Yonge Street - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Yonge Street is a major arterial route connecting the shores of Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...

in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

to Lake Simcoe

Lake Simcoe

Lake Simcoe is a lake in Southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly in the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century the lake was called Ouentironk by the Huron natives...

, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. It was formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at 1896 km (1,178.1 mi), and the construction of Yonge Street is designated an "Event of National Historic Significance". Yonge Street was fundamental in the original planning and settlement of western Upper Canada

Upper Canada

The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...

in the 1790s, informing the basis of the concession road

Concession road

In Upper and Lower Canada, concession roads were laid out by the colonial government through undeveloped land to define lots to be developed; the name comes from a Lower Canadian French term for a row of lots. Concession roads are straight, and follow an approximately square grid, usually oriented...

s in Ontario today. Long the southernmost leg of Highway 11

Highway 11 (Ontario)

King's Highway 11 is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. At , it is the second longest highway in the province after Highway 17. Highway 11 begins at Highway 400 in Barrie, and arches through northern Ontario, around Lake Superior, to the Ontario–Minnesota border...

, linking the capital with northern Ontario

Northern Ontario

Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...

, Yonge Street has been referred to as "Main Street Ontario". A large part of the route follows an ancient well-established Aboriginal

Indigenous peoples

Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....

trail that linked the Lake Ontario waterfront to northern parts of the region. It was also the site of Canada's first subway line.

The street was named by Ontario's first colonial administrator

John Graves Simcoe

John Graves Simcoe was a British army officer and the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada from 1791–1796. Then frontier, this was modern-day southern Ontario and the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior...

for his friend Sir George Yonge, an expert on ancient Roman roads. Yonge Street is the location of or close to many attractions in Toronto, since, in addition to serving as the city's "main street", it runs near Bay Street

Bay Street

Bay Street, originally known as Bear Street, is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Street in that role in the 1970s...

(the centre of the business district) and University Avenue

University Avenue (Toronto)

University Avenue is a major north-south road in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. At its north end, University Avenue is the site of the Ontario Legislative Building. The eight-lane wide street is the location for several hospitals, numerous office buildings, Osgoode Hall and the Four Seasons...

, the site of the Ontario Legislature

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...

. Yonge Street is therefore a popular and commercial main thoroughfare rather than a ceremonial one, hosting live street and theatre performances, the Eaton Centre

Toronto Eaton Centre

The Toronto Eaton Centre is a large shopping mall and office complex in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, named after the now-defunct Eaton's department store chain that once anchored it. In terms of the number of visitors, the shopping mall is Toronto's top tourist attraction, with around one...

, Yonge-Dundas Square and the Hockey Hall of Fame

Hockey Hall of Fame

The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...

. In Toronto and York Region

Regional Municipality of York, Ontario

The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. It replaced the former York County in 1971, and is part of the Greater Toronto Area and the inner ring of the Golden Horseshoe...

, Yonge Street is the north-south baseline from which street numbering is reckoned east and west. The Yonge subway line serves nearly the entire length of Toronto and acts as the spine of Toronto's transit system, linking to suburban commuter systems such as the Viva Blue

Viva Blue

Viva Blue, or the Finch/Richmond Hill/Newmarket line, is a line on the Viva bus rapid transit system in York Region, north of Toronto, Canada...

BRT

Bus rapid transit

Bus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...

Route description

Yonge Street originates on the northern shore of Toronto Bay at Queen's Quay, a four-lane arterial road (speed limit 50 km/h) proceeding north by north-west. Toronto's Harbourfront

Harbourfront

Harbourfront is a neighbourhood on the northern shore of Lake Ontario within the downtown core of the city of Toronto, Canada. Part of the Toronto Waterfront, Harbourfront extends west from Yonge Street to Bathurst Street along Queen's Quay. East of Yonge to Parliament St...

is built on landfill extended into the bay, with the former industrial area now converted from port, rail and industrial uses to a dense residential high-rise community. The street passes under the elevated Gardiner Expressway

Gardiner Expressway

The Frederick G. Gardiner Expressway, colloquially referred to as "the Gardiner", is a municipal expressway in the Canadian province of Ontario, connecting downtown Toronto with its western suburbs...

and the congested rail lines of the Toronto viaduct on their approach to Union Station

Union Station (Toronto)

Union Station is the major inter-city rail station and a major commuter rail hub in Toronto, located on Front Street West and occupying the south side of the block bounded by Bay Street and York Street in the central business district. The station building is owned by the City of Toronto, while the...

. The road rises slightly near Front Street

Front Street

Front Street is the name of several streets:* Front Street * Front Street * Front Street * Front Street * Front Street * Front Street...

, marking the pre-landfill shoreline. Here, at the southern edge of the central business district

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

, is the Dominion Public Building

Dominion Public Building

The 5 storey Dominion Public Building was built between 1926 to 1935 for the government of Canada and is across the street from Union Station ....

