Toronto

History

The first known European to set foot in the area of present-day Toronto was a Frenchman, Étienne Brulé (c. 1592–1633), in 1615. The plain between the Don and Humber rivers had been traversed for hundreds of years by hunters and warriors of native groups including the Hurons, Iroquois,

Ottawas, and Mississaugas. The French established a trading post at the site in 1720 and a settlement, Fort Rouille, in 1751. Twelve years later, French rule of Canada was ended by the Treaty of Paris, and the entire territory came under British control. In 1793 the British built the settlement that was to become Toronto. Called York, it became the capital of the British province of Upper Canada. Present-day Toronto's main street, Yonge Street, was laid out in 1796.

During the War of 1812, the British captured the town and burned its parliament buildings. (The British retaliated by attacking the fledging U.S. capital, Washington, D.C., and burning the president's residence, which received its present name—the White House—after being whitewashed to hide its charred exterior.) But the town rebuilt and continued to grow, aided by growing immigration and the extension of the Erie Canal to Lake Ontario. In 1834 it was officially incorporated as the city of Toronto. The following decades saw a dramatic improvement in the city's infrastructure—including water works, gas lines, and, by 1884, electricity, as well as the coming of the railroad. Toronto became a major trade center for lumber and grain, and its first financial institutions were established. With Canadian independence from Britain in 1867, the city became the capital of the new province of Ontario.

In the latter part of the nineteenth century, Toronto's population grew rapidly, reaching 181,000 by 1891. The city became a major business center, with large fortunes amassed by a number of self-made entrepreneurs, including Timothy Eaton (1834–1907) and Robert Simpson, who laid the groundwork for retail empires that were to flourish in the twentieth century as well. With new wealth came the establishment of cultural institutions such as the Toronto Philharmonic Society and others. As the new century opened, the city flourished economically, attracting a new wave of immigrants from Russia, Italy, and Eastern Europe and also experiencing some of the social problems that came with increased industrialization.

Thousands of Canadians fought in both world wars, and the domestic economy expanded to meet wartime production needs. After World War II (1939–45), suburban expansion became a major social and economic phenomenon, much as it did in the cities in the United States. The Metro Council, established in 1953, allowed representatives of both the city and its suburbs to unite in working for the development of the metropolitan area; expanded highways and the creation of a subway system were important factors in this development. The post-war years also changed Toronto's ethnic and racial makeup dramatically, and ethnic enclaves multiplied in a city whose population had been primarily Anglo-Saxon. Restrictions were eased on immigration from China, Eastern Europe, and Italy and additional immigrants arrived from Latin America, the Caribbean, India, Pakistan, and Southeast Asia. By 1961, 42 percent of Toronto's population was foreign-born.

Urban renewal was sparked in the 1960s as area residents began moving from the suburbs back to the city, and the Yorkville area temporarily became a counterculture mecca. By the 1970s Toronto surpassed Montreal as Canada's top financial center. It boasted the largest number of corporate headquarters in the country, as well as its major stock exchange and the capital of its publishing industry. A growing number of skyscrapers changed city's skyline, and waterfront commercial development was begun with the development of Harbourfront. Some of the city's top attractions, including the zoo, the Ontario Science Centre, and Ontario Place, were also built during this period.

Since then Toronto has continued to grow into a major business and cultural center, becoming home to one of North America's leading theater districts as well as the world's first sports stadium with a fully retractable roof, the Skydome, completed in 1989. The 1990s have seen the expansion of the Metro Toronto Convention Center, the construction of a new National Trade Center and sports arena, and a major renovation of the Royal Ontario Museum. In 1998 a major government reorganization took place, uniting six municipalities into an expanded City of Toronto.