Between 1874 and 1950, the city of Toronto enacted a huge amount street name change bylaws, with each bylaw having numerous street name changes.
As the city expanded and annexed new areas, many street names were changed for various reasons, such as to avoid duplication, confusion, or controversy, to honour a person or event, or to reflect the community’s identity and values.
Some of the changes in this period were:
Queen Street was formerly known as Lot Street, because it marked the northern boundary of the park lots granted to the early settlers by Governor Simcoe.
Yonge Street was originally called the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail, as it followed an ancient route used by the First Nations and the fur traders.
