By Michael Walmsley
Runs S-N from Town Line Road to its terminus along the shore of Hunters Bay
John Graves Simcoe, as the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, enacted many institutions including court trial by jury, freehold land tenure, and the abolition of slavery in Canada. Lieutenant Governor Simcoe also had a hand in constructing and naming road systems in his area of governance.
After founding the City of York (now Toronto), he named one of the city’s main streets after Sir George Yonge who was Simcoe’s good friend and an expert on ancient Roman roads. Yonge was Britain’s Secretary of War, Master of the Royal Mint, and the Governor of the Cape of Good Hope.
Toronto’s Yonge Street was proclaimed as the world’s longest street owing to its extension into the lanes of what is now Highway 11; however, reality eventually prevailed and Yonge Street’s true end points became recognized as Lake Ontario in the south and Steeles Avenue at Toronto’s northern boundary, thereby negating its “longest street” claim.
As to why Huntsville has a street named after Sir George, it seems entirely plausible that Huntsville’s Yonge Street may be a nod to that old notion of the Highway 11–Yonge Street marriage.
Does Toronto’s Yonge Street extend to Huntsville? Well, sort of! At one point in time, Highway 11 actually wound its way along what is now Main Street thus routing highway travelers right through the town’s core.
If you’ve been enjoying Saturday Streetscapes, Michael Walmsley’s book Streetscapes: A Journey Through Huntsville’s History Via Its Street Signs will be available at the end of August and can be preordered by emailing him at [email protected].
See more Saturday Streetscapes on Huntsville Doppler here.
Michael Walmsley is a retired elementary school principal who resides in Huntsville. He enjoys looking at things with a bit of “outside-the-box” perspective and totally believes in living today with a hand on the past and an eye on the future. He has published articles in Kanawa and Adventure Kayak magazines and has recently published a book entitled The Joy of Kayaking – Including the Kayak Quiz.
During this past year, as president of the PROBUS Club of Muskoka North, he has written a weekly article to the club’s membership which has included a focus on Huntsville’s streets. These articles have been combined into book form which will be published in the summer of 2021.
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