, the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts and the Hockey Hall of Fame

Hockey Hall of Fame

, the latter housed in an imposing former Bank of Montreal

Bank of Montreal

The Bank of Montreal , , or BMO Financial Group, is the fourth largest bank in Canada by deposits. The Bank of Montreal was founded on June 23, 1817 by John Richardson and eight merchants in a rented house in Montreal, Quebec. On May 19, 1817 the Articles of Association were adopted, making it...

office, once the largest bank branch in Canada. Beyond Front Street the road passes through the east side of the Financial District

Financial District, Toronto

The Financial District is a business district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, within the downtown core. It was originally planned as New Town in 1796 as an extension of the Town of York . It is the main financial district in Toronto, and is the financial heart of Canada...

, within sight of many of Canada's tallest buildings, fronting an entrance to the Allen Lambert Galleria.

Between Front Street and Queen Street, Yonge Street is bounded by historic and commercial buildings, many serving the large weekday workforce concentrated here. Yonge Street's entire west side, from Queen Street to Dundas Street

Dundas Street (Toronto)

Dundas Street, also known as Highway 5 west of Toronto, is a major arterial road connecting the centre of that city with its western suburbs and southwestern Ontario beyond...

, is occupied by the Eaton Centre

Toronto Eaton Centre

, an indoor mall featuring shops along its Yonge Street frontage and a Sears anchor store at the corner of Dundas Street. The east side boasts two historic performance venues, the Canon Theatre

Canon Theatre

-History:The Canon Theatre began as the Pantages Theatre in 1920 as a combination vaudeville and motion picture house. Designed by the great theatre architect Thomas W. Lamb, it was the largest cinema in Canada and one of the most elegant.The Pantages was built by the Canadian motion picture...

and the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres

Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres

The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres are a pair of stacked theatres in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Winter Garden theatre is seven stories above the Elgin Theatre....

. In addition, Massey Hall

Massey Hall

Massey Hall is a venerable performing arts theatre in the Garden District of downtown Toronto. The theatre originally was designed to seat 3,500 patrons but, after extensive renovations in the 1940s, now seats up to 2,765....

is located just to the east on Shuter Street.

Opposite the Eaton Centre lies Yonge-Dundas Square. The area now comprising the square was cleared of several small commercial buildings and redeveloped in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with large video screens, retail shopping arcades, fountains and seating in a bid to become "Toronto's Times Square

Times Square

Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...

". It is used for numerous public events.

Another stretch of busy retail lines both sides of Yonge Street north of Dundas Street. The density of businesses diminishes north of Gerrard Street

Gerrard Street

There are several streets called Gerrard Street, including:*Gerrard Street in London, United Kingdom.*Gerrard Street in Toronto, Canada....

; residential towers flank this section. The Art Deco

Art Deco

Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

College Park

-Canada:* College Park , a former Eaton's department store building in Toronto* College Park, Saskatoon, a neighbourhood* College Park East, Saskatoon, a neighborhood-United States:...

building, a former shopping complex of the T. Eaton Company

Eaton's

The T. Eaton Co. Limited was once Canada's largest department store retailer. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an Irish immigrant. Eaton's grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country, buying offices across the globe, and a catalogue...

, occupies most of the west side of Yonge Street from Gerrard Street north to College Street

College Street (Toronto)

College Street is a principal arterial thoroughfare in downtown Toronto, connecting former streetcar suburbs in the west with the city centre. The street is home to an ethnically diverse population in the western residential reaches, and institutions like the Ontario Legislature and the University...

. It was converted into a residential and commercial complex after the building of the Eaton Centre.

From College Street north to Bloor Street

Bloor Street

Bloor Street is a major east–west residential and commercial thoroughfare in Toronto, in the Canadian province of Ontario. Bloor Street runs from the Prince Edward Viaduct westward into Mississauga, where it ends at Central Parkway. East of the viaduct, Danforth Avenue continues along the same...

, Yonge Street serves smaller street-level retail, mostly in two- to three-storey buildings of a hundred years' vintage. The businesses here, unlike the large chains which dominate south of Gerrard Street, are mostly small independent shops and serve a dense residential community on either side of Yonge Street with amenities such as convenience stores.

The intersection of Yonge and Bloor Streets is a major crossroads of Toronto, informally considered the northern edge of the downtown core. The Bloor-Danforth subway line intersects the Yonge line here, with the resulting transfers between lines making Bloor-Yonge Station

Bloor-Yonge (TTC)

Bloor-Yonge is a station on the Yonge–University–Spadina and the Bloor–Danforth subway lines operated by the Toronto Transit Commission in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 733 Yonge Street at Bloor Street West/East...

the busiest in the city. The Hudson's Bay Centre and 2 Bloor West office towers dominate the corner, visible both from downtown and beyond, with the south-east corner earmarked for a major condominium development. The intersection of Yonge and Bloor Streets is itself a "scramble"-type intersection allowing pedestrians to cross from any corner to any other corner.

Immediately north of Bloor, the street is part of the old town of Yorkville

Yorkville, Toronto

Yorkville is a district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, well known for its shopping. It is a former village, annexed by the City of Toronto. It is roughly bounded by Bloor Street to the south, Davenport Road to the north, Yonge Street to the east and Avenue Road to the west, and is considered part of...

, today a major shopping district extending west of Yonge Street along Cumberland and Bloor Streets. North of Yorkville, Yonge Street forms the main street of Summerhill

Summerhill, Toronto

The Summerhill neighbourhood in central Toronto was named after 'Summer Hill' house, built in 1842 by Canadian transportation baron Charles Thompson.Much of the area was once part of the Thompson estate but was subdivided by his heirs in the 1880s....

