852 to 1900, the county offices were located at the Adelaide Court House.
From 1900 to 1953, the municipal government of Toronto shared its office space with York County at Toronto's Old City Hall.
After the southern portion of York County was severed to form Metropolitan Toronto in 1953, the county's offices were relocated to the Old Newmarket Town Hall and Courthouse. In 1957, the York County Administrative Offices was also opened at 62 Bayview Parkway. [4]
York County was represented in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada by several ridings, initially grouped with neighbouring counties, then for the town of York (York, Upper Canada) and rural parts or York County:
Year | Riding(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|
1792 | Durham, York & 1st Lincoln | single riding representing Durham County, York County and Lincoln County |
1800 | Durham, Simcoe & 1st York and West York, 1st Lincoln & Haldimand | 2 ridings created with Haldimand County joining Lincoln County and western part of York County |
1809 | West York, 1st Lincoln & Haldimand, East York & Simcoe | West York and 1st Lincoln & Haldimand become separate ridings, Durham County breaks from York and Simcoe to form Durham and Northumberland; 1st York renamed as East York |
1817 | East York & Simcoe | West York riding disappears |
1821 | York & Simcoe, York, York (town) | East York & Simcoe becomes York & Simcoe, two new ridings - covering York County outside of Town of York and another covering on the Town of York only |
1829 | York, York (town) | York & Simcoe separated with York County outside of Town of York represented by single riding |
1835 | Toronto, 1st York, 2nd York, 3rd York and 4th York | after City of Toronto created in 1834 the riding is renamed Toronto, the rural York riding is broken into 4 separate ridings |
York was represented in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from 1841 to 1867 with rural and town (city after 1834) ridings:
Year | Riding(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|
1841 | Toronto, 1st York, 2nd York, 3rd York, 4th York | Ridings carried over from former Parliament of Upper Canada |
1848 | Toronto, York East, York West, York North, York South | Rural York County ridings renamed by dropping numbering |
1857 | Toronto, York East, York West, York North | York South dissolved |
1860 | East Toronto, West Toronto, York East, York West, York North | Toronto ridings renamed |
Most members were residents in Toronto and did not necessary represent a specific geographical area of York County.
Etobicoke is an administrative district and former city within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west end, Etobicoke is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the east by the Humber River, on the west by Etobicoke Creek, the cities of Brampton, and Mississauga, the Toronto Pearson International Airport, and on the north by the city of Vaughan at Steeles Avenue West.
The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater Toronto Area begins in Burlington in Halton Region to the west, and extends along Lake Ontario past downtown Toronto eastward to Clarington in Durham Region.
New Toronto is a neighbourhood and former municipality in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the south-west area of Toronto, along Lake Ontario. The Town of New Toronto was established in 1890, and was designed and planned as an industrial centre by a group of industrialists from Toronto who had visited Rochester, New York. New Toronto was originally a part of the Township of Etobicoke. It was an independent municipality from 1913 to 1967, being one of the former 'Lakeshore Municipalities' amalgamated into the Borough of Etobicoke, and eventually amalgamated into Toronto. The neighbourhood has retained the name.
The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, which were starting to urbanize rapidly after World War II. It was commonly referred to as "Metro Toronto" or "Metro".
A regional municipality is a type of Canadian municipal government similar to and at the same municipal government level as a county, although the specific structure and servicing responsibilities may vary from place to place. Regional municipalities were formed in highly populated areas where it was considered more efficient to provide certain services, such as water, emergency services, and waste management over an area encompassing more than one local municipality. For this reason, regions may be involved in providing services to residents and businesses.
York is a district and former city within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located northwest of Old Toronto, southwest of North York and east of the Humber River.
The Canadian province of Ontario has several historic counties, which are past census divisions that no longer exist today. Most historic counties either merged with other counties, or became regional municipalities or single-tier municipalities. Although counties had existed prior to 1849, after 1849 they replaced the district systems in administering local government and courts in Ontario.
Mimico is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, being located in the south-west area of Toronto on Lake Ontario. It is in the south-east corner of the former Township of Etobicoke, and was an independent municipality from 1911 to 1967.
Ontario County was the name of two historic counties in the Canadian province of Ontario. Both counties were located in approximately the same area and existed on-and-off between 1792 and 1974. Their primary modern successor is the Regional Municipality of Durham, though certain parts of them were transferred to other surrounding regions.
Eglinton Avenue is a major east–west arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga in the Canadian province of Ontario. The street begins at Highway 407 at the western limits of Mississauga, as a continuation of Lower Baseline in Milton. It traverses the midsection of both cities and ends at Kingston Road. Eglinton Avenue is the only street to cross all six former cities and boroughs of Metropolitan Toronto.
The Chairman of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto or Metro Chairman was the regional chair of Metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the most senior political figure in the municipality. The Metro Chairman was elected by the members of Metropolitan Toronto Council.
The City of Toronto Act is the name of a series of different acts of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario that have governed the organization and political powers of the city since Toronto's original incorporation as a city in 1834.
A police village was a form of municipal government that was used in the province of Ontario, Canada in the early 19th century if the finances or the population of an area did not permit the creation of a village.
The amalgamation of Toronto was the creation of the city limits of Toronto, Ontario, Canada after amalgamating, annexing, and merging with surrounding municipalities since the 18th century. The most recent occurrence of amalgamation was in 1998, which dissolved the federation of Metropolitan Toronto and its constituent municipalities, and created the current "megacity" of Toronto.
Long Branch is a neighbourhood and former municipality in the south-west of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the south-western corner of the former Township of Etobicoke on the shore of Lake Ontario. The Village of Long Branch was a partially independent municipality from 1930 to 1967. Long Branch is located within a land grant from the government to Colonel Samuel Smith in the late 18th century. After Smith's death, a small portion of it was developed as a summer resort in the late 1800s.
Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 5, 1966. The elections were the first in Toronto after its merger with several smaller suburban communities on January 1, 1967. Forest Hill and Swansea were annexed by the City of Toronto, Leaside was merged with the Township of East York to become the Borough of East York. Weston was combined with the Township of York to form the Borough of York. The Village of Long Branch and the towns of Mimico and New Toronto were merged with the Township of Etobicoke to form the Borough of Etobicoke.
Ann Marie Curtis, née McCarthy, was a Canadian politician, who served as the reeve of the Toronto suburb of Long Branch, Ontario from 1953 to her retirement in 1962. She was the first, and only, woman to become reeve of Long Branch. She and Dorothy Hague of the Village of Swansea were the first women to become reeves or mayors in the Toronto area, both taking office for the first time on January 1, 1953. As reeve, she also served on Metropolitan Toronto Council from its creation in 1953 until 1962 and was the first woman on its executive.
Henry Oscar Waffle was a Canadian politician who was reeve of Etobicoke, Ontario from 1957 to 1962. While reeve he advocated for the construction of monorails and was accused of conflict of interest after the city purchased dump trucks from his dealership. In 1973, he filed a lawsuit alleging Dennis Flynn could not be elected mayor of Etobicoke because he worked for the city of Toronto, causing a new election to be held. He died in 1980.
James Ditson Service, QC was a lawyer, co-founder of CHIN Radio, property developer and the first mayor of North York, Ontario as well as its last reeve.