A Tale of Two Wests in Mississauga

There is an odd juxtaposition on the modern landscape – one which many of us travel by regularly, likely without much notice or reflection on its meaning. Just west of Erin Mills Parkway lies the intersection of Dundas Street West and Fifth Line West. You might be wondering what is so special about this intersection that would warrant an article. But let me repeat myself: just west of Erin Mills Parkway lies the intersection of Dundas Street West and Fifth Line West. Ponder that for a moment. How do two “west” roads intersect?

I recall when this apparently oddity on the landscape was first brought to my attention some years ago by Professor Thomas McIlwraith – and that simple observation, and what it meant, helped to open my eyes (and mind) to visible, if obscure, remnants and reminders from our past that remain on the modern landscape. For those who have a fascination with history, the clues are all around us. People have shaped, and reshaped, and been shaped by the landscape for countless generations. As you traverse our city, see if you can spot everyday reminders of our past that are hidden in plain sight. For example, how do two west roads intersect?

The intersection of Dundas Street West and Fifth Line West has been an established intersection for over 200 years. Dundas Street (sometimes referred to as the “Governor’s Road” – it was not a compliment) was a military road originally surveyed and roughly cut through by the Queen’s Rangers in 1796 and initially, in part, followed an Indigenous trail. Dundas Street itself was named for where it led – to the head of Lake Ontario and the town of Dundas – the town was named after the British Secretary of War, Lord Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville (1742-1811). Only a few years after Dundas Street was established, and following the Provisional Agreement 13-A and the signing of Treaty 14 between the Crown and the Indigenous Mississaugas, surveyor Samuel Street Wilmot (1773-1856) undertook the first survey (also known as the “Old Survey”) of Toronto Township (historic Mississauga) in June of 1806.

Wilmot oversaw the cadastral survey – the establishment boundaries, lots, and road allowances based on a grid system. Order, symmetry, and straight lines were the goal of the survey. A wonderful examination of historic land surveys can be found in Looking For Old Ontario by Thomas F. McIlwraith (University of Toronto Press, 1997). The Wilmot survey provided the basis for land allotments and future subdivisions of land in our city, where the base unit was planned as a 200-acre land parcel – essentially laid out in southern Mississauga (south of modern Eglinton Avenue) as long 200-acre rectangles. In thinking of layers over time on the modern landscape, keep in mind that no one today owns a 200-acre farm in Mississauga anymore. We all live in a subdivision (or a subdivision of a subdivision) of an original 200-acre lot. Wherever you live, someone has been there before. Maybe not in the same house, but certainly on the same property: layers in and over time. But there I go, wandering off topic again.

As part of the Wilmot Survey of 1806, Dundas Street was realigned (straightened), at least as best as could be accomplished – the Credit River and the vast expanse of the Credit River Valley through Erindale provided a daunting obstacle to which Dundas Street would humbly bend, diverting slightly south of its intended alignment to cross the river at its narrowest point, before it rejoined the cadastral right-of-way as it travelled westward out of the valley. As for Fifth Line West, the road also draws its origins from the 1806 Wilmot Survey – as such Dundas and Fifth Line have been an intersection since 1806 (or more likely since 1808 once settlers were on the ground and began clearing lots and roads). I have always said that if you want to touch history, go for a drive (or walk) along Dundas Street – think of the generations, and the modes of transportation, that these roads have seen over time.

But what does the “Fifth” in Fifth Line stand for, you might wonder? Lines were north-south roads arrayed at right angles to the Concession roads. Dundas was a main Concession Road on our historic landscape, and it runs both east and west of the centre line or Hurontario Street. Other historic Concession Roads include Lakeshore Road, Middle Road (now the QEW), Burnhamthorpe Road, Eglinton Avenue, and so on. Concession roads ran parallel to Dundas Street and travelled, essentially, east-west (we are at a bit of an angle in our survey, so things are not truly north-south or east-west, but straight and parallel are the keys here). Over time, names were given to the Concession Roads, often named for places that they led to.

The Lines intersected the Concession Roads, and ran parallel to a centre line, or Centre Road. That centre line is known today as Hurontario Street. Lines were numbered in sequence from the Centre Road. Gradually over time they also acquired names that replaced the original numbering system, although a portion of Fifth Line has retained, for whatever reason, its historic numerical designation. Part of Fifth Line West, south of the QEW or Middle Road, carries the name of Southdown Road, while the original alignment of Fifth Line to the north of South Millway became the route of modern Erin Mills Parkway. In a sense, the portion of Fifth Line West that retains its historic numerical designation through Sheridan Homelands is a bit of an orphan on the landscape. South of modern Eglinton Avenue, on the Old Survey of 1806, lines were first numbered in sequence, and names were later adopted (except for the remnant of Fifth Line West):

•     Centre Road = Hurontario Street

•     First Line East = Cawthra Road

•     Second Line East = Tomken Road

•     Third Line East = Dixie Road

•     First Line West = Mavis Road

•     Second Line West = Wolfedale Road

•     Third Line West = Erindale Station Road / Creditview Road

•     Fourth Line West = Hammond Road / Clarkson Road

•     Fifth Line West

•     Sixth Line West or Town Line = Winston Churchill Boulevard

North of modern Eglinton Avenue, in the New Survey of 1819, Lines follow a similar pattern, although there is some variation, but that can be for another article. So, to sum it up, Dundas Street runs east and west from the centre point on the survey (Hurontario Street), and Fifth Line West is the fifth north-south road running parallel to the Centre Road, west of the Centre Road. Dundas Street West and Fifth Line West – two west roads do indeed intersect, although one of them runs north-south. This is a treasured, if subtle, reminder of our not-so-distance past that helps to connect our modern landscape to our historic roots.