, which together with Rosedale

Rosedale, Toronto

Rosedale is an affluent neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which was formerly the estate of William Botsford Jarvis, and so named by his wife, granddaughter of William Dummer Powell, for the wild roses that grew there in abundance....

to the east is noted for its opulent residences. The area is marked by the historic North Toronto railway station

Summerhill-North Toronto CPR Station

The North Toronto or Summerhill CPR Station is a former Canadian Pacific Railway station in Toronto, Canada, located on the east side of Yonge Street, approximately 250m south of the Summerhill TTC subway station...

, formerly served by the Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

. The CPR route parallels the foot of the Iroquois shoreline

Glacial Lake Iroquois

Glacial Lake Iroquois was a prehistoric proglacial lake that existed at the end of the last ice age approximately 13,000 years ago.The lake was essentially an enlargement of the present Lake Ontario that formed because the St. Lawrence River downstream from the lake was blocked by the ice sheet...

escarpment, which Yonge Street ascends here toward Midtown.

From approximately St. Clair Avenue

St. Clair Avenue

St. Clair Avenue is a major east-west street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was laid out in the late 18th century by the British as a concession road , north of Bloor Street and north of Queen Street....

to Yonge Boulevard, Yonge Street is central to the former suburb of North Toronto

North Toronto

North Toronto was a town located in the northern part of the Old Toronto district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It occupies a geographically central location within the current boundaries of the city of Toronto. It is a relatively narrow strip, centred around Yonge Street; it extends from the CP...

and features mixed low-scale residential, retail and commercial buildings. Major intersections in Midtown, served by some of the city's busiest TTC

Toronto Transit Commission

-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...

stations, dot the skyline with dense clusters of high-rises in an otherwise leafy residential setting. The intersection at Eglinton Avenue

Yonge and Eglinton

Yonge and Eglinton, also known as Yonge-Eglinton or Uptown, is a neighbourhood in Midtown-Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which was once a part of the old Town of North Toronto....

has become a focal point, serving as a high-density residential, commercial and transit hub. The site of Montgomery's Tavern is nearby,http://wholemap.com/map/area.php?area=NorthToronto&pin=RHPL-1 scene of a significant clash in the Upper Canada Rebellion

Upper Canada Rebellion

The Upper Canada Rebellion was, along with the Lower Canada Rebellion in Lower Canada, a rebellion against the British colonial government in 1837 and 1838. Collectively they are also known as the Rebellions of 1837.-Issues:...

and a National Historic Site.

North of Yonge Boulevard, Yonge Street traverses the deep forested ravine of the West Don Valley

Don River (Toronto)

The Don River is one of two rivers bounding the original settled area of Toronto, Ontario along the shore of Lake Ontario, the other being the Humber River to the west. The Don is formed from two rivers, the East and West Branches, that meet about north of Lake Ontario while flowing southward into...

at Hoggs Hollow, a formidable obstacle in pioneer days and the site of one of the last of the former toll gates. The lower-density residential community and park-like setting here represent an interlude between North Toronto and the newer high-rise district beyond, towering over the valley. Canada's busiest section of highway (Highway 401) spans the valley via the Hogg's Hollow Bridge

Hogg's Hollow Bridge

Hogg's Hollow Bridge, originally known as the Yonge Boulevard Viaduct, is a set of four separate highway bridges that span the Don River Valley in Toronto, Ontario and carries 14 lanes of Highway 401...

(exit 369). Leaving the valley, densities, traffic and the speed limit all increase (the latter to 60 km/h) on entering the downtown core

North York Centre

North York Centre is a town centre in North York, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Prior to the Amalgamation of Toronto in 1998, it was considered the central business district of the former city of North York...

of the former suburban city of North York. The street widens to a six-lane urban arterial road through North York, passing inner-suburb transit hubs at Sheppard

Sheppard-Yonge (TTC)

Sheppard-Yonge is a station on the Yonge-University-Spadina and Sheppard lines of the subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the third busiest subway station in the system, after Bloor-Yonge, and St...

and Finch

Finch (TTC)

Finch is a station on the Yonge–University–Spadina line of the subway system of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 5714 Yonge Street between Finch Avenue East and West...

Avenues.

From Finch Avenue to the boundary of Toronto

Steeles Avenue

Steeles Avenue is an east-west street that forms the northern city limit of Toronto and the southern limit of York Region, Ontario, Canada. It stretches across the western Greater Toronto Area from Milborough Townline in Halton Region east to the Scarborough-Pickering limit. It runs for within...

and Highway 407 (exit 77) in York Region, Yonge Street is a suburban

SubUrbia

subUrbia is a play by Eric Bogosian chronicling the nighttime activities of a group of aimless 20-somethings still living in their suburban Boston hometown and their reunion with a former high school classmate who has become a successful musician...

commercial strip, signed as York Regional Road 1. This 39 km (24.2 mi) segment is a busy suburban arterial, interrupted by the original town centres of exurban communities such as Thornhill

Thornhill, Ontario

Thornhill is a community in the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada, located on the northern border of the city of Toronto. Once a municipal village, Thornhill is now a community and postal designation geographically split into two municipalities along Yonge Street, the city of...

