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Toronto 1837: A Model City

 The scale model of Toronto as it was in 1837, located in the Town of York Historical Society's museum at Toronto's First Post Office, has been a major point of interest for the many thousands of museum visitors since it was first unveiled on October 28, 1992.  For the "property owners" (those who purchased deeds for individual properties on the model to help fund its construction), it was a source of pride knowing that they had helped to provide this excellent representation of the nascent city of Toronto.

 But the model lacked a key, something to identify the various buildings and describe them.  Over the course of two summers, under the supervision of Curator Victoria von Schilling, the publication Toronto 1837: A Model City was created to fill that need.  Bound copies of this text are available in the museum gift shop.  We are grateful to the Ontario Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Recreation for the Experience '94 grant that helped us to hire Kevin Lilliman, and the Human Resources Development Canada Summer Career Placement Program which allowed for the hiring of Jennifer Parsons in the summer of 1995. 

 In the summer of 2006, thanks to Young Canada Works in Heritage Organizations, a youth employment initiative of the Department of Canadian Heritage that permitted us to hire Ian Gibson, this valuable resource is now available on line.  We hope that it will prove useful to all those interested in the early history of our neighbourhood.  Please note, however, that the use of any part of this publication - its reproduction or transmission in any form by any means -  without the prior consent of the publisher is an infringement of the copyright law. 

Copyright © 1995 Toronto's First Post Office

Toronto 1837 Model
Map of 1837 city model
Model Map Legend
  1. Freeland’s Soap and Candle Factory
  2. Custom House
  3. The Coffin Block
  4. The Ontario House Hostel
  5. The Courthouse
  6. The Jail
  7. Jesse Ketchum’s Tannery
  8. The Ketchum Family Home
  9. The Sheldon, Dutcher and Company Foundry
  10. The Methodist Church
  11. St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church
  12. The Engine House
  13. The Fish Market
  14. The City Hotel
  15. The Market and Town Hall
  16. The Farmer’s Storehouse Company
  17. St. James’ Church
  18. St. James’ Rectory
  1. Irish Town
  2. Upper Canada Central School
  3. Home District Grammar School
  4. Baptist Chapel
  5. Joseph Cawthra’s House
  6. Russell Abbey
  7. The Crown Inn
  8. William Proudfoot’s Wines and Spirits
  9. First Bank of Upper Canada
  10. St. George House
  11. Daniel Brooke Building
  12. The Canada Company
  13. York’s Third Post Office
  14. Simon Washburn’s House
  15. Bank of Upper Canada
  16. Toronto’s First Post Office
  17. John Sleigh’s House
  1. Campbell House
  2. Ridout home
  3. Arnold House
  4. The British Wesleyan Methodist
  5. Chapel
  6. Presbyterian Burial Ground
  7. Widmer House
  8. The Ruins of the SecondParliament Buildings
  9. Enoch Turner House and Brewery
  10. James Gooderham Mill andDistillery
  11. Berkeley House
  12. Maryville Lodge
  13. St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church
  14. McGill Cottage
  15. Hazelburn
  16. Moss Park
  17. Shoreline
  18. Taddle Creek

Bibliography
Andre, John William Berczy. Published by the author in 1967.
Armstrong, F.H. A City in the Making. Toronto: Dundurn Press Ltd., 1988.
Armstrong, F.H. Toronto: The Place of Meeting. Toronto: Windsor Publications, 1983.
Arthur, Eric No Mean City. 2nd ed. 1964 rpt; Toronto: University Press, 1978.
Arthur, Eric Toronto: No Mean City. 3rd ed. Stephen Otto ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1986.

Baldwin, R.M. and J. Baldwin The Baldwins and the Great Experiment. Don Mills: Longmans Canada Ltd., 1969.

Canniff, William The Settlement of Upper Canada. 5th ed., Belleville: Mika Publishing Company, 1983.
Careless, J.M.S. Toronto to 1918. Toronto: James Lorimer and Company and the National Museums of Canada, 1984.
Craig, Gerald M. Upper Canada: The Formative Years 1784-1841. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Inc., 1963.

