260 CANADIAN LOCAL HISTOKY : 



gone, but it was that of Mr. John Stegman, a well-kno\vii early Deputy Provincial Surveyor, 

 of whom we shall hear again). In 1800 the following order had been issued to him by the acting 

 Surveyor-General, D. W. Smith: "S. G. 0., 19th Dec, 1800. Mr. John Stegman: Sir,— All 

 persons claiming to hold land m the town of York, having been required to cut and burn all 

 the brush and underwood on the said lots, and to fiUl all the trees which are standing thereon, 

 you will be pleased to report to me, without delay, tlie number of the particular lots on which 

 it has not been done. D. W. Smith, A. S. G." The sketches of "the part of tlie Town of York, 

 west of Toronto Street," just described, were doubtless prepared by Mr. John Stegman, in 

 obedience to this order from the Surveyor-General's office. 



The continuation of the great northern highway in a continuous right line to the Bay from its 

 point of issue on Lot Street, i. e., Queen Street, was the circumstance that eventually created 

 for Yonge Street, regarded as a street in the usual sense, the peculiar renown which it popu- 

 larly has for extraordinary length. A story is told of a tourist, newly arrived at York, wishing 

 to utilize a stroll before breakfast by making out as he went along the wliereabouts of a gentle- 

 man to whom he had a letter. Passing down the hall of his hotel, he asks in a casual way of 

 the book-keeper—" Can you tell me where Mr. So-and-so lives ? (leisurely producing the note 

 from his breast-pocket wallet). It is somewhere along Yonge Street here in your town." "Oh 

 yes," was the reply, when the address had been glanced at — " Mr. So-and-so lives on Yonge 

 Street, about twenty-five miles up !" We have heard also of a serious demur on the part of a 

 Quebec naval and military inspector, at two agents for purchases being stationed on one 

 street at York. However surprised, he was nevertheless satisfied when he learned that their 

 posts were thirty miles apart. Let us now direct our attention to Yonge Street north of Queen 

 Street. 



XLV.— YONGE STREET— PROM QUEEN STREET TO CARLBTON STREET. 



For some years previous to the opening of Y^onge Street from Lot Street to the Bay, the por- 

 tion of the great highway to the north, between Lot Street and the road which is now the 

 southern boundary of Y'orkville, was in an almost impracticable condition The route was 

 recognized, but no grading or causewaying had been done on it. In the popular mind, indeed, 

 practically, the point where Y''onge Street began as a travelled road to the north, was at York- 

 ville as we should now speak. The track followed by the farmers coming into town from the 

 north veered off at l''orkville to the eastward, and passed down in a haphazard kind of way over 

 the sandy pinelaud in that direction, and finally entered the town by the route later known as 

 Parliament Street. In 1800 the expediency was seen of making the direct northern approach to 

 York more available. In the Gazette of Dec. 20th, 1800, we have an account of a public meeting 

 held on the subject. It will be observed that Yonge Street, between Queen Street and Yorkvilla, 

 as moderns would phrase it, is spoken of therein, for tlie moment, not as Yonge Street, but as 

 •"the road to Yonge Street." " On Thursday last, about noon," the Gazette reports, "a number 

 of the principal inhabitants of this town met togetlier in one of the Government Buildings, to 

 •consider the best means of opening the road to Yonge Street, and enabling the farmers tliere to 

 bring their provisions to market with more ease than is practicable at present." Tlie account 

 then proceeds: "The Hon. Chief -Justice Elmsley was called to the chair. He briefly stated 

 the purpose of the meeting, and added that a subscription-list had been lately opened by which 

 something more than two hundred dollars in money and labour had been promised, and that 

 other sums were to be expected from several respectable inhabitants who were well-wishers to 

 the undertaking, but had not as yet contributed towards it. These sums, he feared, however, 

 would not be equal to the purpose, which hardly could be accomplished for less than between 

 five and six hundred dollars. Many of the subscribers were desirous that what was already 

 subscribed should be immediately applied as far as it would go, and that other resources should 

 be looked for. A paper was produced and read containing a proposal from Mr. Eliphalet Hale 

 to open and make tlie road, or so much of it, as might be required, at the rate of twelve dollars 

 per acre for clearing it where no causeway was wanted, four rods wide, and cutting the stump.? 

 in the two middle rods close to the ground ; and seven shillings and sixpence, provincial cur- 

 rency, per rod, for making a causeway eighteen feet wide where a causeway might be wanted. 

 Mr. Hale undertook to find security for the due performance of the work by the first of Febru- 



