1788 Mann “Plan of Torento Harbour with the proposed Town and part of the Settlement”

“This earliest detailed proposal for the town the British planned to build near the natural harbour was never laid out as it was too large and elaborate for a pioneer community. It was also applied to the site with little regard for its natural features.

This plan is similar to the model plan, authorized by Governor Lord Dorchester the following year, for townsites in townships fronting on water. The mile square town was surrounded by a government and military reserve on the waterfront and by a public common. Beyond this were 24-acre "town parks" for the private use of some residents of the town.”

- Isobel Ganton & Joan Winearls, MAPPING TORONTO'S FIRST CENTURY 1787-1884

Click the image to view a full-size version (pdf).

Plan of Torento Harbour with the proposed Town and part of the Settlement
Signed 6th Dec. 1788, Gother Mann Captain of Command, Royal Engineers
Scale: One mile to two inches

Image courtesy Library and Archives Canada: NMC4434/5(4433?). (U of T has this scan.)
Winearls, MUC no. 2011 (2)

Ruins of a trading fort = the french Fort Rouillé, burned in 1759.

“... This 1788 plan provides the perfect graphic representation of the British Government’s attempt to impose eighteenth-century rational order on the Canadian wilderness. It is a view of Toronto as a tabula rasa, a canvas on which to project grand plans and and hoped-for futures.”

- Mark Osbaldeston, Unbuilt Toronto: A History of the City That Might Have Been

“As can be seen in the illustration, the plan includes a central square containing military and government buildings surrounded by a common, which, in turn, is enclosed to the north, east and west by a residential area. The whole territory is bounded by the modern High Park, Broadview Avenue, and Bloor Street. The old Carrying Place [cf. the Toronto Purchase map -N.] is there, but shown as a road leading to Lake la Clie, a misspelling of lac aux Claies, the name usually given to Lake Simcoe as the former ‘lac Toronto’ fell into disuse.

The plan is what one might expect of a military engineer and may go back in origin to the gridiron settlements that Roman engineers designed for coloni, or pensioned veterans in garrison towns. In Roman terms, Mann’s square of public buildings becomes a forum and the residential squares a setting for the houses of the discharged soldiers [...] The idea of public buildings in a neat British square separated in perpetuity from the residential area by a green common with shade trees and sheep quietly grazing is quite delightful, but fantastic and unrealistic when one considers the rising terrain and the deeply penetrating ravines. These topographical problems would hardly be appreciated in London, where Mann’s plan of ‘Torento’ was forwarded with the colonial correspondence in 1790.”

- Eric Ross Arthur & Stephen A. Otto, Toronto: No Mean City

“Gother Mann (1747-1830), a graduate of the Royal Military Academy, commanded the Royal Engineers in Canada from 1785 to 1791 and from 1794 to 1804. Returning to England, he later commanded the whole Corps of Engineers, and ended his career as a general and Inspector General of Fortifications.”  - Ganton/Winearls, ibid.

John Collins, the Deputy Surveyor General -- also present the previous year at the Toronto Purchase -- was responsible for this similar map, dated the same year:

Click the image to view a full-size version.

Plan of the Harbour of Toronto with the proposed town and settlement.
‘Copied from a plan of Mr. Collins, it does not agree with the survey made by L. Kotte in 1783 (Plan 1.24) Engr. D. R. Kotte's survey agrees with one taken in 1793 by J. Bouchette Chateau. In Lord Dorchester's No. 48 to major Genl. Simcoe.’

‘Explanation : The lots round the common are called town parks. The lots beyond are farm lots A.A.A. reserved lots for public purposes. A on map refers to situation in Capt. Mann's report of the 6th December 1788, as appearing proper to be occupied for the defence of the entrance of the harbour.’

The top of the map corresponds roughly to where Finch Avenue now runs. The map was used to demonstrate land that should be held in reserve where such reserves may probably be required for Public purposes.

Image courtesy TPL: T1788/4Mlrg. See also LAC.
Winearls, MUC no. 2010

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1893 Barclay, Clark & Co. Bird’s Eye View Chromolithograph

What a splendid bird’s eye view map! It’s replete with so many intricate historical details to pore over again and again.