Dendy, William Lost Toronto. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1978.
Dendy, William Lost Toronto: Images of the City’s Past. 2nd ed., Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Inc., 1993.
Dendy, William and William Kilbourn Toronto Observed. Toronto: Oxford University Press,1986.
De Volpi, Charles P. Toronto: A Pictoral Record. Montreal: Dev-Sco Publications Ltd., 1965.

Filey, Mike Toronto Sketches “The Way We Were”. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1992.
Firth, Edith G. The Town of York 1815-1834. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1966.
Firth, Edith G. Toronto in Art: 150 Years Through the Artists’ Eyes. Toronto: Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1983.

Gibson, Sally. More Than an Island: A History of Toronto Island. Toronto: Irwin Publishing, 1984.
Godfrey, Sheldon and Judy Godfrey Stones, Bricks and History. Toronto: Lester and Orpen Dennys, 1984.
Guillet, Edwin C. Pioneer Inns and Taverns. vol.1, Published by the author in 1954.

Halpenny, Frances G. Dictionary of Canadian Biography. vols. V-VII, Toronto and Quebec: University of Toronto Press and Les Presses de l’universite de Laval, 1983-88.
Housome, Eric Toronto in 1810 (The Town and Buildings). Toronto: Coles Publishing Company Ltd., 1975.
Houston, Susan E. and Alison Prentice Schooling and Scholars in Nineteenth-Century Ontario. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988.

Kyte, E.C. Old Toronto. Toronto: The MacMillan Company of Canada Ltd., 1954.

Mackay, Claire and Johnny Wales The Toronto Story. Toronto:Annick Press Ltd., 1990.
MacRae, Marion and Anthony Adamson Cornerstones of Order : Courthouses and Town Halls of Ontario, 1784-1914. Toronto: Clarke Irwin Inc., 1983.
MacRae, Marion and Anthony Adamson Hallowed Wall: Church Architecture of Upper Canada. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin and Company Ltd., 1975.
Martyn, Lucy Booth Original Toronto. Sutton West: The Paget Press, 1983.
Martyn, Lucy Booth The Face of Early Toronto. Sutton West: Paget Press, 1982.
Martyn, Lucy Booth Toronto, 100 yrs of Grandeur. Toronto: Pagurian Press Ltd., 1978.
McHugh, Patricia Toronto Architecture, A City Guide. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Inc., 1985.
McKelvey, Margaret and Merilyn McKelvey Toronto Carved in Stone. Toronto: Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1984.
Mulvany, C. Pelham Toronto Past and Present Until 1882. Toronto: W.E. Caiger, 1884.

Newell, Dianne and Ralph Greenhill Survivals: Aspects of Industrial Archaeology in Ontario. Boston: The Boston Mills Press, 1989.

Quinsey, William John York, Grand River : Its Early History and Directory 1834-1860. Toronto: The York Grand River, Historical Society, 1991.

Raible, Chris Muddy York Mud: Scandal and Scurrility in Upper Canada. Creemore: Curiosity House, 1992.
Robertson, John Ross Robertson’s Landmarks of Toronto. 6 vols., Toronto: J.R. Robertson, 1894-1914.

Scadding, Henry Toronto of Old. ed. Frederick H. Armstrong. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1987.
Shapiro, Linda ed. Yesterday’s Toronto 1870-1910. Toronto: Coles Publishing Company Ltd., 1978
Smith, William The History of the Post Office in British North America 1630-1870. 1921 rpt; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973.
Spelt, Jacob Toronto Toronto: Collier-MacMillan Ltd., 1973

Thompson, Austin Seton Jarvis Street: A Story of Triumph and Tragedy. Toronto: Personal Library Publishers, 198O

Wallace, W. Stewart ed. The MacMillan Dictionary of Canadian Biography. 3rd ed. Toronto: The MacMillan Company of Canada Ltd., 1963
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