Ashbridge’s Bay looking northeast from north bank of cut, Toronto, 1904. Courtesy of the City of Toronto Archives.
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Original JPG File | 1054 × 886 pixels (0.93 MP) 8.9 cm × 7.5 cm @ 300 PPI |
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Screen | 952 × 800 pixels (0.76 MP) 8.1 cm × 6.8 cm @ 300 PPI |
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Resource ID
8426
Access
Open
Credit Line
City of Toronto Archives
Date of Creation
1904
Keywords
Wetlands, Waterfront, Natural history, Don River, Port Lands, Keating Channel, Ashbridge’s Marsh
Program Category
Tours
Rights
Public Domain
Caption
Ashbridge’s Bay looking northeast from north bank of cut, Toronto, 1904. Courtesy of the City of Toronto Archives.
Description
For much of Toronto’s history, the area east of the main harbour was dominated by wetlands, including a five-kilometer stretch known as Ashbridge's Bay Marsh. The Marsh was once one of the largest wetlands in eastern Canada, stretching to almost 1,300 acres. Early accounts document the marsh as a popular ice fishing site in the winter by the Indigenous peoples of the area. The marsh was later named after Sarah Ashbridge and her family, who had fled north to Canada from the newly formed United States in 1793. The Ashbridges were granted a large parcel of land to the east of York (now Toronto), where the marsh formed much of the southern boundary of their property. Eventually the marsh and nearby water became associated with the prominent Ashbridge family and was given the name Ashbridge's Bay.