There are some discrepancies. For example, there’s the presence of the then-new (now old) City Hall, which was only completed in 1899 (it was under construction for over a decade). It was common practice in drawings like this to include structures not yet constructed, as well as prospective buildings -- an appeal to civic pride.

“... The bird’s-eye map is an artist’s relatively subjective view of the city. Indeed, artists were commissioned to draw bird’s-eye views, which were partly intended to promote the image of the town depicted. Artistic licence was usually employed to emphasise [sic] what were considered at the time to be the more desirable urban attributes–grand buildings, thriving industry and bustling commercial areas and transportation facilities. The reliability of the information on the bird’s-eye map, an artist’s subjective interpretation of the townscape, should be cross-checked, where possible.”

- Bird’s-Eye Views of Canadian Cities: A Review, M.F. Fox [Urban History Review (No.1-77)] [via Kevin Plummer]

Click the image to view a full-size version.

Bird's-eye view, looking n. from harbour to n. of Bloor St. and some points beyond, from Humber R. on the west to Victoria Park Ave. on the east. Published by: Barclay, Clark & Co. Lithographers

Inscription: “Entered according to Act of Parliament of Canada, in the year 1893 by Barclay, Clark & Co. in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture.”

Image Courtesy Toronto Public Library: 916-2-1 to 3 Cab III

“The bird's-eye view is an oblique perspective drawing of a city viewed from an elevation of several thousand feet above it. The views include a three-dimensional portrayal of buildings and other features in an attempt to combine the main topographical aspects of a map with the details possible in a picture. The views appealed to civic pride and were also seen as an encouragement to commercial growth. Sold at $3 to $10, they became popular wall hangings during the last third of the 19th century. Views were usually done by artists who solicited subscriptions in advance to guarantee sales, and who actually went around the city sketching buildings.”

- Isobel Ganton & Joan Winearls, MAPPING TORONTO'S FIRST CENTURY 1787-1884

Drop me a line if you know anything more about the context for this map and the circumstances which led to its printing!

See also [Bird’s Eye Views]
1870 Canadian Railway News Bird’s Eye View of Toronto
1876 PA Gross Bird's Eye View of Toronto
1876 Gascard City of Toronto Bird’s Eye View from the Northern Railway Elevator
1886 Wesbroom: City of Toronto [Bird’s Eye View]
1892 Toronto Railway Company Map Shewing Toronto Street Railway Lines


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1813 Williams Sketch of the ground in advance of and including York Upper Canada

“The War of 1812 resulted in the mapping of York in a different way. In this reconnaissance map, the military noted the natural features of the area instead of the survey lines and recorded actual buildings and streets rather than lot lines and road allowances.

Evidence of war is visible in the notation "frigate burnt" (central shoreline), a reference to the Sir Isaac Brock which was burnt to prevent its capture by the Americans. The disappearance of the centre part of the Parliament Buildings (southeast of the Old Town) was also a legacy of the war - it was burnt by the Americans when they captured York in 1813. [It has been pointed out to me that this is in error; the centre part did not exist then; only the wings were built in 1797. -N.] Most of the scattered and poorly protected buildings of the garrison were also destroyed.”

- Isobel Ganton & Joan Winearls, MAPPING TORONTO'S FIRST CENTURY 1787-1884

Click the image to view a full-size version (4MB).

Sketch of the ground in advance of and including York Upper Canada, by Geo. Williams, 1813.
Image courtesy Library and Archives Canada: NMC 22819.
Winearls, MUC no. 2035

Related is the following 1814 map by the same surveyor, George Williams: “Plan of the town and harbour of York”

This map, also completed after the War of 1812, shows outlines of the major buildings of the town of York, and highlights the location of various military structures through the town -- including the number of men. Scale: 10 chains to an inch.

Interesting points of note:

• the Blockhouse at Gibraltar point opposite Fort York
• the guardhouse on the spit - guarding versus a portage
• the 'flanking batteries to tete du pont' (!) (by Don River)

It features the same note (bottom left) as the above plan: "Accompanying Lt. Col. Hughes letter to Lt. General Mann, dated 16 August 1814." With both of these maps in hand, the Lt. General could refresh his understanding of the strategic and tactical environment at York with a glance. [Note: This would be Gother Mann, earlier responsible for the 1788 “Plan of Torento Harbour”.]