, where the route crosses the East Don Valley in the upper part of its watershed. At increasingly higher elevations, the road traverses Richmond Hill

Richmond Hill, Ontario

Richmond Hill is a town located in Southern Ontario, Canada in the central portion of York Region, Ontario. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area, being located about halfway between Toronto and Lake Simcoe...

, where the dome of the David Dunlap Observatory

David Dunlap Observatory

The David Dunlap Observatory is a large astronomical observatory site once owned by the University of Toronto, located just north of the city in Richmond Hill, Ontario within a estate. Its primary instrument is a 74-inch reflector telescope, at one time the second largest telescope in the world,...

was a visible landmark on the route, and the town of Aurora

Aurora, Ontario

Aurora is an affluent town in York Region, approximately 20 km north of Toronto. It is partially situated on the Oak Ridges Moraine, and is a part of the Greater Toronto Area and Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario.Many Aurora residents commute to Toronto and surrounding communities.In the...

. Between Richmond Hill and Aurora, Yonge Street is in a near-rural setting, passing a number of kettle lakes and traversing the crest of the Oak Ridges Moraine

Oak Ridges Moraine

The Oak Ridges Moraine is an ecologically important geological landform in the Mixedwood Plains of south-central Ontario, Canada. The moraine covers a geographic area of between Caledon and Rice Lake, near Peterborough...

, thence leaving the Lake Ontario basin. Toward the regional seat of Newmarket

Newmarket, Ontario

Newmarket is a town in Southern Ontario located approximately 50 km north of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area and is connected to Toronto by freeway, and is served by three interchanges along Highway 404. It is also connected to Highway 400 via Highway 9...

, Yonge Street again serves as a main suburban artery, passing through low-density residential and still-undeveloped areas.

Regional Road 1 deviates from the original baseline 56 km (34.8 mi) north of Lake Ontario, bypassing the centre of Holland Landing

Holland Landing, Ontario

Holland Landing is a village in the town of East Gwillimbury, located in the northern part of the Regional Municipality of York, in south-central Ontario, Canada. Its major road is Yonge Street and the village has bus service by GO Transit and York Region Transit...

with a north-west heading and thereby circumnavigating Cook's Bay

Cook's Bay

Cook's Bay is the southernmost bay of Lake Simcoe in Ontario, Canada. It is about 60 kilometres north of Toronto. The bay has some of the best fishing areas in North America, especially for yellow perch. The town of Keswick is the largest area that the bay has access to. Many marinas and motel...

and the lower Holland Marsh

Holland Marsh

The Holland Marsh is a wetland and agricultural area north of Toronto, Ontario. It lies entirely within the valley of the Holland River, stretching from the northern edge of the Oak Ridges Moraine near Schomberg to the river mouth at Cook's Bay, Lake Simcoe. In its entirety it comprises about or...

. The bypass was constructed in 1959. Regional Road 51, also named Yonge Street, branches off Regional Road 1 at the foot of the bypass to continue north through Holland Landing. This short section, known locally as the Yonge Street Extension, is co-routed with Regional Road 13. To the west of Holland Landing the main route crosses the Holland River

Holland River

The Holland River is a river in Ontario, Canada that drains the Holland River watershed into Cook's Bay, the southern extremity of Lake Simcoe. It is named after Captain Samuel Holland, , Dutch born first Surveyor General of British North America. The river flows generally north, and its...

and its polders near the town of Bradford

Bradford, Ontario

Bradford is the primary country urban area of the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury, Ontario, in Canada. It overlooks a beautiful and prosperous farming community, known as The Holland Marsh, located on the Holland River that flows into Lake Simcoe...

. Resuming its original north by north-west heading with a 90-degree turn in the centre of Bradford, Yonge Street roughly parallels Lake Simcoe's western shore, traversing the rolling hills of southeast Simcoe County, and is signed Simcoe Road 4. The route ends in Barrie, less than a kilometre from Kempenfelt Bay, at a T-intersection with Essa Road.

Establishment of the route

With the outbreak of hostilities between France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

and Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

in 1793, part of the War of the First Coalition, the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada (now Ontario), John Graves Simcoe

John Graves Simcoe

, was concerned about the possibility of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

entering British North America

British North America

British North America is a historical term. It consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783.At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775 the British...

in support of their French allies. In particular, the location of Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario

Niagara-on-the-Lake is a Canadian town located in Southern Ontario where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario in the Niagara Region of the southern part of the province of Ontario. It is located across the Niagara river from Youngstown, New York, USA...

), the first and former capital of Upper Canada, was in danger of being attacked by the Americans from the nearby border. Additionally, US forces could easily sever British access to the upper lakes at Lake St. Clair

Lake Saint Clair (North America)

Lake St. Clair is a fresh-water lake named after Clare of Assisi that lies between the Province of Ontario and the State of Michigan, and its midline also forms the boundary between Canada and the United States of America. Lake St. Clair includes the Anchor Bay along the Metro Detroit coastline...

or the Detroit River

Detroit River

The Detroit River is a strait in the Great Lakes system. The name comes from the French Rivière du Détroit, which translates literally as "River of the Strait". The Detroit River has served an important role in the history of Detroit and is one of the busiest waterways in the world. The river...

