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15. THE MARKET AND TOWN HALL |
| A market was established in York in 1803(1).
Despite being transferred to a long wooden shed in 1820, within a
decade the market was just too small to supply the growing population(2).
The town magistrates had the shed moved to a new location closer to the
shoreline, and advertised for the submission of plans for a new market
building(3). James Cooper’s plan was chosen on March 22, 1831, for which he received 25 pounds sterling(4). His design was of a brick structure which stretched from Market to New (now Jarvis) Streets, between King and Palace (now Front)(5). It had arched entrances with gates on all four sides, and posts with chain railings along the front of the building(6). There were enough shops with cellars for 35 butchers, and a covered area for selling butter and eggs(7). Galleries above the shops were used to store oats or as balconies during public meetings in the courtyard(8). This was then a dual purpose structure as it also housed York’s Town Hall. York had experienced massive waves of British and Irish immigration throughout this period. Resulting population pressure had the effect that municipal and social organization had to be put into place for the needs of York’s new middle class and urban poor, the latter afflicted by cholera epidemics atop the miseries of their impoverished state. In response, the first bylaws in York dealt with daily short-term issues, for example the bread supply(9). Slowly a municipal level of government formed to address all new issues. They met in the Town Hall, which was housed on the second floor of the 1831 market building, above the main entrance. The quarters were described as cramped and somewhat unsafe(10). The 1831 market and Town Hall was one of the main reasons behind York’s incorporation into Toronto. The expense of the building, which cost an estimated 9240 pounds sterling, had put the town into debt. Joining Toronto was an exercise in economic preservation. It was used as Toronto’s first City Hall until 1845, and as a market until its destruction in the Great Fire of 1849(11). Uniquely, the York Town Hall was the only one in Upper Canada during this politically volatile period(12). |
Notes
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| © Town of York Historical Society, 2006- All rights reserved. |