Toronto's Historical Plaques
Learn a little of Toronto's history as told through its plaques.
The Withrow Archaeological Site
Fascinating stuff! The grounds of Withrow Avenue Public School on Bain Avenue used to be an aboriginal encampment. Here's a 1988 Toronto Historical Board plaque attached to the school with the cool details:
As long as 4,000 years ago, this sandy knoll was the location of campsites for generations of native people. It provided an excellent lookout over the Don River Valley for observing game. Here small family groups probably lived in skin tents during hunting seasons. Lost for many years, the site was uncovered by workers digging a roadbed in 1886. The discovery aroused great public interest and Ontario's first professional archaeologist, David Boyle, conducted excavations. Only a small number of artifacts exist from the now destroyed encampments. Of the many native sites in the city, Withrow is one of the few for which we have archaeological evidence.
Location Co-ordinates: 43.670642 -79.352177
Photo by Alan L Brown - September 2006
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Posted August 20, 2008
Withrow School used to have a display of artifacts of the type found at the site. When I last saw the display (c. 2006)it was in sad shape. The students/staff didn't even know that their school occupied a former archaeological site. Such a wasted opportunity for first hand education about Ontario's prehistory and its aboriginal inhabitants. C. Caroppo
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