, cutting the colony off from the important trading post at Michilimackinac

Michilimackinac

Michilimackinac is a name for the region around the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. Early settlers of North America applied the term to the entire region along Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior. Today it is mostly within the boundaries of Michigan, in the United States...

.

Simcoe planned to move the capital to a better-protected location and build overland routes to the upper lakes as soon as possible. Simcoe established York

York, Upper Canada

York was the name of Old Toronto between 1793 and 1834. It was the second capital of Upper Canada.- History :The town was established in 1793 by Governor John Graves Simcoe, with a new 'Fort York' on the site of the last French 'Fort Toronto'...

, as Toronto was originally called, with its naturally enclosed harbour, as a defensible site for a new capital. To provide communications between the site and the upper lakes, he planned two connected roads, the first running north from York to Lake aux Claies

Lake Simcoe

, the second joining Lake aux Claies with Georgian Bay

Georgian Bay

Georgian Bay is a large bay of Lake Huron, located entirely within Ontario, Canada...

. This would allow overland transport to the upper lakes, bypassing U.S. strongholds. The route from Lake Ontario to Lake aux Claies is still known as Yonge Street, and the second leg to Georgian Bay was long known as the Penetanguishene Road.

Before the construction of Yonge Street, a portage

Portage

Portage or portaging refers to the practice of carrying watercraft or cargo over land to avoid river obstacles, or between two bodies of water. A place where this carrying occurs is also called a portage; a person doing the carrying is called a porter.The English word portage is derived from the...

route, the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail

Toronto Carrying-Place Trail

The Toronto Carrying-Place Trail, also known as the Humber Portage and the Toronto Passage, was a major portage route in Ontario, Canada, linking Lake Ontario with Lake Simcoe and the northern Great Lakes...

, had already linked Lake Ontario with Lake aux Claies. On 25 September 1793, Simcoe and a small party of soldiers and native guides started northward along the trail, establishing the Pine Fort on the western branch of the Holland River

Holland River

, near the modern location of Bradford

Bradford, Ontario

. Stopping only to rename Lake aux Claies "Simcoe

Lake Simcoe

" in memory of his father, the party continued north to Lake Couchiching

Lake Couchiching

Lake Couchiching, from the Ojibwe gojijiing meaning "inlet", is a small lake in Central Ontario separated from Lake Simcoe by a narrow channel. The Trent-Severn Waterway enters Lake Simcoe by the Talbot River and exits this lake by the Severn River which empties into Georgian Bay...

, and then down the Severn River to Georgian Bay. Here he selected the site of Penetanguishene as the location for a new naval base and port.

On his return he met with an Ojibway named 'Old Sail' and was shown a new route along another arm of the trail, this one starting on the eastern branch of the Holland River and thereby avoiding the marshes of the western branch (today's Holland Marsh

Holland Marsh

). They left Pine Fort on October 11 and reached York on the 15th. Simcoe selected this eastern route for his new road, moving the southern end from the Rouge River

Rouge River (Ontario)

The Rouge River is a two river system. Little Rouge and Rouge River are in the east and the northeast parts of Toronto and begin in the Oak Ridges Moraine in Richmond Hill and Whitchurch-Stouffville...

to the western outskirts of the settled area in York, and the northern end to a proposed new town on the Holland River, St. Albans.

Construction of Yonge Street

The following spring, Simcoe instructed Deputy Surveyor General Augustus Jones

Augustus Jones

Augustus Jones was an American-born Upper Canadian farmer, land speculator, magistrate, militia captain and surveyor. Jones trained as a surveyor in New York City, and fled as a United Empire Loyalist to Upper Canada...

to blaze a small trail marking the route. Simcoe initiated construction of the road by granting land to settlers, who in exchange were required to clear 33 feet of frontage on the road passing their lot.

In the summer of 1794, William Berczy

William Berczy

William Berczy was a German pioneer and painter....

was the first to take up the offer, leading a group of 64 families north-east of Toronto to found the town of German Mills

German Mills, Ontario

German Mills is a community within the town of Markham in Ontario, Canada. Located in the Thornhill area, German Mills was named for the early German settlers in the area.- History :...

, in modern Markham

Markham, Ontario

Markham is a town in the Regional Municipality of York, located within the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada. The population was 261,573 at the 2006 Canadian census...

. By the end of 1794, Berczy's settlers had cleared the route around Thornhill

Thornhill, Ontario

. However, the settlement was hit by a series of setbacks and road construction stalled.

Work on the road started again in 1795 when the Queen's Rangers

Queen's Rangers

The Queen's Rangers was a military unit who fought on the Loyalist side during the American War of Independence. After the war they moved to Nova Scotia and disbanded, but were reformed again in Upper Canada before disbanding again, in 1802, a decade prior to the War of 1812.-French and Indian...

took over. They began their work at Eglinton Avenue

Eglinton Avenue

Eglinton Avenue, originally known as the Richview Sideroad within Etobicoke, is an east-west arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga, in the Canadian province of Ontario. Within Toronto, Eglinton Avenue is the only road which crosses through all six former boroughs...

and proceeded north, reaching the site of St. Albans on 16 February 1796. Expansion of the trail into a road was a condition of settlement for farmers along the route, who were required to spend 12 days a year to clear the road of logs, subsequently removed by convicted drunks as part of their sentence. The southern end of the road was in use in the first decade of the 19th century, and became passable all the way to the northern end in 1816.

