York, Ontario

City of York (Dissolved)
Motto: From individuals, a community (translated from Latin: E singulis communitas)
Location of York (red), as compared with the rest of Toronto (yellow).
Location of York (red), as compared with the rest of Toronto (yellow).
Country Canada
Province Ontario
Established January 1, 1850 (township)
Amalgamation 1998 with Toronto
Government
 - Mayor David Miller (Toronto Mayor)
 - Governing Body Toronto City Council
 - MPs Carolyn Bennett, Mario Silva, Alan Tonks, Joe Volpe
 - MPPs Laura Albanese, Michael Bryant, Mike Colle, Tony Ruprecht
Area [1]
 - Total 23.18 km2 (8.9 sq mi)
Population (2001)[1]
 - Total 150,255
 - Density 6,482.1/km2 (16,788.6/sq mi)
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
 - Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
Area code(s) 416, 647

York is a community in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Formerly a separate city, it was one of six municipalities that amalgamated in 1998 to form the current city of Toronto. Its population as of the 2001 census was 150,255, the second smallest of the six former municipalities, yet it is one of the most ethnically diverse. By the 2006 census, the population had fallen somewhat, to 143,255.

Contents

History

York Township was incorporated by Canada West in 1850 (Canada West later became Ontario in 1867 due to the Confederation), bounded in the west by the Humber River, in the east by what would become Victoria Park Avenue, and in the north by what would become Steeles Avenue. Etobicoke Township and Scarborough Township were located west and east, respectively, while the townships of Vaughan and Markham bordered on the north.

Humewood-Cedarvale was developed in the 1910s to attract development in the growing township. Oakwood-Vaughan was also developed during this time. In the 1920s, the character of the township changed, with its southern reaches abutting the city of Toronto taking on a more urban character, compared with the very rural character of the north. The decision was made to split the township in two, with the northern, rural portion becoming North York. The remaining, two pockets of unincorporated urban development at the north end of the city, were split by the village of North Toronto, which was by then a part of the City of Toronto. Within years, the Province of Ontario saw that this arrangement was impractical, and further subdivided York, creating the township of East York out of the eastern pocket. The Township of York contracted streetcar and bus services from the Toronto Transit Commission, but remained independent from Toronto. During this time, American novelist Ernest Hemingway resided in the Humewood-Cedarvale community.

Vaughan Road Academy (in the Oakwood-Vaughan neighbourhood), was York's first high school, which was built in 1927, along with York Memorial Collegiate Institute at Eglinton Avenue and Keele Street in 1929, and St. Michael's College School at Bathurst Street north of St. Clair Avenue.

York was part of the federation of twelve suburban municipalities that joined Toronto in 1954 to form Metropolitan Toronto. York's first and largest library, York Public Library, was built near the intersection of Eglinton Ave. and Dufferin St. in 1964, later renamed Maria Shchuka and rebuilt in 2003. In 1967, it absorbed the village of Weston, and became the Borough of York, later known as the City of York. It was amalgamated into the new City of Toronto on January 1, 1998. Since amalgamation, Maria Shchuka is part of the Toronto Public Library system.

York's Civic Centre is located at 2700 Eglinton Avenue West, between Black Creek Drive and Keele Street, near York's Museum and York Memorial Collegiate Institute.

Demographics

This time capsule outside the York Civic Centre is intended to be sealed for one hundred and ninety-six years. It also depicts the city's logo and coat of arms, which contains the city's motto in Latin.

All statistics are taken from the Canada 2001 Census.1

Among non-visible minority groups, a sizeable group of Portuguese (southern half of Oakwood-Vaughan and along the whole southern part of York), Eastern European (Humewood-Cedarvale) and German populations live in the area as well. Many Caribbean people live along Eglinton West or Weston, many of whom belong to the Jamaican community. Africans such as Ghanaians, Nigerians, and Somalians live along Weston Road and Jane Street with many Latin Americans as well. Most of the Latin Americans are from Central America. Filipinos concentrate in the eastern half of the former city. The religious demographics of York vary from Roman Catholic in the southern half Oakwood-Vaughan to Anglican in Weston to Jewish in Humewood-Cedarvale to even Rastafarian in Little Jamaica in the northern half of Oakwood-Vaughan and west along Eglinton Avenue to slightly west of Keele Street. There are also significant numbers of Seventh-day Adventists, Pentecostals and Evangelical Christians.

Arts and culture

York has a local community newspaper called the York Guardian. It is published by Metroland Media Group which also publishes several other local papers in the Toronto area.

Reeves and mayors

Following the 1966 election, the chief magistrate of York, formerly known as the reeve, assumed the title of mayor.

The following are the reeves of the Township of York:

  • R.J. Stuart {1934-1935)
  • W.M. Magwood (1936-1937)
  • F.J. MacRae (1938-1946)
  • C.J. McMaster (1947-1948)
  • W.G. Beech (1949-1951)
  • Fred W. Hall (1952-1956)
  • Chris A. Tonks (1957-1960) - father of Alan Tonks
  • Fred C. Taylor (1961)
  • Walter Saunders (1962)

The following individuals served as York's mayor:

See also

References

  1. ^ Community Profile: York city , Ontario; Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (2001). Retrieved on 2007-05-11.

Coordinates: 43°41′23″N 79°28′41″W / 43.689829, -79.478066

Wikipedia content modification information:

  • This page was last modified on 5 January 2009, at 21:39.

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