Gallery
Maps of Toronto lands since the Plan of the Toronto Purchase https://oldtorontomaps.blogspot.com/p/index-of-maps.html
If you're interested in historic European Settler property lots in the neighbourhood area check out:
1851 Browne York Township
"Schniders Mill" which is still preserved at The Village at Black Creek https://blackcreek.ca/buildings/henry-sniders-cider-mill/
The Browne map is prior to the creation of the Ontario, Huron, and Simcoe Railway (OHSR) in 1853 https://www.heritagetoronto.org/explore/toronto-rail-lands-history-tour/front-simcoe-first-railway/
There is also a semi-modern interpretation of the 19th century maps which demonstrate landmarks across North York
1860 Tremaine’s Map of the County of York, Canada West
The earliest map indicating property owners
Proposed Keele Finch Secondary Plan (not yet approved by the Province)
City of Toronto's Keele Finch Study
From the Toronto Star
In her own research, Jennifer Birch describes how large, fortified villages likely formed by the coalescence of smaller communities reveals the presence of centuries-long Iroquoian settlements.
Several Indigenous communities were established along Black Creek, in part due to its connection to Humber River. The local area is home to four historic Indigenous settlements which were titled Downsview (AkGu-13), Parsons (AkGv-8), Black Creek (AkGv-11) and Emery (AkGv-12) upon rediscovery in the 20th century.
The modern names assigned to the historical sites inadvertantly obscure the real Indigenous history and cultures therein. The Toronto Star lists them as such:
Emery Site: believed to have been from 1450.
Black Creek: late 14th century. Earliest site to contain a double palisade.
Downsview Site: 2 kilometres upstream from black creek site. The Black Creek community may have relocated to here
Riseborough Site: not on the map. Inhabitants of the Downsview site merged with the riseborough site to relocate and form the Parsons community.
Parsons Site: The largest and best-documented site, covering 3.2 hectares. It included multiple construction phases, palisades, and evidence of conflict, such as non-local ceramics and human bones.
Our neighbourhood was part of Toronto's first local district plan from 1962 (District Plan 10) which outlined land uses, road systems, residential densities, schools, parks, and commercial needs, characterized by car-centric and "tower in the sky" apartment planning.
To balance residents’ access to amenity spaces, District Plan 10 included seven communities with multiple neighbourhoods divisions.
Find the plan here: https://archive.org/details/district10planbo00boro/page/n13/mode/2up