The road was extended south from Eglinton to Bloor Street

Bloor Street

in 1796 by Berczy, who needed a route to his warehouse on the Toronto lakeshore. The area south of Bloor Street proved too swampy for a major road. A path did exist between Queen and Bloor Streets, but was called the "road to Yonge Street", rather than being considered part of the street itself due to its poor condition. Over time the creeks were rerouted and the swamps drained. In 1812 the route was extended from Queen Street to the harbour, and in 1828 the entire southern portion was solidified with gravel.

St. Albans never developed as Simcoe had hoped, but the town of Holland Landing

Holland Landing, Ontario

eventually grew up on the site, a somewhat more descriptive name. Holland Landing was settled by Quakers who moved into the area after having left the United States in the aftermath of the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

. The settlers were branching out from their initial town of "Upper Yonge Street", which later became Newmarket

Newmarket, Ontario

.

The road almost served its original military purpose during the War of 1812

War of 1812

The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

, when construction of a new fleet of first-rate ships began on the Lakes, necessitating the shipment of a large anchor from England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

for use on a frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

under construction on Lake Huron. The war ended while the anchor was still being moved, and now lies just outside Holland Landing in a park named in its honour.

Evolution of Yonge Street

In 1824, work began to extend Yonge Street to Kempenfelt Bay

Kempenfelt Bay

Kempenfelt Bay is a 14.5 km long bay that leads into the Canadian city of Barrie, Ontario. It is as deep as 30 m in places, and is connected to the larger Lake Simcoe...

near Barrie

Barrie, Ontario

Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, located on the western shore of Lake Simcoe, approximately 90 km north of Toronto. Although located in Simcoe County, the city is politically independent...

. A north-western extension was branched off the original Yonge Street in Holland Landing and ran into the new settlement of Bradford

Bradford, Ontario

before turning north towards Barrie. Work was completed by 1827, making connections with the Penetanguishene Road.

The decision was made to withdraw the military garrison in Penetanguishene in 1852. A year later, the Northern Railway of Canada

Northern Railway of Canada

The Northern Railway of Canada was a historical Canadian railway located in the province of Ontario. It was eventually acquired by the Grand Trunk Railway, and is therefore a predecessor to the modern Canadian National Railway.- Early history :...

was built along this established route, between Toronto and Kempenfelt Bay and extended to Collingwood

Collingwood, Ontario

Collingwood is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it is situated on Nottawasaga Bay at the southern point of Georgian Bay.-History:...

by 1855. Settlement along the Penetanguishene Road pre-dated the road itself. A network of roads built in the 1830s (some with military strategy in mind) pushed settlement northeast along the shores of Lake Simcoe and north towards the shores of Georgian Bay. By 1860 the Muskoka Road penetrated the southern skirts of Canadian Shield

Canadian Shield

The Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau, or Bouclier Canadien , is a vast geological shield covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of the North American or Laurentia craton. It is an area mostly composed of igneous rock which relates to its long volcanic history...

, advancing towards Lake Nipissing

Lake Nipissing

Lake Nipissing is a lake in the Canadian province of Ontario. It has a surface area of , a mean elevation of above sea level, and is located between the Ottawa River and Georgian Bay. Excluding the Great Lakes, Lake Nipissing is the fifth-largest lake in Ontario. It is relatively shallow for a...

. A horse-drawn streetcar

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

line was completed on Yonge Street in Toronto in September 1861 and operated by the Toronto Street Railway. The line went from Scollard Street to King Street. Streetcar service would be electrified in Toronto by 1892.

Confederation

Canadian Confederation

Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...

and the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

further diminished the importance of Yonge Street, as the new Dominion of Canada heralded the construction of east-west trade routes spanning the continent. By the 1870s, Dr. Scadding, historian of Toronto of Old, declared that Penetanguishene did not have the importance to need an approach such as the "extension of the Yonge Street Road".

By 1919, a number of roads led from Barrie to Orillia, but not one primary route. In that year Premier

Premier of Ontario

The Premier of Ontario is the first Minister of the Crown for the Canadian province of Ontario. The Premier is appointed as the province's head of government by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and presides over the Executive council, or Cabinet. The Executive Council Act The Premier of Ontario...

Ernest C. Drury created the Ontario Department of Public Highways

Ministry of Transportation (Ontario)

The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario is the provincial ministry of the government of Ontario which is responsible for transport infrastructure and related law in Ontario. The ministry traces its roots back over a century to the 1890s, when the province began training Provincial Road Building...

, with Frank Campbell Biggs

Frank Campbell Biggs

Frank Campbell Biggs was a United Farmers member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who represented Wentworth North from 1919 to 1926...

, as minister. Drury left the choice of route (Middle Crossroad

Middle Crossroad (Simcoe County)

Middle Crossroad in the township of Oro-Medonte in Simcoe County, Ontario was a pioneer colonization road and now carries the traffic of Highway 11 north of Barrie, between the Crown Hill interchange and the City of Orillia....