Click the image to view a full-size version (PDF).

Plan of the Town and Harbour of York, by George Williams, 1814.
Image courtesy Library and Archives Canada: NMC 21771. Winearls, MUC no. 2037

Meanwhile, the Toronto Public Library has this copy, which appears to be of more recent vintage (click to view full size):

Plan of the Town and Harbour of York, by George Williams, 1814.

Image courtesy of Toronto Public Library: T1814/4Mlrg

‘George Williams was a member of the semi-civilian corps of Royal Military Surveyors and Draughtsmen, a unit set up exclusively for the purpose of making maps and instructing cadets of the Royal Engineers in map-making.’ - Ganton/Winearls, ibid.

Gratuitous bonus: Arrival of the American Fleet (click to view large version):

Bird's-eye view looking northeast from approximately foot of Parkside Drive, showing arrival of American fleet
prior to capture of York, 27 April 1813. (Painting by Owen Staples circa 1914). Courtesy TPL

Key to this image [The numerals are visible in the large version]

A simplified overview of the action:

Map of York. From The Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 1812 by Benson Lossing [1869].
Map courtesy Archives of Ontario. Reference Code: 971 .034 LOS, page 590

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1816 Nicolls & Duberger Plan of the Fort at York Upper Canada

“After the War of 1812, Fort York was rebuilt to provide quarters for 950 men within a defensive wall. Today’s Old Fort York reconstructs the fort of this period.

Note the defensive position of the fort, which was located on a bluff above the lakeshore and protected by Garrison Creek ravine. Later fill has extended the shore and changed the surrounding topography.

The crater at the lakeshore caused by the explosion of the powder magazine in 1813 is marked by 'D'. ”

- Isobel Ganton & Joan Winearls, MAPPING TORONTO'S FIRST CENTURY 1787-1884

With respect to the crater -- see the south side of the rampart. Read a detailed history of the crater here.

Click the image to view a full-size version.

Plan of the Fort at York Upper Canada shewing its state in March 1816. Drafted by: Royl. Engineers Drwg. Room, Quebec, 16th Feby. 1816, J[ean]. B[aptiste]. Duberger, Junr. Quebec, 24th June 1816, G[ustavus]. Nicolls, Lt. Col. Rl. Engineers.

Image courtesy Library and Archives Canada: NMC 22819. Winearls, MUC no. 2035
[The University of Toronto Map and Data Library has a black and white scan of this map (NMC23139), while the Toronto Public Library features a redrawn version (T1816-2/4Mlrg).]

The name of the surveyor/draughtsman, J.B. Duberger, and the date and place of the drawing can just barely be discerned, bottom right.

Nicolls and Duberger also created this accompanying, same-dated Plan of the harbour, fort and town of York, the capital of Upper Canada, March 16th 1816:

Click the image to view a full-size version.

Image courtesy Toronto Public Library: T1816/4Mlrg [See also: LAC NMC 17441]
Winearls, MUC no. 2037

‘Signed Quebec 24th June 1816, G. Nicolls Lt. Coln. Engineers and Quebec. J. B. Duberger Jun'r. Shows buildings, harbour depths and descriptions of harbour bottom. Includes reference that The Battery had all guns and were made use of on the 27th of April, except the one at the marsh. Government buildings and blockhouse were burnt by Americans as were many others.’

Scale: 10 chains to an inch.

Gustavus Nicolls’ distinctive signature also appears on the 1833 Bonnycastle No.1 Plan of the Town and Harbour of York Upper Canada.

A few years later, Elias W. Durnford produced the following plan of the fort. It indicates the construction materials used for specific buildings.

Click the image to view a full-size version.

Plan of the fort at York, no. 24. E.W. Durnford, Sept 24, 1823.
Image courtesy Toronto Public Library: T1823/4Msm.

Durnford’s Fort plan, much like Nicolls’, was accompanied by a larger scale plan showing the relationship of the Fort to the Town:

Click the image to view a full-size version.

Plan of York, no. 24, See General Plan of the Canadies (y) E.W. Durnford, Sept 24, 1823
Image courtesy Toronto Public Library: T1823-2/4Msm

Unfortunately the key does not seem to be available...

See also
Want to learn more about the crater and the Battle of Fort York? Watch Explosion 1812 (via the History Channel).

