Drinking Water in Early Toronto Commemorative Plaque, 2020.
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Resource ID
8206
Access
Open
Address
75 Rosehill Ave, Toronto, ON M4T 1G4
Date of Creation
2020
Historical Themes
Program Category
Caption
Drinking Water in Early Toronto Commemorative Plaque, 2020.
Description
Lake Ontario and its shoreline and rivers have been home to people for over 11,000 years. The vegetation and wildlife of water sources played a vital role in the lives of the ancestral Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee, and Mississaugas. Before and after the 1805 signing of Treaty 13 (Toronto Purchase) by the British Crown and the Mississaugas of the Credit, colonists began to urbanize the Toronto area. The City drained marshes and buried creeks, and many were used for waste disposal. Before the mid-1800s, there was no public drinking water infrastructure. People took water directly from wells, streams, and Lake Ontario. Waste from outhouses and businesses was dumped in streams and the Toronto Harbour, which polluted drinking water and spread disease. The dangers of contaminated water were not fully understood at the time, and in 1832 and 1834 outbreaks of cholera killed hundreds in Toronto. In response to the epidemic, the City implemented its first public health bylaws. Still, cholera, diphtheria, and typhoid remained common over the next century. As the city’s population grew, the need for safe drinking water became urgent. However, it took decades to build a city-wide system and to fully understand how to safely treat water.
Marker lat / long: 43.687084, -79.388321 (WGS84)