) for the eventual Highway 11 to Biggs, thus avoiding a conflict of interest

Conflict of interest

A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....

over a heated debate, as Drury lived on the farm on which he had grown up, on the Penetanguishene Road, a kilometre north of the present Crown Hill interchange.

In the 1920s looking to support the rapidly developing mining and agricultural communities in northern Ontario, the government of Ontario sought to connect these communities to the south by commissioning a highway between North Bay and Cochrane

Cochrane, Ontario

Cochrane is a town in northern Ontario, Canada. It is located east of Kapuskasing, northeast of Timmins, south of Moosonee, and north of Iroquois Falls. It is about a one-hour drive from Timmins, the major city of the region. It is the seat of Cochrane District...

. After construction crews pushed through the dense Temagami forest, the road was officially opened on July 2, 1927, and named the Ferguson Highway

Ferguson Highway

The Ferguson Highway was a long gravel trunk road in Ontario, Canada. Built between 1925-1927 from the city of North Bay to the town of Cochrane, it was created to connect the growing agricultural and mining communities of Northern Ontario with other areas further south.Several sections of rebuilt...

after the Hon. G. Howard Ferguson

Howard Ferguson

George Howard Ferguson, PC was a Conservative politician and the ninth Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1923 to 1930.-Background:He was the son of Charles Frederick Ferguson who served in the Canadian House of Commons...

, the premier of Ontario (Drury's Successor) and longtime supporter of northern development. The Ferguson Highway, built north from Severn Bridge

Severn Bridge, Ontario

Severn Bridge, Ontario is a small community in the Town of Gravenhurst, Ontario of the District of Muskoka in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is located around 100 kilometres north of Toronto, on the Severn River, roughly halfway between Orillia and Gravenhurst. Its population is around 300 ....

also replaced several sections of the original Muskoka Road and was incorporated into Highway 11

Highway 11 (Ontario)

in the 1930s. The northern stretch of Highway 11 became part of the Trans Canada Highway

Trans-Canada Highway

The Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins the ten provinces of Canada. It is, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway and Australia's Highway 1, one of the world's longest national highways, with the main route spanning 8,030 km...

and, by 1965, Highway 11 extended from the foot of Yonge Street on the shores of Lake Ontario to Rainy River

Rainy River, Ontario

The Canadian town of Rainy River is situated on the Ontario-Minnesota border, along the Rainy River opposite Baudette, Minnesota, USA, and southeast of the Lake of the Woods...

, on the border between Ontario and Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

.

During the late 1800s, the Toronto and York Radial Railway

Toronto and York Radial Railway

The Toronto and York Radial Railway operated radial transit services outside of Toronto. Service began in 1904 with the merger of several operators:* Metropolitan Street Railway...

used the Yonge Street right-of-way, originally to the town of North Toronto, but expanding over the years all the way to Sutton, on southern Lake Simcoe. The Radial Railway ran along the eastern side of the street, allowing the prevailing westerly winds to remove snow from the slightly raised rails. The arrival of the Canadian Northern Railway

Canadian Northern Railway

The Canadian Northern Railway is a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its demise in 1923, when it was merged into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton.-Manitoba beginnings:CNoR had its start in...

in 1906 lessened traffic on the Radial, but it was not until Yonge became a major route for automobiles that the Radial truly fell into disuse. The last TYRR train north from Toronto ran on March 16, 1930. The line was then purchased was purchased by the townships north of the city and re-incorporated as North Yonge Railways

North Yonge Railways

The North Yonge Railways was the Toronto Transportation Commission's brief foray into radial service. Originally an extension of the Yonge streetcar line to Glen Echo, it was extended to Lake Simcoe after the purchase of a pre-existing rail line from the Hydro Electric Commission of Ontario in 1927...

, running service for another eighteen years before operations ended, along with service on numerous other portions of the Radial lines, in 1948. The space it formerly occupied was used to expand the road between Aurora and Newmarket.

Yonge Street as the "longest street in the world"

Yonge Street was formerly a part of Highway 11

Highway 11 (Ontario)

, which led to claims that Yonge Street was the longest street in the world. Running from the shores of Lake Ontario, through central and northern Ontario to the Ontario-Minnesota

Minnesota

border at Rainy River

Rainy River, Ontario

The Canadian town of Rainy River is situated on the Ontario-Minnesota border, along the Rainy River opposite Baudette, Minnesota, USA, and southeast of the Lake of the Woods...

, together they were over 1896 kilometres (1,178.1 mi) long. But Yonge Street could only be called the longest street in the world if "Highway 11" and "Yonge Street" were synonymous, which is not the case.

The original Yonge Street continues along its original alignment, ending in Holland Landing. This alignment was extended over the years, and today ends just south of Lake Simcoe

Lake Simcoe

. The original extension running from Holland Landing from Bradford

Bradford

Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...

was named for the towns, known as Bradford Street in Holland Landing, and Holland Landing Road in Bradford. The latter was later extended as a bypass was added, curving off the original alignment. A second bypass was later constructed, bypassing the entirety of Holland Landing Road and joining Bradford at Bridge Street. Likewise, the road between Bradford and Barrie is known as Barrie Street in Bradford and Bradford Street in Barrie. The entire route of Highway 11 has incorrectly become synonymous with Yonge Street. No segment of the highway anywhere north of Barrie ever actually bore the name. However, the Guinness Book of World Records recognized this claim as late as 1999.