Also, a wide swathe of maps relating to Fort York and the surrounding Military Reserve may be found at the Fort York and Garrison Common Maps project.

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1787-1805 Plan of the Toronto Purchase

Sir John Johnson carrying out the Toronto Purchase at the Bay of Quinte

“This map shows the boundaries of the Toronto Purchase, an area transferred to Crown ownership by a treaty negotiated between the British and the resident Indians in 1787.

Such treaties established clear British title to lands needed for the resettlement of Loyalist refugees from the American Revolution. The future site of Toronto was covered by thick forest. Note that the surveyor used a tree as one of his survey markers.

The trail marked is the "Toronto Portage" (‘Carrying Place’ -N.) which connected Lake Ontario to the Holland River and Lake Simcoe; the route had long been used by Indians and fur traders.

The area labelled "Toronto" marks the site of the French trading fort abandoned 30 years earlier. The ruins, today near the bandshell in the CNE grounds, have recently been excavated.”

- Isobel Ganton & Joan Winearls, MAPPING TORONTO'S FIRST CENTURY 1787-1884

Images courtesy City of Toronto Archives (the archives record says ca. 1860??):

The Surveyor signature (if I’m not mistaken) appears to be that of William Chewett, Deputy Surveyor General of Upper Canada and father of James Chewett. 

Further to the right on the document, the signatures to the Purchase:

Signing on behalf of the crown was William Claus, the deputy superintendent of Indian Affairs.

Interestingly, Library and Archives Canada features a version of the Plan of the Toronto purchase that is identical in content, but clearly a different copy. And yet the signatures appear to be the same:

The TPL has this map to contribute (note again how the Maple Tree serves as a key marker):

“Presented to the York Pioneers by William L. Baby in 1872, transferred to the Toronto Public Library, 1902. Part of manuscript volume "Indian Treaties".”

The story of the Toronto Purchase of 1787 is somewhat convoluted. 

The Mississauga Indians surrendered 250,808 acres (101,528 hectares) of land to the British for some cash, ‘2,000 gun flints, 24 brass kettles, 10 dozen mirrors, 2 dozen laced hats, a bale of flowered flannel, and 96 gallons of rum’.

Unfortunately, there were irregularities and a dispute arose: Alexander Aitken’s surveys of 1788 did not match up with the area described by Sir John Johnson. Other chiefs complained that they had not been included in the negotiations. When Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe investigated the issue personally in 1792, he was able to uncover but a single document: a blank deed with no description of the land that had been purchased by the Crown, with the totems of the three Mississauga Chiefs.

In 1805 the new Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Peter Hunter, decided to revisit the issue. The 1805 Indenture was a revision that more clearly set out the boundaries of the Purchase. Serious flaws with the handling of that treaty eventually led, two centuries later, to a $145 million settlement with the Mississaugas of New Credit First Nation. 

I have glossed over the details: A reading of the Indian Claims Commission land claim report on the matter is highly recommended for history buffs (read the historical background section).

‘Original plan of the Toronto Purchase from the Indians, 1787-1805.’ - TPL

‘This map shows the original area covered by the Toronto Purchase (September 23, 1787). In 1911, when this map was made, Toronto covered only 10,477 of the 250,808 acres the government purchased from First Nations people for $9,500. The original belongs to the J. Ross Robertson Collection of maps, in the Toronto Reference Library.’ - TPL, This Weekend In History

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1878 Copp Clark & Co. Plan of the City of Toronto: Waterworks

The burgeoning city of the late 1870s was a thirsty one. This interesting map focuses on the supply of water. It documents new pipe that had recently been laid, along with the location of new fire hydrants (the black dots).

‘The first public water supply in the Toronto area was a private company operating from 1843 to 1873, known as the Furniss Works (Toronto Gas, Light and Water Company). In 1873, the responsibility for supplying water was taken over by the City of Toronto administration. Extensive additions to the system followed immediately, including the construction of the Rosehill Reservoir, additions to the John Street Pumping Station and an improved distribution system.’

- History: Supplying Water to Toronto

In March 1874, the provincial goverment passed An Act Respecting the City of Toronto Water Works, confirming the sale and transition of the Furniss Works to the City. Subsequently, city bylaws 885 and 886 established a tariff of water rates and the formal establishment of the Water Works Department of the City of Toronto.

Click the image to view a full-size version (5MB).

Plan of the City of Toronto, Shewing the General System of the New Water Works and Position of All the New Pipe Laid. Printed by Copp Clark & Co. Lithographers, 1878.
Image courtesy University of Toronto Map and Data Library: G3524 .T61 N44 1878.

Note the pipe to the Toronto Island infiltration basin.

An earlier version of the map from 1876 showing the intended plan of construction for comparison (click to view large version):

Image courtesy Toronto Public Library: MsX.1921.11.

Bonus map: Toronto Water Works, Island and Harbour; 1818-1841-1882-1911, prepared by Chipman & Power for the Toronto Board of Commissioners on Water Works, 1912. The changing shape of Toronto Island is quite noticeable.

Click the image to view a full-size version (3MB).

Accompanying the above map was this Toronto Water Works Plan Showing Pollution of Lake Shore and Results of Analyses (2MB).

These two maps were part of a 1912 Report upon the existing water works system and upon an additional water supply (courtesy University of Toronto Map and Data Library).

See Also

• 1858 Unwin Plan of the City of Toronto - Sewers
• Mahesh Patel. The long haul: Integrating water, sewage, public health and city building, in HTO: Toronto’s Water from Lake Iroquois to Lost Rivers to Low-flow Toilets

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1876 PA Gross Bird's Eye View of Toronto

“For three years, P. A. Gross walked every avenue, street, lane, and alley from Fort York to the Don River, north through Rosedale, Yorkville, and beyond, to produce this 1876 Bird’s-Eye View of Toronto. In his rambles, he sketched every shop, dwelling, and factory in Toronto—14,000 private and public buildings in all—with “a faithfulness and a minuteness that excites astonishment and admiration in all beholders,” according to Illustrated Toronto (1877), a guidebook published to accompany the map.

Once completed, the individual images resulting from Gross’ painstaking survey of the city were stitched together to show the entire city from above and lithographed by Copp, Clark & Co. Limited.”

- Kevin Plummer, Historicist: Cartographic Civic Pride (Torontoist)

I highly recommend reading Plummer’s full article. Derek Flack’s corresponding piece on Gross’ map in BlogTO a few months later is also well worth reading.

Click the image to view a full-size (7 MB - can take awhile) version.

Bird’s Eye View of Toronto, by P.A. Gross, 1876.

Map image courtesy University of Toronto Map & Data Library: G 3524 .T61 A3 1876

The actual map was an enormous 5 feet by 3 feet 3 inches. Marvellous!

Illustrated Toronto: Past and Present (mentioned above) contains an invaluable key to the view. Download a scanned copy (52mb, PDF) of the book; the key may be found on the 14th and 15th scanned sheets (pages V & VI).

“This bird's-eye view, with its three-dimensional depiction of the city, gives us a different kind of information on the buildings and topography of Toronto. Obvious here are the varying densities of development and the varied sizes and shapes of buildings. Building projects in Toronto, as in other North American cities, tended to be small so that there were no large expanses of consistent residential architecture, as there were in Britain at the time.

The harbour, the trains, and the factory smoke, together with the types of buildings shown in the margin, testify to the growing commercial and industrial interests of the city in the 1870s.

Peter Alfred Gross (1849-1914) was an American artist and lithographer established in Toronto between 1874 and 1878. He first produced illustrations for the Wentworth County atlas and then prepared and published this bird's-eye view of Toronto in 1876. The view is as if seen from a point 5000 feet above the southeastern part of the island. A year later he published J. Timperlake's Illustrated Toronto which was to accompany the view and which included a key to major buildings.”

- Isobel Ganton & Joan Winearls, MAPPING TORONTO'S FIRST CENTURY 1787-1884

A plethora of minute details abound for you to explore!

See Also [Bird’s Eye Views]
1870 Canadian Railway News Bird’s Eye View of Toronto
1876 Gascard City of Toronto Bird’s Eye View from the Northern Railway elevator
1886 Wesbroom: City of Toronto [Bird’s Eye View]
1892 Toronto Railway Company Map Shewing Toronto Street Railway Lines
1893 Barclay, Clark & Co. Bird’s Eye View Chromolithograph

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