A VILLAGE in its own right until the 1960s, Swansea is now incorporated in the city of Toronto.
While only a 20 to 30 minute subway ride from the heart of the city, the community has retained so much of its original character that it is now a much sought-after residential area.
Its green spaces are a striking feature. Hilly, with three main ravines, Swansea is bordered on three sides by the Humber River, 400 acres of parkland and Lake Ontario.
The streets are narrow and many are cul-de-sacs. With no major through roads, traffic is low. Though a mainly middle-class area, Swansea also boasts million dollar properties. When the city experienced a depression in the housing market, homes still sold in Swansea.
The village has made a name for itself as a mecca for shoppers. The first Business Improvement Area in Canada, it is now a role model for other shopping areas needing a shot in the arm.
The first known occupants of Swansea were the Mississauga Native Canadians. Etienne Brule, companion of French explorer and colonizer Samuel de Champlain, became the first European to set foot in the area when in 1615 he sailed down the river from the Lake Simcoe region scouting for terrain.
At the time Swansea was dubbed "The Garden of Eden".
Settlement dates from the late 1780s when Jean Baptiste Rousseau - believed to be Toronto's first citizen - established a trading post near the mouth of the Humber. It was he who piloted Sir John Graves Simcoe, Upper Canada's first lieutenant governor, into Toronto harbour in 1793.
The site on which Toronto stands was bought from the Native Canadians by Sir John for the Crown in 1805. It fetched $8,500.
The settlement of Swansea was originally called Windermere because of its similarity to the lakes and hills of the Lake District in the north of England.
However, the name had to be changed because of confusion with Windermere in Muskoka. It is widely believed that it was renamed Swansea by James Worthington who, in 1889, bought the village bolt works and rolling mills, a major employer.
Worthington, who had a crescent in Swansea village named after him in the mid-1950s, built houses for his workmen and donated land for the construction of the mission church, as well as Swansea Public School.
The school, whose philosophy in the 1900s was "No learning without a lickin' ", had strict rules even for the teachers. They had to take a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal to work each day. Men were only allowed one evening a week for courting, two if they went to church. They were not allowed to smoke, drink, play pool or get shaved in a barber shop.
The area blossomed in the real estate fever which swept across the suburbs when the Grand Trunk Railway took over the Steam Belt Railway in 1892. It became one of the choice suburban areas of Toronto, well-known for enormous houses and lush gardens.
But the line only ran for another two years and Swansea treaded water for the years that followed. Rapid growth came again with the development of Bloor Street and, by 1907, the first wave of immigrants were moving in.
Attracted by the wealth of factory jobs the flow continued from Eastern Europe during and immediately after the Second World War.
Swansea detached itself from the Township of York and was incorporated as a village in 1926, largely because it was dissatisfied with the neglect of the roads and other services. It quickly earned a reputation as being a well-governed and progressive municipality.
Despite protests by some residents, the village was amalgamated with the city of Toronto in 1967, and ceased to exist as a municipal government.
This article originally appeared in Planet Swansea which was published by the South Wales Evening Post.
While only a 20 to 30 minute subway ride from the heart of the city, the community has retained so much of its original character that it is now a much sought-after residential area.
Its green spaces are a striking feature. Hilly, with three main ravines, Swansea is bordered on three sides by the Humber River, 400 acres of parkland and Lake Ontario.
The streets are narrow and many are cul-de-sacs. With no major through roads, traffic is low. Though a mainly middle-class area, Swansea also boasts million dollar properties. When the city experienced a depression in the housing market, homes still sold in Swansea.
The village has made a name for itself as a mecca for shoppers. The first Business Improvement Area in Canada, it is now a role model for other shopping areas needing a shot in the arm.
The first known occupants of Swansea were the Mississauga Native Canadians. Etienne Brule, companion of French explorer and colonizer Samuel de Champlain, became the first European to set foot in the area when in 1615 he sailed down the river from the Lake Simcoe region scouting for terrain.
At the time Swansea was dubbed "The Garden of Eden".
Settlement dates from the late 1780s when Jean Baptiste Rousseau - believed to be Toronto's first citizen - established a trading post near the mouth of the Humber. It was he who piloted Sir John Graves Simcoe, Upper Canada's first lieutenant governor, into Toronto harbour in 1793.
The site on which Toronto stands was bought from the Native Canadians by Sir John for the Crown in 1805. It fetched $8,500.
The settlement of Swansea was originally called Windermere because of its similarity to the lakes and hills of the Lake District in the north of England.
However, the name had to be changed because of confusion with Windermere in Muskoka. It is widely believed that it was renamed Swansea by James Worthington who, in 1889, bought the village bolt works and rolling mills, a major employer.
Worthington, who had a crescent in Swansea village named after him in the mid-1950s, built houses for his workmen and donated land for the construction of the mission church, as well as Swansea Public School.
The school, whose philosophy in the 1900s was "No learning without a lickin' ", had strict rules even for the teachers. They had to take a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal to work each day. Men were only allowed one evening a week for courting, two if they went to church. They were not allowed to smoke, drink, play pool or get shaved in a barber shop.
The area blossomed in the real estate fever which swept across the suburbs when the Grand Trunk Railway took over the Steam Belt Railway in 1892. It became one of the choice suburban areas of Toronto, well-known for enormous houses and lush gardens.
But the line only ran for another two years and Swansea treaded water for the years that followed. Rapid growth came again with the development of Bloor Street and, by 1907, the first wave of immigrants were moving in.
Attracted by the wealth of factory jobs the flow continued from Eastern Europe during and immediately after the Second World War.
Swansea detached itself from the Township of York and was incorporated as a village in 1926, largely because it was dissatisfied with the neglect of the roads and other services. It quickly earned a reputation as being a well-governed and progressive municipality.
Despite protests by some residents, the village was amalgamated with the city of Toronto in 1967, and ceased to exist as a municipal government.
This article originally appeared in Planet Swansea which was published by the South Wales Evening Post.
A street in Swansea, Toronto.
