Conference 2010 to be held on what was Robert Harris’ Etobicoke farm

Posted by conference on September 14, 2009 under Blog: New Postings, Visiting Toronto | Comments are off for this article

It is easy to forget that 655 Dixon Road was not always a stone’s throw from Pearson International Airport and Highway 401. Until it became part of Toronto in 1998, the land where the Doubletree now stands was part of Etobicoke, one of the original townships of York County surveyed in 1791. (Don’t pronounce that “k” in Etobicoke.) You’ll find a wonderful 1878 map of the Township of Etobicoke in McGill University’s Digital Library.

This detail of the 1878 map predates Dixon Road, but you can see the path it will take starting with the diagonal Scarlett Road on the east side of the image, then west between the 200-acre farms of Peter Wardlaw and John Little, and a little further along between the farms of R. Dixon and John Dixon.

The Doubletree would be on the next farm, but there’s no sign today of the stream that meandered through the Robert Harris farm.

The Dixons you see on this little map (there are at least four) are likely all descendants of John Dixon, a native of Westmoreland, England, and one of the earliest settlers in Etobicoke. (See: Mulvany, Charles Pelham. History of Toronto and the County of York, Toronto: C. Blackett Robinson, 1885, volume 2, page 250-1.)

The settlement on the right side of the image on the Humber River is Weston, still proudly identifiable within Toronto.

If you have Etobicoke (or other Toronto) ancestry, plan a few extra days before or after OGS Conference 2010 to visit local historic sites, churches, cemeteries, and of course libraries and archives. Exploring the “Researching Toronto” pages at the Ontario Genealogical Society, Toronto Branch web site  is a great way to get started.