Changes in provincial responsibility separated the now locally-funded and controlled Yonge Street from Highway 11 during the 1990s. As a result, Highway 11 does not start until Crown Hill just outside of Barrie

Barrie, Ontario

, several kilometres north of where the name "Yonge Street" ends. The Guinness Book of World Records no longer lists Yonge Street as the longest street in the world, citing instead the Pan-American Highway

Pan-American Highway

The Pan-American Highway is a network of roads measuring about in total length. Except for an rainforest break, called the Darién Gap, the road links the mainland nations of the Americas in a connected highway system. According to Guinness World Records, the Pan-American Highway is the world's...

as the world's longest "motorable road".

Although current tourist campaigns do not make much of Yonge Street's length, its status as an urban myth is bolstered by an art installation at the foot of Yonge Street and a map of its length laid out into the sidewalk in bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

at the southwest corner of Yonge and Dundas Streets.

Cultural significance

Yonge is Toronto's main street, hosting parades, street performances and demonstrations.

When the Toronto Blue Jays

Toronto Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball 's American League ....

won the World Series

World Series

The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...

in 1992 and 1993 it was estimated that 1,000,000 people gathered in the vicinity of Yonge and Dundas Streets. Similar gatherings occurred during the Winter Olympics in 2002 and 2010, when the Canadian men's hockey team defeated the United States for the gold medal. During lesser celebrations motorists drive up and down the street honking their horns and flying flags.

Sections of the street are often closed for other events, such as an annual street festival. In 1999 Ricky Martin

Ricky Martin

Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales , better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican and Spanish pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.During his career he has sold more than 60 million album copies worldwide...

held an autograph session at Sunrise Records and had a large section of Yonge Street closed for the day. The intersection of Yonge and Dundas Streets, centred on the plaza at Dundas Square

Dundas Square

Yonge-Dundas Square is a commercial junction and public square, situated at the southeast corner of the intersection of Yonge Street and Dundas Street East in Downtown Toronto...

, has been closed on occasion to host free concerts, including performances by R.E.M.

R.E.M.

R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...

on 17 May 2001, by Beyoncé

Beyoncé Knowles

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...

on 15 September 2006 and by John Mayer

John Mayer (musician)

John Clayton Mayer is an American pop rock and blues rock musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and music producer. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Atlanta in 1997, where he refined his...

on 16 September of the same year.

In 2008, Toronto's first pedestrian scramble

Pedestrian scramble

A pedestrian scramble, also known as a 'X' Crossing , diagonal crossing , scramble intersection , and more poetically Barnes Dance, is a pedestrian crossing system that stops all vehicular traffic and allows pedestrians to cross an intersection in every direction, including diagonally, at the same...

was opened at the intersection of Yonge and Dundas Streets.

Toronto's annual Gay Pride

Pride Week (Toronto)

Pride Week is a ten-day event held in Toronto, Canada, during the end of June each year. It is a celebration of the diversity of the LGBT community in the Greater Toronto Area. It is one of the largest organized gay pride festivals in the world, featuring several stages with live performers and...

, Orange Order

Orange Order in Canada

The Orange Order is a Protestant fraternal organisation based predominantly in Northern Ireland and Scotland, and has lodges in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ghana, Togo, the U.S.A, etc..-History:...

, and Santa Claus

Toronto Santa Claus Parade

The Toronto Santa Claus Parade is a Santa Claus parade held annually in mid-November in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. More than a half million people attend the parade every year. The parade starts at 12:30pm and ends approximately 3:30pm...

parades also use Yonge Street for a significant portion of their routes.

The early works of Canadian singer-songwriters such as Joni Mitchell and Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s...

were featured at the Yonge Street location of Sam the Record Man

Sam the Record Man

Sam the Record Man was a Canadian record store chain that, at one time, was Canada's largest music recording retailer. In 1982, their ads proclaimed they had "140 locations, coast to coast"....

, just north of Dundas Street, at a time when records by native musicians were not widely available. Lightfoot has a song about Yonge Street, titled "On Yonge Street", on his album A Painter Passing Through
A Painter Passing Through
A Painter Passing Through is Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot's 19th original album, released in 1998 on the Reprise Records label.It was his first album of original music in five years after the lonely Waiting for You, which had been his first album since 1986's East of Midnight. Well-known record...

.

The Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn

Bruce Cockburn

Bruce Douglas Cockburn OC is a Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. His most recent album was released in March 2011. He has written songs in styles ranging from folk to jazz-influenced rock to rock and roll.-Biography:...

makes this reference in his song "Coldest Night of the Year," from his album Inner City Front
Inner City Front
Inner City Front is the twelfth full length album by Canadian singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn. Inner City Front was released in 1981 by True North Records....

: "I took in Yonge Street at a glance / Heard the punkers playing / Watched the bikers dance / Everybody wishing they could go to the south of France / And you're not here / On the coldest night of the year."

Five pin bowling was invented and first played at the Toronto Bowling Club at Yonge and Temperance Streets.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Route description

Establishment of the route

Construction of Yonge Street

Evolution of Yonge Street

Yonge Street as the "longest street in the world"

Cultural significance

See also

External links