A Brief History Of Toronto

Toronto, the largest city in Canada, sits towards the east of the country. But how did it become such a large city? This article looks into history of Toronto and how it became the city that we know and love today.

The land that Toronto occupies was originally inhabited by the Huron tribe before the 1800's and prior to them the Iroquois tribe occupied the area. The name Toronto is most likely to have come from the Iroquois word tKaronto which translates to "place where trees stand in water".

French traders first founded a fort in the area which is now the Exhibition grounds in 1750 but later abandoned it in 1759. During the American Revolutionary War the region saw a large number of British settlers flee to this area and in 1787 the British purchased the land from the Mississaugas of New Credit securing approximately a quarter million acres around the Toronto Area.

The town of York was established on the existing settlement in 1793 by Governor John Graves Simcoe to provide some defence from an attack by America. In 1812 this became true when the during the war of 1812 the town was captured only to the freed by British troops 5 days later but not before they destroyed much of Fort York and the parliament buildings. York was incorporated into the City of Toronto a few years later in 1834.

The city grew rapidly in the 19th century as the City became a major destination for immigrants and was the capital city for a two brief periods from 1849 to 1852 and 1856 to 1858.

The Great Toronto Fire of 1904 destroyed large areas of the city and cost more than $10 million in damage. Luckily nobody was killed and the city quickly rebuilt itself with much improved fire regulations.

The iconic symbol of Toronto, and perhaps Canada, is the CN Tower, started construction in 1973 and was completed in 1976. The CN Tower was originated from a desire by Canadian National Railway to build a large Radio and TV communication platform. This giant structure was the tallest free standing structure for 31 years only recently surpassed by the Burk Khalifa in 2007. It still remains the tallest in the Western Hemisphere. The CN Tower was also named as one of the seven wonders of the modern age in 1995 and in the World Federation of Great Towers it currently sits in second place.