I look forward to expanding the scope of the maps and the project, and welcome all the help I can get.
Biographical material most welcome, especially if documented.
I will happily credit anyone whose data gets added to the map.
As creator/editor of the PARK LOT PROJECT I reserve the right to accept, decline or edit contributors' material.
Any questions? Please send a quick note.
Wendy Smith
researcher/writer/webmaster
If you would like a lot or historic location added to the map — including beyond the Toronto area — please send me a note with the data you would like added. You could send a single location or a whole table in a new category.
I am especially interested in adding the rest of the early large military land grants in Etobicoke and the Niagara Peninsula; also the rest of the Township Lots in the second and third concessions from the Bay (just above the Town of York).
And I would be delighted to receive information about the locations of the large land parcels in other townships granted to the Town of York park lot grantees.
Please note my focus with this map is the earliest years of Toronto and Upper Canada, circa 1792-1800. I've added markers dating from 1784 (end of the American Revolutionary War) to the years just past the 1834 incorporation of the city — most of those later points are focused around the causes and events of the 1837 Mackenzie Rebellion.
I like to think there will be a Phase II, of locations related to the Victorian era. But that is for another day.
Preferred format is an MS EXCEL table (.CSV) format, with columns for your information.
Or for a single location, an email with your data will work fine.
Very important is the geographic coordinates, which you can obtain on location with any smartphone with a GPS receiver. Or try the polygon-drawing tool created by Kjell Scharning, a mapping enthusiast in Norway. KJell's tool will let you draw, for example, a farm lot rectangle ("polygon") and then copy the coordinates in the text area box. Examples:
e.g. marker for a single location: Honest Ed's at Bloor & Bathurst <point><coordinates> -79.411456,43.664862,0 </coordinates></point>e.g. polygon coordinates for Park Lot 17 <polygon> <outerBoundaryIs><LinearRing> <coordinates> -79.408641,43.665660,0 -79.401473,43.647702,0 -79.399089,43.648183,0 -79.406260,43.666148,0 </coordinates> </LinearRing></outerBoundaryIs> </polygon> |
The TORONTO PARK LOT PROJECT — an exploration of the earliest days of the TOWN OF YORK, founded in 1793 by John Graves Simcoe, first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada.