The construction of Ontario’s first highway, Dundas Street or “The Governor’s Road”, that is today known as Highway #5 was divided into a two-part project. The first section that ran westwards from Morden’s Wharf (Dundas) to the Grand River was begun in 1793 under the direction of the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe. The second eastward section that stretched from Burlington Bay to York (Toronto) was not built until a decade later.
Since water transportation along the north shore of Lake Ontario was good, there was not the urgency to build the eastern section of the road that Simcoe had considered so important. In 1805, the great block of land that lay beyond the eastern boundary of East Flamborough Township was finally purchased from the Mississauga Indians. This tract or hunting ground was the entire area between Burlington Bay and the Humber River, and extended north as far as Lake Simcoe, which was known to the Indians as “Lake of the Skies”. Simcoe honoured the Mississauga land rights, and although settlers had to cross the Indian’s territory more and more frequently as the old capital of Newark was transferred to York, the Lt. Governor refused to force the Mississaugas to give up their land.
Finally in 1806 an agreement was reached and the colonial government took possession of the land, the Indians gradually dispersing, some going with the Six Nations to their Grand River settlement, and the majority settling with the Algonquins near Montréal.
In June 1806, Nelson Township was opened to settlers. Onto the newly surveyed land, families with names such as Bastedo, Hopkins, Markle, Calvert, Zimmerman, Bennett, Rose, King and Chisholm soon settled. Several of these people were already on the land or had requested the location prior to the official opening. With the arrival of the settlers, the opening of a road to the east and the capital of York began.
The road was surveyed and constructed several miles back from the lakeshore to avoid the difficulty of bridging the wide mouths of the many creeks and streams that crossed the area, and for greater safety in transporting troops and supplies in time of war. Much of the construction work on this eastern section of Dundas Street was under the direction of an American road builder called Asa Danforth at a cost of $90 a mile.
Since this construction work involved nothing more than clearing a corridor through the bush, leaving the bigger stumps to rot and little else, the complaint by Danforth later that he lost money on the contract seems difficult to believe!
After serving several generations of settlers, and changing from a footpath to a single-lane track that could accommodate wagons and carts to the present day thoroughfare through Etobicoke and Mississauga, this highway has been the scene of tremendous change during its two hundred years. Hundreds of stories and incidents are associated with it, and for those members who have enjoyed these two articles on the highway, a suggestion to read “The Governor’s Road” by Mary Byers and Margaret McBurney will help to bring alive the history associated with this historic road.
© The Waterdown-East Flamborough Heritage Society 1992, 2022.
Editor’s Note:For even more on Dundas Street, check out our online shop for a copy of Dundas Street, Waterdown 1793 – 1993.
