Learn a little of Toronto's history as told through its plaques.
Brown's Line
Photos by Alan L Brown - May 2007
Here on the east side of this building at the north-west corner corner of Brown's Line and Horner Avenue is an Etobicoke Historical Board/TD Bank plaque. Here's what it says:
In 1793 approximately 650 hectares of land was granted to Colonel Samuel Smith, a vast tract of forest bounded by what is now Kipling Avenue, Bloor Street, Etobicoke Creek and Lake Ontario. After his death in 1826, the Smith tract was divided into concessions and the names O'Connor, Sandford, Horner, Evans and Brown are prominent on early maps of the area. Joseph Brown emigrated from Yorkshire, England in 1831 and shortly after his arrival he became the first permanent settler, establishing a farm on Concession III, just north of what is now Evans Avenue. The dirt track leading to this farm was called "Brown's Line", a name that continues to this day.
Related web page
Colonel Samuel Smith
Plaque Location Co-ordinates: 43.601745 -79.545511
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Posted August 27, 2008
I enjoyed reading the info on Brown's Line. My great-grandparents lived there in the early 1900's & appear on the 1911 census. Is it possible to find their home on a map of the area? Their names were Richard & Isabella Sleightholm.
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