[URBAN NOTE] "Challenging Times at Brockton Town Hall"
In Torontoist's regular Historicist feature, David Wencer looks at the troubled history of the late 19th century village of Brockton, southwest of Bloor and Dufferin.
In the 1870s, Toronto’s western boundary was marked by Dufferin Street. The area to the west of Dufferin, along Dundas, featured a growing community known as Brockton, taking its name from early landowner James Brock, a cousin of Isaac Brock, hero of the War of 1812.
As the population of Brockton grew, so did the apparent need for amenities such as local law enforcement, sidewalks, water, sewer systems, streetcar connections, and fire service. Taxes were needed to pay for such amenities, and these taxes could only be implemented if Brockton legally incorporated itself as a village. Although rumours of Brockton incorporating had begun some time earlier, it appears that serious discussion of the issue began in the autumn of 1880.
In September 1880, a reported “large majority” of residents agreed to petition the York County Council to have Brockton legally incorporated as a village. A census was taken in November, in which Brockton was found to have slightly more than the minimum 750 residents required for incorporation. John Winchester led a delegation at the Council, securing their support in petitioning the Ontario Legislature to have the incorporation made official.
Detail of Hart & Rawlinson’s 1878 Map of the City of Toronto, with Suburbs of Yorkville, Parkdale, Seaton Village, Brockton, and Ben-Lamond. Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
While awaiting provincial assent, Brockton held an election in January 1881, with John Winchester elected as reeve, to preside over a village council of four elected councillors. Over the winter, this anxious council met regularly in George Rosbach’s Hall over the Brockton Club House at Dundas and Sheridan, forming committees in an effort to prioritize civic improvements. At one meeting on January 31, councillors announced intentions to propose several by-laws on matters such as postal service, licensing hotels, and the regulation of local street names. At this meeting “the Reeve stated that the Council had no power to do anything towards stopping horseracing on the street till their [incorporation] Bill was passed by the [Ontario] legislature,” wrote the Globe, “but he had spoken to the authorities in Toronto to stop it in the city, and as the greater part of the racing complained of was inside the city limit he had no doubt that it would be stopped altogether.”
Ontario declared Brockton an incorporated village in March, defining its boundaries as the area south of Bloor between Indian Road and Dufferin, with its southern boundary being the northern boundary of Parkdale, running east along an area near to today’s Wright Avenue, and then southeast along the Grand Trunk Railway tracks.
In the 1870s, Toronto’s western boundary was marked by Dufferin Street. The area to the west of Dufferin, along Dundas, featured a growing community known as Brockton, taking its name from early landowner James Brock, a cousin of Isaac Brock, hero of the War of 1812.
As the population of Brockton grew, so did the apparent need for amenities such as local law enforcement, sidewalks, water, sewer systems, streetcar connections, and fire service. Taxes were needed to pay for such amenities, and these taxes could only be implemented if Brockton legally incorporated itself as a village. Although rumours of Brockton incorporating had begun some time earlier, it appears that serious discussion of the issue began in the autumn of 1880.
In September 1880, a reported “large majority” of residents agreed to petition the York County Council to have Brockton legally incorporated as a village. A census was taken in November, in which Brockton was found to have slightly more than the minimum 750 residents required for incorporation. John Winchester led a delegation at the Council, securing their support in petitioning the Ontario Legislature to have the incorporation made official.
Detail of Hart & Rawlinson’s 1878 Map of the City of Toronto, with Suburbs of Yorkville, Parkdale, Seaton Village, Brockton, and Ben-Lamond. Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
While awaiting provincial assent, Brockton held an election in January 1881, with John Winchester elected as reeve, to preside over a village council of four elected councillors. Over the winter, this anxious council met regularly in George Rosbach’s Hall over the Brockton Club House at Dundas and Sheridan, forming committees in an effort to prioritize civic improvements. At one meeting on January 31, councillors announced intentions to propose several by-laws on matters such as postal service, licensing hotels, and the regulation of local street names. At this meeting “the Reeve stated that the Council had no power to do anything towards stopping horseracing on the street till their [incorporation] Bill was passed by the [Ontario] legislature,” wrote the Globe, “but he had spoken to the authorities in Toronto to stop it in the city, and as the greater part of the racing complained of was inside the city limit he had no doubt that it would be stopped altogether.”
Ontario declared Brockton an incorporated village in March, defining its boundaries as the area south of Bloor between Indian Road and Dufferin, with its southern boundary being the northern boundary of Parkdale, running east along an area near to today’s Wright Avenue, and then southeast along the Grand Trunk Railway tracks.