History of neighbourhoods in Toronto

Throughout its history, Toronto has been a city divided into many communities and neighbourhoods. As the city has grown, new neighbourhoods have been created out of primarily agricultural land. Over time, the neighbourhoods within existing areas have also been altered and rearranged.

The variety and breadth of neighbourhoods within the city has led to the moniker "the city of neighbourhoods".

Before incorporation as a city in 1834, Toronto was known as York. For about two decades from its inception in 1793, most residents settled in an area bounded by present-day Jarvis and Parliament streets, south of Queen Street East (then known as Lot Street), and north of Front Street, which at the time was at the waterfront. By 1815, this area was known as Old Town, as a new neighbourhood formed to its west. Extending from present-day Jarvis street to Peter Street (and Blue Jay Way), south of Queen Street West and north of Front Street, this became known as New Town. Sparsely populated in 1815, New Town grew rapidly during the 1820s and 1830s, and a rivalry formed between the two neighbourhoods, especially for the location of the Parliament Buildings.

The earliest Toronto neighbourhoods were the five municipal wards that the city was split into in 1834. The wards were named for the patron saints of the four nations of the British Isles (St. George, St. Andrew, St. Patrick, and St. David) and St. Lawrence, the patron saint of Canada. Today, only St. Lawrence remains a well-known neighbourhood name. The others have attached their names to a variety of still existing landmarks including three subway stations. As Toronto grew, more wards were created, still named after prominent saints. St. James Ward is preserved in the modern St. James Town neighbourhood, while the northern ward of St. Paul's has continued to the present as a federal and provincial electoral district.

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